Purdue vs. Michigan State Preview
EAST LANSING, MI – Michigan State needs some help to win its first outright Big Ten title since 1988, but coach Mark Dantonio would rather focus on what his squad can accomplish on its own.
The 11th-ranked Spartans host Purdue on Saturday with a very realistic chance to take control of the race for the conference’s automatic BCS berth.
Oddsmakers from online sports book SBGGLOBAL.com have made Michigan State –19.5 point spread favorites for Saturday’s game against Purdue. Current NCAA Public Betting Information shows that 77% of more than 833 bets for this game have been placed on Michigan State –19.5.
Michigan State, No. 6 Wisconsin and No. 8 Ohio State head into the weekend tied atop the Big Ten with two games remaining. The Spartans hold the tiebreaker over Wisconsin after beating the Badgers 34-24 on Oct. 2, and they’ll gain the inside track to the conference’s BCS berth if they win Saturday while the Buckeyes lose at No. 21 Iowa.
The Spartans, ranked 12th in the current BCS standings, may still have an opportunity to reach a major bowl even if they don’t win the conference.
None of the scenarios matter, however, if Michigan State (9-1, 5-1) doesn’t handle its own business, starting with taking care of the slumping Boilermakers.
“What we can control is we can be at the very minimum co-Big Ten champions. I know we can control that,” Dantonio said. “We’ll need a little help to be outright (champions), to go to the Rose Bowl. The main thing to me is be a champion. That’s what we’ll try to do, strive to do.”
The Spartans are coming off a bye week after defeating Minnesota 31-8 on Nov. 6, bouncing back from their first loss – 37-6 at then-No. 18 Iowa.
Edwin Baker rushed for 179 yards versus the Golden Gophers and scored three of his four touchdowns in the first half, when Michigan State raced to a 21-0 lead after falling behind early in its last two games.
“We needed someone to give us a push to get this one, and I wasn’t the only one,” said Baker, held to 117 rushing yards over the previous three weeks. “We just went back to basics. We haven’t run the ball well in four games, and we worked hard on running it in practice.”
Baker’s performance provided the spark on a day when Kirk Cousins didn’t have a touchdown pass after tying a school record by throwing one in 16 straight games. He finished with a season-low 131 yards and an interception on 9-of-20 passing.
Cousins emphasized the Spartans’ strength lies in their running game.
“We got back to what we like to do best,” Cousins said. “I think that first drive, we were able to just run it down the field. We hadn’t been starting fast.”
Michigan State hopes for much of the same against Purdue, which has given up an average of 38.5 points during a four-game losing streak.
The Boilermakers (4-6, 2-4) are coming off a 27-16 defeat to Michigan last Saturday despite a dominant performance by Ryan Kerrigan. The senior defensive end sacked standout Wolverines quarterback Denard Robinson four times and forced two fumbles, recovering one.
However, Purdue’s injury-plagued offense struggled again. The Boilermakers are averaging 9.8 points during their losing streak and a Big Ten-low 17.4 this season.
Receiver Justin Siller aggravated a sprained foot against Michigan and will most likely miss the rest of the season. Purdue lost starting quarterback Robert Marve for the year with a torn ACL he suffered Sept. 25 against Toledo, and backup Rob Henry has been battling tissue damage in his finger.
The Boilermakers hope to have Henry against the Spartans, otherwise they’ll have to give freshman Sean Robinson a fourth straight start. In the first three, Robinson was 38 of 81 for 271 yards with five interceptions and two touchdowns.
“We’ll have to see how he holds up in warm-ups,” coach Danny Hope said of Henry, who was 5 of 9 for 54 yards in relief last Saturday.
Michigan State has won three straight against Purdue and expects to have wide receiver-kick returner Keshawn Martin back in action after he missed two games with an ankle injury.
Martin set up the game-winning field goal with an 84-yard kickoff return in last season’s 40-37 victory over the Boilermakers, helping the Spartans overcome an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit.