Michigan State Preview for 2022
Scott Morris | August 2, 2022
Coach Mel Tucker is back and is looking to repeat the success of 2021. He and his Spartans posted an 11-2 record which included a 7-2 mark in the Big Ten. Last years highlights were beating Penn State again and beating Pitt in the Peach Bowl.
Players
QB Payton Thorne is back and he brings his 27 TD’s to just 10 INT’s with him. He will be throwing to Jayden Reed who had 1,000 yards receiving last year. Transfer running backs Jalen Berger (Wisconsin) and Jarek Broussard (Colorado) will look to split time in the backfield. Broussard was the Pac-10 player of the year in 2020.
Georgia cornerback transfer Ameer Speed joins senior safety Xavier Henderson in the defensive backfield. This year they will need to improve on last year’s dead last finish in passing yards allowed. DE Jeff Pietrowski returns to the DL. He had 5.5 sacks last year. Michigan State was the best sacking team in the Big Ten in 2021.
2022 Michigan State Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Sept. 2 | Western Michigan | Western Michigan is a tough smaller program but Michigan State should win. MSU are 18.5 point favorites in this game at SBAOdds.com |
| Sept. 10 | Akron | The Zips should be no match for MSU. |
| Sept. 17 | Washington | Washington aren't what they used to be MSU should be able to secure this win. |
| Sept. 24 | Minnesota | This may be a challenge for MSU. Still, they should get the win but we wouldn't be terribly shocked if they lost here. |
| Oct. 1 | Maryland | Maryland will be playing fast and hard. This is a game that MSU doesn't want to look past. |
| Oct. 8 | Ohio State | The big boys in the Big Ten come to town and give Sparty their first or second loss of the season. |
| Oct. 15 | Wisconsin | This game will be a hard fought battle. Both teams have a shot. Wisconsin may be slight favorites. Take Sparty plus the points. |
| Oct. 22 | Bye | |
| Oct. 29 | Michigan | Having the Wolverines at home will be an advantage but they will be too much for Sparty to handle. |
| Nov. 5 | Illinois | Illinois is building but simply doesn't have enough meat on the bone to beat MSU. |
| Nov. 12 | Rutgers | Rutgers is one of those wild card teams. They can beat you on a good day. MSU will be favored by a TD or more. |
| Nov. 19 | Indiana | This should be a pretty convincing win for the Spartans. |
| Nov. 26 | Penn State | Can Sparty win it three years in a row? We say yes. |
Conclusion and Betting
The Spartans are coached well and they have talent. They have a tough schedule. We can, however, see them getting 8 or 9 wins from this schedule. The 2022 college football total wins over-under is currently sitting at 7.5 wins. We say take the Over.
National championship odds are currently paying out +15000 for Michigan State at BetOnline.ag – This is much higher than the +7500 that we had estimated for this team. So, +15000 has value.
