Michigan State Football: Game preview, prediction for BYU

Take a look at the game preview and prediction for Saturday’s Michigan State football game against BYU.

Michigan State football has an underrated matchup approaching on Saturday against the 2-3 BYU Cougars. Although they’re under .500, the Cougars have talent, including 26-year-old quarterback Taysom Hill and 700-yard rusher Jamaal Williams.

Hill has seemingly been with BYU for a decade now while Williams is looking like one of the top running backs in college football. The latter is coming off a 274-yard performance against Toledo while Hill has more interceptions than touchdowns this season.

The Spartans are hoping for better luck this week than they had against Indiana last week and Wisconsin the game before. It will be looked at as a ‘must-win’ type of game for the Spartans seeing as two consecutive losses have already put them behind in the national polls.

BYU presents a tough matchup, but you can bet Mark Dantonio will have his guys ready to play in Week 6.

Here’s how to watch Saturday’s Michigan State vs BYU game:

Date: Saturday, Oct. 8
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: East Lansing, MI
Venue: Spartan Stadium
TV: ABC, ESPN 2
Live Stream: WatchESPN

Keys to Victory

It’s pretty obvious that the Spartans need to come out firing and get off to a good start. Against Indiana last week, Michigan State’s offense was sluggish, scoring just seven points in the first half. If the Spartans can take a two-score lead into halftime, you can bet there’s no way Dantonio will let this team crumble in the second half.

Defensively, Michigan State needs to find a way to slow down Jamaal Williams. He has rushed for over 700 yards on the season and is coming off a 274-yard performance last week against Toledo. Limit the long passing plays and shut down the run and this one will be in the win column for MSU.

Betting Odds

Spread: Michigan State -6
Over/Under: 49

Prediction

Michigan State is going to fall behind 7-0 early on, but scoring three straight touchdowns before a Cougars field goal before halftime will give the Spartans a comfortable 21-10 lead. The second half will be much of the same as the Spartans will strike early thanks to an LJ Scott touchdown run and really put the game out of reach. Defense will play the pass well and Tyler O’Connor will show some improvement.

Final Score: BYU 24, Michigan State 35