Friday, March 29, 2024

Know Thy Enemy: Michigan State football heads to Ann Arbor for rivalry week

October 28, 2022
<p>Freshman cornerback Charles Brantley signals &#x27;no&#x27; after breaking up a pass, during the Spartans&#x27; 37-33 win against the Wolverines on Oct. 30, 2021.</p>

Freshman cornerback Charles Brantley signals 'no' after breaking up a pass, during the Spartans' 37-33 win against the Wolverines on Oct. 30, 2021.

Photo by Devin Anderson-Torrez | The State News

Know Thy Enemy is a Q&A where the perspective changes from the eyes of The State News to the eyes of the student newspaper of Michigan State's opponent. This week, The State News' football beat writer Jenna Malinowski spoke with football beat writer and co-sports editor Nicholas Stoll of The Michigan Daily ahead of Saturday's Michigan-Michigan State game.

Michigan State football heads to Ann Arbor this week to take on No. 4 Michigan in the annual battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy. The Spartans (3-4, 1-3) and Mel Tucker are looking to make it three consecutive wins versus the rival Wolverines (7-0, 4-0).

Q: What do you think about the quarterback matchup between Payton Thorne and J.J. McCarthy?

A: "I think Payton Thorne is a good quarterback. He’s athletic, he can make really good throws. He proved that last season and he’s talented enough to be the starting quarterback. J.J. McCarthy has some talents that not a lot of quarterbacks have. He can make the throws that a lot of people can’t, and his speed is something you can’t account for. He is raw though. Just like last year’s game, he fumbled, he’ll throw ill-advised throws sometimes because he thinks he can make them and try to send them into coverage. He’s bound for one or two risky plays with the ball, whether that’s a fumble or a near interception. I think J.J.'s more talented but Payton Thorne is probably more consistent if we’re talking safety and risk."

Q: Who do you think on Michigan will pose the biggest threat for the Spartans?

A: "I think offensively, the obvious answer is Blake Corum. He is in the Heisman conversation for a reason, similar to Kenneth Walker last year. They’re a little bit different types of players, but you can see the parallels in terms of their ability to make people miss but also power through, break tackles, and they can both really kill opposing defenses if they’re on their game, just like Walker did last year. Corum, if he gets going, along with Michigan’s O-line helping him, it will be an upward climb for Michigan State to stay in the game."

Q: How important do you think it is for Jim Harbaugh to get this win on Saturday, especially with Mel Tucker being 2-0 against him?

A: "He’ll start by telling you, if you asked him, it’s just like any other game. You have to be 1-0 on the week, but we all know that’s pretty much coach speak and whether he believes it or not, the narrative around him and the outside perspective is that it matters a lot. It’s .500 in the rivalry is below what Michigan fans expect from him, but he has to get to .500 before he’s over .500. It’s big for the perception of Harbaugh, but he will play it down and say it’s Michigan State. It’s any week. A win’s a win."

Q: What is your final score prediction and why?

A: "I think it’ll be close early, but I think Michigan will end up pulling away, 35-18... Early on I think Michigan State gets the first score because that kind of happens half the time in these rivalries or with Michigan in general. They give up early points and they catch up. It’ll be close in the second quarter, maybe even going into halftime. Kind of like the Penn State game, in the second half the Wolverines will figure out Michigan State’s defense and the offense for Michigan State will just stop being able to produce as much with not as good field position. Michigan will end up scoring more in the second half and Michigan State will end up going for two on one of their touchdowns, allowing for that weird score."

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