Why Michigan State can end Indiana’s perfect start

This weekend, Michigan State will try to do something no other team has done this season: beat the Indiana Hoosiers.

After eight games, the Hoosiers are 8-0 for the first time in over 50 years. They have overwhelmed almost every team they have faced this season, and Michigan State has no plans to be the next team on that list.

Michigan State must win two of the following four games to reach six wins and be invited to a bowl game. Even though the Spartans are playing teams they’d probably prefer to beat in their final two games of the season. They could make things easier for themselves with a win over Indiana.

Pete Fiutak of Sporting News believes quarterback Kurtis Rourke will challenge the Spartans through the air. However, he noted that Michigan State’s run defense will be one of the best Indiana has faced all season. The Spartans are coming off arguably their worst loss of the season, but a win against the Hoosiers would be another success for Smith in his first season.

“Start with this – Rourke is expected to be back,” Fiutak wrote. “That doesn’t help the Spartans as long as the starting quarterback’s thumb on his passing hand is OK, but he’s just getting back into the swing of things.” Rourke will – if he has it – hit his passes from mid-range, but the running game should come first Faltered once this season. Ohio State, Oregon and Iowa were able to beat the Spartans in different ways, but Michigan struggled to get going and this year the MSU D allowed fewer than four yards per carry five times.