Michigan State football: 5 bold predictions for the Holiday Bowl vs Washington State

4. LJ Scott is held in check

With the passing game working out well for the Spartans, will the running game be clicking too? Probably not.

Junior running back LJ Scott had his lowest yards per carry average this season in his three years in East Lansing. He finished with 4.3 yards per rush on 183 attempts in 11 games, missing the game against Michigan due to injury. He tallied 788 yards on the ground with six touchdowns and added 120 receiving yards and one touchdown reception.

Scott only rushed for 100 yards in two games this season, at Minnesota and at home against Maryland. Neither the Gophers or Terps field exceptional run defenses. In the two games, Scott also tallied his most carries. He put up pedestrian numbers in most games and in five of them, he was held under 50 yards.

Not to harp so much on Scott because overall, I still think he is a good back. However there is no question he took a step back this year compared to his sophomore year where he had nearly an identical number of rushing attempts but tallied nearly 1,000 yards.

Washington State has a slightly better rush defense than both Minnesota and Maryland, but I think they will hold Scott to under 100 yards and no rushing touchdowns. They may even force him to fumble once or twice as he has been prone to do so, losing the ball five times this season.