Michigan State opens Big Ten play on Saturday with a matchup that could shape the rest of its season, and the path to an upset is pretty clear: make Nebraska quarterback Anthony Colandrea uncomfortable, shut down the Cornhuskers’ run game and give the Spartans’ own rushing attack a real chance to breathe.
That last part matters more than it might sound. Michigan State is not staring at a schedule that wipes out its bowl hopes, and Nebraska ranks as the third-hardest game left on the slate. Still, there’s a warning label attached to this opener: over the last 10 years, Michigan State has lost its first Big Ten game five times, and every one of those seasons ended without a bowl trip.
So if the Spartans want this to be more than just another September game, they need the kind of performance that changes the conversation.
The first step is getting after Colandrea. Nebraska’s quarterback has been sharp this season, but the level of opposition has left him with a fairly clean ride so far.
Michigan State doesn’t need to be Notre Dame on defense to make a difference, but it does need to bring a higher ceiling than teams like Bowling Green and North Dakota have shown against him. That means pressure from the outside, with Kenny Soares and Anelu Lafaele expected to matter off the edge, and a defensive plan from Joe Rossi that forces Colandrea into looks he may not have seen yet.
If the Spartans can rattle him early, Nebraska’s offense may look a lot less polished than it has through the first three games.
The second key is just as straightforward: stop Jamal Rule. Nebraska’s back has been one of the Big Ten’s most productive runners through three games, sitting among the top three in the conference in rushing yards and averaging more than eight yards per carry. He’s been the kind of weapon that can tilt a game on his own.
Michigan State’s linebackers have to keep filling gaps the way they have all season. If the run defense holds up and forces Nebraska into obvious passing situations, Rossi can start opening up the pressure package and make life harder on Colandrea.
The order here matters. Everything starts with the run.
Then there’s Michigan State’s offense, which needs to get back to the ground game and stay there. Last week, once the Spartans fell behind by two or three possessions, they mostly abandoned the run.
Nick Sheridan tried to find ways to keep it alive, even turning to backup quarterback Cam Fancher, but the ground game never became the answer. That pushed Michigan State into the passing game far too early, and Alessio Milivojevic took more punishment behind the line of scrimmage than he had all season.
Nebraska has been solid against the run, but it isn’t untouchable. Ohio’s Nick Poulos averaged seven yards per carry in Week One, going for 70 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries, and that remains the only game this season in which an opponent has scored more than seven points against the Cornhuskers.
Michigan State has to find a way to run the ball and stick with it.
The Spartans are underdogs. They just can’t play like underdogs.
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Michigan State Just Made Its Strongest Early Season Statement Yet
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All three goals came in a seven-minute burst around halftime, the kind of stretch that can flip a conference match in a hurry and leave little doubt about which team seized control. The result pushed MSU to 3-0-0 in Big Ten play and 7-1-1 overall, the best league start in program history, and it gave the Spartans another reminder that their early-season momentum is no fluke. [Read more 🡒]