Thursday, March 28, 2024

U should be happy on Saturday

November 8, 2001

Nothing can really compare to last weekend’s sporting events, especially MSU’s 26-24 upset over Michigan and ex-Detroit Tiger Luis Gonzalez’s game-winning hit in game seven of the World Series.

But with plenty of college football left on the schedule and the Spartans rolling, there should still be plenty of excitement.

The prognosticators won’t be crying to the Big Ten Conference about any alleged controversy surrounding last week’s game, especially Vanilla Rice, who needs to keep his focus on getting past Racy Lacy in the standings.

Lacy leads with a 27-19 record, while Rice is 26-20.

Indiana (2-5 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) at No. 22 MSU (5-2, 3-2)

The Big Ten’s best offensive player, quarterback Antwaan Randle El comes into East Lansing after leading his Hoosiers to a surprising 56-21 win over Northwestern. He’ll face a hungry Spartan squad looking for its third straight conference win.

Vanilla Rice: Saturday will be the prognosticators’ ticket to a Bowl game after the Spartans record their sixth win of the season. Hey, we work hard all season, we deserve a week in the sun, too - preferably in Hawaii for the Aloha Bowl.

The only thing that could possibly delay my bowl dreams another week is Indiana’s option offense led by Randle El. As long as MSU is disciplined enough to keep its assignments on the option, my dream of sipping margaritas on the beach should be a reality after this week’s win.

MSU 34, Indiana 28

Racy Lacy: The Spartans’ roster has been depleted again, but it shouldn’t stop them from becoming bowl eligible Saturday. Now don’t get me wrong, there won’t be any more idiots trying to leap on to the field like last week, but there should be plenty of excitement.

It’s too bad the Hoosiers can’t clone Randle El, because the guy has the ability to play pretty much any position on the field. He’ll have to play hero Saturday if the Hoosiers have a chance to explode on their third Big Ten team this year.

MSU 31, Indiana 21

Minnesota (3-5, 1-4) at No. 12 Michigan (6-2, 4-1)

Minnesota lost to Ohio State 31-28 and we’re proud to say that Michigan lost to MSU 26-24. The Wolverines are still in a first-place tie with Illinois and can claim the Big Ten title by winning their final three games.

Vanilla Rice: The Wolverines’ may still be crying about the clock in Spartan Stadium, but they won’t let that get in the way of another Big Ten title. At most, they’ll lose one more game this season and it won’t be to the Golden Gophers this week. Maybe U-M head coach Lloyd Carr will be in a good enough mood to hold a post-game press conference after this one.

U-M 35, Minnesota 23

Racy Lacy: Unfortunately there won’t be any dispute here. U-M is just a flat out better team, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

Gopher wide receiver Ron Johnson will most likely see plenty of abuse from U-M’s secondary - who acted like a bunch of Mafia goons in its attempt to beat up MSU’s Charles Rogers last week, but that won’t matter since it’s at the Big House. Good old Lloyd will stop his griping to the officials. (Well, at least until Ohio State rolls into town Nov. 24.)

U-M 27, Minnesota 10

Purdue (5-2, 3-2) at Ohio State (5-3, 3-2)

Both teams look to become bowl eligible in this key matchup between two second place conference teams. The Boilermakers lost to Illinois 38-13 on Saturday and the Buckeyes beat Minnesota 31-28.

Vanilla Rice: Both Ohio State and Purdue are tied with MSU for second place in the Big Ten. But after all the Buckeyes have been through this season, they still control their own destiny and could still share a part of the Big Ten title.

After beating Purdue on Saturday, the Buckeyes will finish out the season by getting a shot at both of the top teams in the Big Ten - Michigan and Illinois.

Ohio State 21, Purdue 17

Racy Lacy: Go Bucks! Since fellow State News staffer James Jahnke is in love with Ohio State so much, I’m going to have to take his side this week. Plus, I don’t want to see him in a foul mood for Sunday’s 1 p.m. staff meeting. C’mon James, cheer up, there’s always basketball season

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