Michigan Monday: Gets an Early Look at The Spartans

MSU beat a punch-less Iowa team on Saturday in East Lansing.   Iowa looked like they had a hangover from almost upsetting Penn State a week ago.  The match-up in East Lansing seemed like an inter-squad scrimmage as both teams looked identical in how they played the game (which was boring!). 


The Spartans are not great at any position group but they are not terrible either.   They understand what type of team they are and they play like it.   The offense will "nickel and dime" you with 3-4 yard gains on each down to move the chains and bleed the clock.   The Spartans want to limit the mistakes and be there in the 4th quarter.


MSU will pull out everything they have to win this game on offense, but will clearly try to stop the Wolverines from running the ball.  O'Korn will have to continue to hit the TE's and WR's to be effective. On paper this is a mismatch, but we know better then that and the Spartans will come to play next Saturday night in the first ever night game in this series.   This will be State's first road game of the year. 


Line: Michigan -12.5
Pass yards per: 242 (60th)
Rushing yards per: 187 (49th)
Points Scored per: 24 (101)
Points against per: 18 (21st)
ESPN B10 Rank: #6

• Insiders are saying that Wilton is not close to playing and could miss the rest of the year.   My guess is he might be back by Penn State or Rutgers.    It's your team now Mr. O'Korn!  We will see what Jimmy says today during his press conference (I won't hold my breathe but he did confirm Black's broken foot).  Update: Jimmy confirms Wilton is out for weeks.   That is about as much detail as we can expect.

• Instate Center Taylor Currie de-committed from Michigan Basketball's class on Friday.  He was originally a 2019 commit that wanted to re-classify for 2018.  When a recruit does that it messes up the recruiting plan the team had for the earlier year.   Michigan had two 2018 prospects in this weekend, including Florida Center Colin Castleton who the coaches are very high on.

• Michigan suspended indefinitely DB/WR Nate Johnson on Saturday.  Nate got into a few games last year as a WR and caught one pass for 4 yards.  He moved to CB in fall camp and rumors were he was back on offense prior to the Purdue game.   Michigan did not comment on why he was suspended.  An insider is questioning if Nate will make it back on the team.   Update:  Here is why: Michigan football player Nate Johnson was arrested over the weekend by campus police following an alleged assault.Diane Brown, spokesperson for the University of Michigan Division of Public Safety and Security, told MLive on Monday that Johnson, 19, was arrested on campus in the early morning hours of Saturday for an attack on a female student.
  Details of the incident were not immediately clear, but the alleged victim was located at a dorm room on campus, Brown said. 

• There are reports that Michigan commit 4 star LB Otis Reese might be leaning towards Georgia with their quick start to the year.   Otis has been committed to the Wolverines for a long time but has been making a few trips to Georgia.  There is one person that will help make the decision for Otis and it's Aubrey Solomon.  If Aubrey, gives Otis a thumps up then I like Michigan's chances to keep him in the class.   (Aubrey and Otis were high school teammates).

• A quick thought on LSU.  Always be careful of the interim coach.  The interim coach gives a team a quick shot of adrenaline but rarely does that last.  I give you a few examples: Bobby Williams at MSU,  the guy that replaced Rich Rod at WVU, Luke Fickell at OSU and the list goes on.   I know everybody loves the interim guy if he does well, but a University Administration should give a lot of thought before hiring him.   Nebraska and Tennessee might have similar decisions soon.