Michigan State Football: 5 bold predictions vs. Illinois

Sep 24, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans running back LJ Scott (3) walks off the field during the first quarter against the Wisconsin Badgers of a game at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

Michigan State football is looking to stop the bleeding against Illinois Saturday and here are five bold predictions for the matchup.

Can the Spartans stop the bleeding? Michigan State football has lost six straight games which is the most in the Mark Dantonio era. Heck, Dantonio only had one six-loss season before 2016 and now he’s facing a bowl-less campaign just one year removed from a College Football Playoff appearance.

Michigan State can still make a bowl, though, but it will take a strong finish to the season. More precisely, it would take either a 4-0 finish or 3-1 finish in the month of November. Yes, Michigan State can still get in with a 5-7 record — that’s just the way bowls work nowadays with so many of them and not enough teams to fill.

Winning Saturday against the Fighting Illini would be a good start to this final stretch and it’s very possible with Illinois reeling as well. Michigan State needs to be on its ‘A’ game in this one for that to happen.

Take a look at our five bold predictions for the Spartans’ matchup with Illinois on Saturday afternoon in Champaign.

5. Secondary will struggle again

Although there will probably be a young quarterback starting for the Illini, Michigan State’s defensive backfield will struggle a little bit again. Allowing the Illini to complete 5-10 yard passes, but let nothing behind them will hurt the Spartans as those will accumulate into long drives.

While giving up short passes is better than the alternative long completions, sometimes secondaries need to dare the opposing quarterback to take a shot because sometimes it ends up as a turnover (just as Tyler O’Connor) and most of the time it’s an incompletion.

The Spartans’ secondary has allowed opponents to nickel and dime them all the way down the field for the past month-plus and it’s going to happen yet again on a few drives against Illinois on Saturday.

No huge plays will be given up, but the Spartans will allow whichever quarterback who starts to complete 15-20 passes with a 65 percent rate and two scores.

Oct 8, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans wide receiver Donnie Corley (9) attempts to make a catch against Brigham Young Cougars defensive back Dayan Lake (5) during the 1st quarter of a game at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

4. Donnie Corley will finish with 100 yards

Donnie Corley has made a big change to his game: the number on the back of his jersey. The kid who wore No. 9 is now No. 29. While that may not seem like an importance in the big scheme of things, it signals the start of an era. Corley changed his number so he can also play on the defensive side of the ball.

If you’ve followed his recruitment, you would know that he was honored as an Army All-American for being one of the nation’s top wide outs at the prep level, but he was also considered one of the best defensive backs, which flew under the radar.

Fortunately, the Spartans have a guy who can play both ways and excel. In years past, Michigan State had guys who tried that and the one who comes to mind is Tony Lippett. In fact, he fared so well that he was drafted as a cornerback by the Miami Dolphins after winning the Big Ten Receiver of the Year award.

Corley has the same type of talent and he could be even better on both sides of the ball than Lippett was for the Spartans.

Still, Saturday will be a big game for the true freshman on offense first. He will finish with his first 100-yard receiving game, adding seven catches and a touchdown. Don’t sleep on his defensive ability, though. He’s going to make some plays in the secondary.

Oct 29, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans defensive lineman Malik McDowell (4) gestures to the sidelines during the first half of a game against the Michigan Wolverines at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

3. Malik McDowell will finish with two sacks

How many sacks does the Big Ten’s best defensive lineman have through eight games? Would it shock you if I said that Malik McDowell has just 1.5 to his name with only a month left in the regular season and he’s still having a great year? Well, that’s the case.

McDowell is one of the best players in college football, yet he doesn’t have much to show for it on the stat sheet because he gets double-teamed more often than not. Knowing the Spartans don’t have an extraordinary defensive line allows opposing offenses to crack down on stopping McDowell from finding his way into the backfield.

Offensive can just focus on the junior defensive tackle/end and try to make everyone else beat them. He is still dominating, though. His 1.5 sacks are not even slightly indicative of the kind of impact McDowell has on a game. He is so strong that he bullies opposing offensive linemen on a regular basis. It’s almost not fair one-on-one.

On Saturday afternoon, the Illini are going to struggle to hold McDowell in check and he’s going to finish the day with at least two sacks, surpassing his amount from the first eight games of the year. He’ll also have seven total tackles and four of them will be for loss.

Oct 29, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans running back LJ Scott (3) gestures to a defender during the first half of a game against the Michigan Wolverines at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

2. LJ Scott has best game of the season

LJ Scott is having a heck of season after a sluggish stretch from game three through game six. In fact, he only averaged 4.3 yards per carry and picked up 133 total yards during that four-game period, but he seems to be back to his normal self.

In fact, he has put together back-to-back 100-yard games for the first time in his career and he’s ready to improve on that. He is looking for his third consecutive 100-yard game, and that would really open some eyes.

Looking at the numbers, if Scott finishes with 100 yards on Saturday against Illinois, he will break his rushing total from last season. However, his touchdowns are down drastically and he will need to finish with eight in the final four games to surpass the 2015 total.

Scott is going to have yet another big game and make it the best of his career. The past couple of weeks have been filled with firsts for Scott. He had his longest run as a collegiate back against Maryland and then he finished with his first back-to-back 100-yard performances.

Time to add another, breaking his previous career-high of 146 rushing yards last year against Purdue. Michigan State is going to feed him the ball early and often and he will break the 150-yard mark for the first time with two touchdowns.

Oct 29, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio reacts to a play during the first half of a game against the Michigan Wolverines at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

1. Michigan State finally gets a win

As crazy as it may seem, I believe Michigan State’s losing streak will finally come to an end on Saturday afternoon in Champaign. The Fighting Illini are almost in a worse position than the Spartans seeing as they didn’t have high expectations before the season and the team isn’t nearly as talented.

Must Read: MSU Football: 5 breakout candidates vs. Illinois

The game will be a close one, though. At the beginning of the season, I would have said the Spartans would come away with a two-touchdown victory against Illinois in this one, maybe even three scores on the road. However, now that I’ve seen a reeling MSU team, it’s pretty clear that the Spartans are going to play any inferior opponent close.

Michigan State will open with a methodical, five-plus minute drive against Illinois just like it did against Michigan last week. LJ Scott will punch in the first touchdown from three yards away and Michigan State will take that early 7-0 lead like they’ve been known to do this season, even in losses.

After that, it will be another dull end of the first quarter and beginning of the second for the Spartans, but they’ll add a field goal before half and Illinois will add a touchdown.

The second half will be tightly-contested, but the Spartans will find a way to win this one and come away with their first win since September. The bleeding will finally end and Michigan State can gain some momentum moving forward.