Important to note that PFF's grading scale is approximately the following;

PFF Grading Scale
90+ - Elite
80 to 89 - Great
70 to 79 - Good
60 to 69 - Average to Above Average
50 - 59 - Below Average
49 and below - Poor

OVERALL TEAM GRADES

OFFENSE (74 SNAPS)



DEFENSE (48 SNAPS)

Michigan State has a great chance to upset the Wolverines this week. Here is why.

More:

The 1964 Michigan State-North Carolina game on September 26, 1964 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill
was an important step on the decade-long road to making college football integration a fait accompli by 1970.

In this video, Michigan State's Clint Jones and Ken Willard relive the game that has been ignored by college football
history. The media remains fixated on poorly researched sports writing selling Bear Bryant myths.

The video is Episode 29:


Follow me on Twitter @shanny4055

"Coach Smith puts trust in his guys and it shows on the field that the players trust him as well."

2026 EDGE Nick Abrams II spoke highly of the Spartans on his debut visit to MSU this past weekend and is eager to learn more about the program.

STORY:

Everyone here knows what week it is.

When I start to prepare for one of the two pieces recurring pieces that I do each week, the theme that I go with sometimes will not come to me until a few hours before I start typing. Other times I skip my "cold open op/ed" section until later.

But this week, the phrase "The Emperor's New Clothes" as it pertains to our friends from Ann Arbor came to me weeks ago. Both the children's fairy tale and the 1990 song of the same name from Sinead O'Connor just fit perfectly with my current feelings on the Wolverines and the current trajectory of 2024 season.

I also have enjoyed flexing some of my GenX, 90s alternative music knowledge over the past few weeks. Sorry (Not sorry.)

Anyway, let's keep the hate train moving with this week's episode of Bad Betting Advice:

Joe Rossi:

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Cal Haladay:

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UPDATE: Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke will miss Saturday's game vs. Washington and is out indefinitely.

Rourke appeared to hit the helmet of an opposing player late in the second quarter. He remained in the game for a handful of snaps to close out the first half, but didn't initially come out of the locker room with his teammates after halftime.

Rourke was replaced by backup quarterback Tayven Jackson, who is the only holdover from IU's 2023 quarterback room. He came into the game after Nebraska threw an interception to Shawn Asbury II with 7:35 left in the third quarter and completed his first six pass attempts as IU doubled a 21-point halftime lead.

Our first opponent specific breakdown of the season. For rivalry week! Happy to answer any questions about Michigan from a tactical/strategic perspective, and talk about how I might attack them if I were in Smith's shoes.

Fernando Valenzuela, Dodgers legend who sparked ‘Fernandomania,’ dead at 63​

“Fernando Valenzuela was one of the most impactful players of his generation,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement on Tuesday night. “With his distinctive pitching style, the Dodgers left-hander’s rookie season generated so much excitement in the U.S. and his native Mexico that it became commonly referred to as ‘Fernandomania.’ His 1981 season ranks among the most decorated pitching years of all-time as Fernando was the National League Rookie of the Year, the NL Cy Young Award winner, a Silver Slugger and a World Series champion.

“He is one of the most influential Dodgers ever and belongs on the Mount Rushmore of franchise heroes,” Stan Kasten, team president and CEO, said in a statement. “He galvanized the fan base with the Fernandomania season of 1981 and has remained close to our hearts ever since, not only as a player but also as a broadcaster. He has left us all too soon.”

Please join us in welcoming Jonah and Abby to Spartans Illustrated. We think you'll enjoy their down-to-earth Spartan fandom podcast. It's fun, refreshing, and intriguing - and is likely going to become one of your weekly destinations for Spartan sports.

Read their story and check out their most recent episode in the article below:

Earlier tonight, @Brendanmoore101 and I were joined by Justin from the Blue by 90 podcast as guests on the This Is Sparta MSU podcast, hosted by Jason Strayhorn and Sedric Irvin. While the main goal was to promote the Rivals for a Cause fundraiser, we got into a lively discussion about football, the rivalry, and more.

We pretty much all ganged up on Justin. It was a lot of fun. Check out the article below which has a link to the YouTube video. We come in around the 15 minute mark and we all talked for maybe 45 minutes. Sedric Irvin took his shirt off more than once...

It's gameday in East Lansing! Michigan State (3-3, 1-2) will host Iowa (4-2, 2-1) tonight at Spartan Stadium.

Kickoff is set for just after 7:30 p.m. on NBC.

Follow along here for live updates from Spartan Stadium and game discussion.

Eastern Carolina and Southern Miss fired their Head Coaches today.

Utah's OC Andy Ludwig is stepping down as OC. You might remember that 18 months ago, ND was hot to trot to hire Ludwig to replace Tommy Rees. They were publicly down the road with the process and then found out that he had a huge buyout at Utah.

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The Battle for the Big Bear first began in 2000.​

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's soccer returns home to take on Michigan in the 25th annual Battle for the Big Bear on Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. at DeMartin. With only three regular-season games remaining, Big Ten standings are on the line.

Last time out, Michigan State fell to Indiana 3-1 in Bloomington on Oct. 18, falling to 5-6-2 overall and 4-3-0 on 4-3-0 in Big Ten play. Michigan stands 6-3-4 overall and 1-3-3 in league action.

Dean Linke and Patrick Doody are on the call for the Big Ten Network.

BATTLE FOR THE BIG BEAR
This is the 25th anniversary for the Battle for the Big Bear Trophy. The trophy originated in 2000. MSU leads the series 14-5-4 since 2000. The Spartans currently have possession of the trophy after the teams tied 0-0 in Ann Arbor last season on BTN. In 2022 in East Lansing, Michigan State came out on top with a 2-0 win behind goals from Greyson Mercer and Jonathan Stout.

The bear trophy was purchased in 1999 by former U-M head coach Steve Burns on his way back from a trip to Canada and was installed as the rivalry's trophy during the inaugural match between the Spartans the Wolverines in 2000.

Michigan State leads the overall series with Michigan 34-12-9, including 17-3-4 in East Lansing. The Wolverines have closed the gap of late, winning five of the last eight games. With the COVID-19 shortened season, MSU and U-M met three times with the Wolverines winning all three, including a 1-0 win in the Big Ten tournament. Michigan also won both meetings in 2019. In 2021, the teams battled to a 2-2 double overtime tie in Ann Arbor.

BRACING FOR OFFENSE
With his brace against No. 25 Wisconsin, senior midfielder Sean Kerrigan led the Spartans to a 2-0 win over the Badgers on Oct. 11. It was the first time this season that the Spartans had scored multiple goals in a game. Kerrigan is now second on the team in scoring with three goals. He is first on the team in shots on goal with 11.

FINDING HIS GROOVE
Junior midfielder Jonathan Stout leads the team in scoring with four goals and two assist for 10 points. He now has points in four of the Spartans' last six games. Stout has now reached double figures in scoring all three seasons that he has been at Michigan State with 12 as a freshman and 10 as a sophomore.

Sophomore forward Richie Ludwig, senior midfielder Sean Kerrigan, junior midfielder Jack Guggemos, sophomore defender Will Eby and freshman forward Mohamed Saad have also found the back of the net this season. Junior midfielder Cristiano Bruletti scored his first goal as a Spartan against Indiana on Oct. 18 on a penalty kick.

LOOKING AT THE WOLVERINES
Michigan stands a 6-3-4 overall this season and holds a 1-3-3 mark in the Big Ten. With six points, the Wolverines are ninth in the Big Ten standings looking to earn a top-seven spot in the Big Ten Tournament. Michigan has lost two-straight games, suffering its first two shutouts of the season against Indiana and Northwestern.

Beto Soto is fourth in the Big Ten in points this season with 15 off of three goals and nine assists, leading the Big Ten. Bryce Blevins is tied for eighth in scoring with four goals and five assists for 13 points. Isaiah Goldson played in goal in the loss to the Wildcats. He has played in nine games this season, allowing 14 goals for a 1.56 GAA. He has made 30 saves this season.

SERIES HISTORY
Michigan Steate leads the overall series lead against Michigan 34-12-9. In East Lansing, the Spartans leads 17-3-4. In Ann Arbor, MSU still is on top in the series 15-7-4. On neutral territory, the series is tied 2-2-0. In the last five games, U-M has a slight lead 2-1-2.

Last season in Ann Arbor, No. 19 Michigan State battle to a 0-0 tie with Michigan on Oct. 10, 2023. For the game, MSU was out-shot 10-6, while the Wolverines had five corner kicks to four by the Spartans. Kelly made four saves on the night.

LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State fell to first-place Indiana, 3-1, Friday night at Bill Armstrong Stadium.

The Spartans cut into the Indiana lead in the 42nd minute. This time an Indiana was called for a hand ball in the box. Junior defender Cristiano Bruletti converted the PK for his first goal of the season. It was also his first career penalty kick.

WRACKING UP THE CLEAN SHEETS
Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Zac Kelly has earned five shutouts this season, including four in Big Ten play. He now has 10 career shutouts in two complete seasons for the Spartans. He has a 1.18 GAA this season and a 1.04 career GAA.

PUTTING IN THE TIME
Of all the field players, redshirt-junior defender Josh Adam leads the team in minutes player with 1,170. He is one of six Spartans to top the 1,000-minute mark along with goalkeeper Zac Kelly (1,151), defender Jeremy Sharp (1,097), defender Brandon Munson (1,081), sophomore Will Eby (1,046) and junior Cristiano Bruletti (1,008).

IN CONFERENCE ACTION
The Spartans may not be lighting up the scoreboard in Big Ten play, but they have allowed only seven goals in seven games. Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Zac Kelly has played all 630 minutes in league play for a 1.00 GAA. He has made 22 saves in B1G games. Junior midfielder Jonathan Stout is tied for eighth in the league in goals scored in B1G games with three.

FRESHMAN FRENZY
Freshman defender Brandon Munson has made the most of his brief time as a Spartan. He has played in all 13 games, starting 12. Against Washington on Sept. 13, his bicycle kick back save prevented the Huskies from scoring and was the No. 1 play on ESPN SportsCenter. Fellow freshman forward Mohamed Saad has also played in all 13 games, starting five. He has scored one goal this season against Oregon State.

PACKING THE STANDS
Michigan State is 14th in the nation in attendance this season, averaging 1,736 fans per game this season. That stands fourth in the Big Ten behind Indiana (3,028), which is third, Maryland (2,243), which is eighth and Washington, which is 12th (1,839).

GETTING IN THE LINEUP
Through 13 games this season, MSU has used eight different starting lineups. In the first 13 games, four Spartans have started every in Zac Kelly, Cristiano Bruletti, Jeremy Sharp, and Josh Adam.

PLAY THE BEST TO BE THE BEST
Michigan State's game against No. 25 Wisconsin was the Spartans fifth game against a ranked team. MSU is 2-2-1 against ranked teams this season with a win against No. 15 UCLA. MSU has losses against No. 12/7 Maryland and No. 5 Oregon State. To open the season, the Spartans tied No. 25 SIUE, 1-1.

HERMANN TROPHY
Junior midfielder Jonathan Stout was named to the Missouri Athletic Club (MAC) Hermann Trophy Watch List. The MAC Hermann Trophy is the most prestigious individual award in college soccer and is presented annually to the most outstanding male and female players of the year. Stout is the first Spartan to make the list since Giuseppe Barone and Patrick Nielsen were named to the Hermann Watch List in 2019.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

Class of 2025 four-star small forward Cam Ward will officially visit Michigan State during the weekend of Oct. 4 through Oct. 6, multiple sources tell Spartans Illustrated. There had been a couple of conflicting dates reported for Ward's visit, so this was something I wanted to confirm.

Ward, out of Largo High School in Maryland, is the No. 79 prospect nationally and No. 25 small forward in the 2025 cycle.

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My call to action for Rivals for a Cause:


I encourage everyone to donate and share this article to get others to as well!

Thanks all!

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ROSEMONT, Ill. - For the second time this season, Michigan State graduate goalkeeper Kaitlyn Parks was named Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week, as announced by the conference Tuesday.

Parks earns the second Big Ten weekly award of her career and third overall for the Spartans in 2024, following her first selection on Sept. 24 this season and Justina Gaynor's defensive player of the week nod on Aug. 20. She is one of three goalkeepers in the Big Ten to win the award multiple times this season, joining Ohio State's Molly Pritchard and Iowa's Macy Enneking.

Parks posted a pair of wins and clean sheets to help MSU knock off Wisconsin, 2-0, and Northwestern, 1-0, last week. Against Wisconsin, she made 10 saves, just one short of her career high, before stopping three shots against Northwestern. The Upper Marlboro, Maryland, native has six shutouts in Big Ten play and eight overall this season.

Parks' 85.1 save percentage ranks second in the league among goalkeepers who have played at least 75 percent of their team's games this season. She maintains a 0.73 goals-against average in 2024.

MSU hosts Purdue on Sunday, Oct. 27 at 1 p.m. at DeMartin Stadium in its regular-season finale. The Big Ten quarterfinals are scheduled for Nov. 2 at Minnesota's Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium.

Release courtesy of MSU Athletics.

Brian Lindgren:

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What a difference a week can make! It is really nice when you have a feeling that you perhaps understand the college football landscape a bit more clearly than others may. I had a gut feeling that the Spartans were poised for a breakout performance. I had a feeling that the extra week of rest, playing at home, and not having to play a team ranked in the top five would be helpful.

But I don't think that anyone was really prepared for how good MSU looked at Saturday night. Iowa is a solid team with a very good defense. MSU outgained them by almost 200 yards, never punted, and only had one turnover.

Even though the Spartans had to settle for seven field goal attempts, they still won by double-digits. Just two months into the Jonathan Smith era, the Spartans are already on the brink of fielding a very competitive Big Ten team.

With the win over Iowa, with Purdue terrible and with Rutgers fading fast, as we will see, the odds for a bowl game had gone up dramatically. The next few weeks will still be tough, but six wins, at least, is now very attainable.

And then there is the Michigan Wolverines. Boy, it is sure a shame was has happened to their season. Based on the reactions on social media, the Maize and Blue faithful have moved into the next phase of grieving and are close to accepting the fact that they just aren't very good... and maybe, just maybe, a little closer to admitting that that little cheating scheme that they used was perhaps a bit more effective than they want to believe.

Nah...who am I kidding? They will never accept that. Honest self-reflection just isn't in their nature.

But we have all week to talk about that.

In the meantime, please enjoy this week's edition of Against All Odds.

It may be his first season as the coach of the Spartans, but Jonathan Smith has plenty of experience in these types of games from his time as a player and a coach at Oregon State. He knows what this game means to the program.

"I've felt it since getting here."

Read here:

MSU has been deliberate and taken their time in evaluating which goaltender will come in after Trey Augustine. As of this morning that picture is much clearer, as the Spartans took a commitment from Swedish goaltender Melvin Strahl.

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Interview: Sam Vincent talks about being the Grand Marshal for Michigan State's homecoming​

Sam was the first "Mr. Basketball" in the State of Michigan and the younger brother of MSU great Jay Vincent

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