The Wolverines have ripped off 7 straight wins as they head into East Lansing this weekend to take on instate rival Michigan State. The Spartans are in the perpetual rebuilding process and have first year coach Mike Dantoni at the helm.

Michigan comes in still a little dinged up. Chad Henne and Mike Hart both missed the last game against the Golden Gophers of Minnesota. The backups Ryan Mallett and the tandem of Carlos Brown and Brandon Minor filled in for the injured starters. Hart and Henne are expected back for the MSU game.

Michigan State is really over-matched in this contest. They have held it close against some really good teams but haven’t been able to pull off a Big Ten except against a weak Indiana team. All of their losses have been within 7 points. So Michigan State isn’t as terrible as their record. But they don’t have the offensive fire-power to stay with Michigan. The Spartans feature a two-headed rushing attack of Javon Ringer and Jehuu Caulcrick. Ringer does most of the running inbetween the 20’s but Caulcrick has pounded out 16 TDs. The Spartans also feature the leading receiver in the Big Ten Devin Thomas. Hopefully the Wolverine DBs will be able to control him.

The real key to this game is whether or not Michigan State can stop the rushing attack of the Wolverines. It really doesn’t seem to matter who Michigan starts at tailback. Obviously Mike Hart is a dominant player when he’s in there, but Carlos Brown and Brandon Minor have proven themselves worthy as well.

My prediction:
Michigan - 27
Michigan State - 21

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 at 11:21 am and is filed under College Football, Michigan Wolverines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.