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Published Oct 22, 2024
Michigan State Opponent Film Room: Michigan
Chase Glasser  •  Spartans Illustrated
Staff Writer

Welcome to rivalry week!

For your viewing pleasure, we have my first brush thoughts on Michigan State's upcoming opponent, the Michigan Wolverines. In this edition of the Film Room, we're talking about Michigan's game versus Illinois.

Offensively, I mention some of the tweaks the Wolverines made in the run game, and how I feel answers aren't coming in the pass game. I also discuss how Illinois was able to do enough against a talented, but underperforming defense to get a win.

In 2022, at a different publication, I wrote about who we should expect to win this rivalry game between Michigan State and Michigan, year-in and year-out.

Simply put, the better football team wins this game nine out of 10 times. This year, Michigan State is likely the better team. The Spartans are better-coached, more organized, and coming off a confidence-boosting victory over a tough Iowa team. Michigan is lost, disorganized and lacking direction and offensive firepower.

I expect MSU to win on Saturday, and for Michigan's fall of discontent to continue.

As for the actual rivalry, I stand by what I said in 2022: this is one of the great rivalries in college football:

"The Michigan-Michigan State rivalry is one of the most criminally underrated in college football. Nearly unmatched in its pettiness and vitriol, it exemplifies the tensions inherent in so many college football rivalries.

It has been described as 'culture versus agriculture,' 'the upturned nose versus the curled fist,' 'the wine and cheese crowd versus Woodstock ‘69' and various other John U. Baconings.

There are barbs traded about co-eds, the chronometric abilities of a man named 'Bob' acceptance rates, the prevalence of people who would rather be at any number of Ivy League schools, a fixation on the past, and the like. Ah, football season.

If four years at the University of Michigan taught me anything, it’s that the rivalry has certainly been joined. Though segments of the Michigan fan base hate to admit that Michigan State is one of the Wolverines’ biggest rivals, I can say based on firsthand experience that is demonstrably the case. MSU has always been UM’s rival. Actions speak louder than words, do they not?

It was Michigan that tried to kill Michigan State from its very creation, then tried to prevent MSU from joining the Big Ten. Michigan and Ohio State both recognize the mutually beneficial nature of their rivalry, particularly when they traded bowl appearances in the ‘'Big Two and Little Eight' era. With Michigan State, there exists legitimate institutional animus. Just ask Devin Bush, or Dave Brandon’s skywriter, or Brady Hoke’s stake.

This game matters greatly to both schools. College football is such a great sport because not only is it based on a genuine love for your institution, it's also based on visceral hate and revulsion toward your opposition. There’s nothing like it, and the (as of 2024) 117th edition of the rivalry should be nothing if not memorable."

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Though both teams have the same record, it bears saying again, as the early lines have Michigan favored. Michigan is always favored. Since the 1980s, MSU has been favored only a handful of times.

Putting aside lines that take advantage of the public's overrating of Michigan, MSU does not upset Michigan — it beats them. And I expect Michigan State to beat Michigan again on Saturday.

Let's get into the breakdown of the 2024 Wolverines. The Michigan Film Room is broken into two separate videos, which can both be viewed below.

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MichiganState
FOOTBALL
Scores / Schedule
footballfootball
4 - 1
Overall Record
0 - 0
Conference Record
Finished
Michigan St.
83
Arrow
Michigan St.
Samford
75
Samford
Michigan St.
86
Arrow
Michigan St.
Bowling Green
72
Bowling Green
Michigan St.
69
Michigan St.
Kansas
77
Arrow
Kansas
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