Michigan State vs. Wisconsin Scouting Report and Prediction

Michigan State vs. Wisconsin Scouting Report and Prediction  A look at this week’s opponent… The Badgers come into this game scoring 35 points a game

Michigan State vs. Wisconsin Scouting Report and Prediction

 

A look at this week’s opponent…

The Badgers come into this game scoring 35 points a game (31 if you take Wofford out of the equation) and with a 3-0 record. Not a shock. They are facing a fumbling issue on their team, but they are tough and on a high with a 3-0 start. They also know that they are facing a dangerous team. They can’t afford to do what MSU did with CMU and take a week off.

 

Brett Bielema is a very good coach and his team will be ready. This one should be a barnburner.

 

When MSU has the ball…

Of course, the Spartans will try to establish the run. That is their main stay. The Spartan offense has been tremendous under the leadership of Don Treadwell. They will score their points. 

 

Look for Treadwell to run a balanced scheme. I have no concerns about the Spartans scoring points. Glenn Winston and Larry Caper should be a force and their game fits the Wisconsin type attack very well. You, also, can’t rule out Caulton Ray’s ability against this scheme.

 

I look for a lot of TE work in the play action game and with the WR group having one of their best games against the Irish, I look for them to continue their maturation.

 

When MSU is on defense…

The Badgers come in with their usual tough attack, the same mirrored by the Spartans. They will attack the Spartans via the power running game, but they, like all of the future Spartan opponents, watch film. The Spartans have been terrible against the pass this season and until they can stop someone, all teams with a brain will attack them through the air.

 

The Badgers have fumbling issues with their TB Clay, and the Spartans front seven, if they can make tackles, should be able to create some turnovers. It is very fair to say that the Spartan defense coming into the season was supposed to lead this team. It hasn’t.

 

This is a critical game for the Spartans. If their defense doesn’t right the ship, their rivalry game with Michigan next week won’t look good. The Spartans have to remember how to tackle, to stick with their technique, and finally, the first person has to make the tackle. Far too many plays are not being made by the first person to engage an opponent.

 

The Spartans should expect the power run, but a fine mixture of play action passing from the Badgers. The deep threat that CMU and ND showed shouldn’t be as dangerous with the Badgers, but other problems will be presented to our guys facing a power scheme.

 

 

Intangibles…

To be very frank, the defense is not as good as many of us thought it would be. That is on me. You trust me to provide good analysis and when it came to our D, I didn’t. They have been disappointing. 

 

In my favor, the offense has been better than I thought, but I certainly didn’t project them to be bad at all.

 

Here is the good news from this team. These players have worked hard, and there hasn’t been one young man, who is a contributor, that I have seen hang his head. There have been mistakes, but no finger pointing. There have been lapse in judgments, but you also have others guys on other sides of the ball standing up for their teammates.

 

These kids want this win so bad. With the offense rolling, I can’t imagine the defense being any worse. At some point they have to improve…at least some.

 

 

Prediction…

Coming into the season I said that this game was a wash. I gave the win in my prediction to the Badgers because of the home field. The Badgers are not as good as I thought they would be by this game (I have watched all of their games multiple times), but neither are the Spartans.

 

I do expect MSU to turn the corner and get the season back on track. The Spartan offense, however, is much better (and I thought they would be good) and the Badger D isn’t. The MSU players showed a lot in how they have handled themselves and adversity. I say MSU 31 Wisconsin 30.