Purdue Boilermakers Will Need a Miracle to Beat the Spartans
By Mathew Muncy
Miracles happen every week in sports, just look at Brigham Young’s first two wins of the 2015-2016 season, but to beat the No. 2 Michigan State Spartans the Purdue Boilermakers are going to need more than a miracle – if anything higher even exists.
Vegas currently has Purdue as 21.5 point underdogs and going into the season I can’t say I thought Purdue would be just another cupcake game for anyone in the Big Ten, but that’s what it seems they’ve become.
-= Related: Boilermakers CFB Season Preview =-
The Boilermakers head to East Lansing with a 1-3 record, 1-9 in their last 10 games dating back to last season. It’s been two years since these two teams have met and this will be their 65th overall meeting since 1918. Michigan State has won the last six meetings by an average of 11 points. That seems like a number the Boilermakers could manage, but the Virginia Tech game was probably the closest indicator of what this matchup against the Spartans will be like, which wasn’t close.
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Offensively, the Boilermakers are going to need redshirt Freshman David Blough to have another solid game like he did last week against Bowling Green. Blough seemed very calm and poised in his first collegiate start, but the Spartans are a different beast. Michigan State is currently 83rd in the nation in total defense because they give up plenty of yards, but they hold their opponents where it matters – points scored. Essentially, their defense bends but it doesn’t break.
The Blough led offense put up 28 points, including a rushing touchdown and two passing touchdowns by Blough himself, but the Sparty defense is only allowing 20.8 points per game. As good as Blough and the rest of the offense looked against Bowling Green, they will have to be perfect if they want to keep the Boilermakers even close against the Spartans.
Defensively, Purdue will have to do whatever it takes to keep the Spartans out of the endzone. Michigan State averages 33.3 points per game and Purdue gives up 35.3. And a nice little fun fact that ESPN’s Brian Bennett dropped early today is the Spartans have scored 30-plus points in 12 straight games; the longest streak in FBS currently.
Nothing I’ve seen so far this year from the Boilermakers gives me any confidence that they can walk into Spartan Stadium on Saturday and walk out with a win over the No. 2 team in the nation. Sadly, I feel their arch-nemesis Indiana Hoosiers have a better shot at upsetting No. 1 Ohio State. For us fan’s sake lets just hope by Saturday night I’m eating crow.
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