Washington at Michigan State: Score Prediction

I smelled the upset from a mile away.

I overshot the scoring by a bit, but I called the winner despite Michigan State entering the game as a two-touchdown underdog. The Spartans walked into the Big House in Ann Arbor, took back the Paul Bunyan Trophy and brought it home to East Lansing for the first time in half a decade.

I've said it ad nauseam, but it needs to be said over and over to make sure it registers: The Spartans are coming off the most emotional win they've had in years.

Michigan State laid everything it had on the field against Michigan and accomplished the job at hand. It's incredibly difficult to pick yourself up, gather all the pieces left at the Big House, put them back together and go out and do it all over again.

It's football, and it's certainly not the first time these players have had to do that. However, this is the first time this season they've come off a win of this magnitude. How the Spartans handle themselves after the emotional fatigue they've likely experienced throughout the week is a question we don't have an answer to yet because we simply haven't seen it.

Washington is also coming into this game after a deflating loss that may have derailed its belief in the season. After winning two straight games, the Huskies hosted Penn State last week for homecoming. The Nittany Lions played spoiler, defeating Washington 28-25 and seemingly taking the life out of the Huskies.

So, the question of whether Washington can bounce back after traveling across the country to East Lansing is just as difficult to answer. However, we have a little more information to work with. After opening conference play with three consecutive losses, Washington traveled to Purdue and then Nebraska, winning both games.

Now, the Huskies have traveled back home and are making another trip to East Lansing. That's a lot of travel in a short period, and just how much that takes out of Washington is another difficult question.

Unfortunately, with the number of injuries the Spartans are dealing with, I just don't see a way for them to keep the momentum going, even at home.

Washington has the fifth-best passing offense in the Big Ten, while Michigan State has been without its top cornerbacks for quite some time. The depth pieces managed to keep freshman Tommy Carr under wraps throughout last week's game, but whether it's Demond Williams, the injured starter, or backup Elijah Brown, the Spartans will likely have a tough time containing Washington's passing attack.

Couple that with Michigan State's struggles to put points on the board and its reliance on kicker Liam Boyd to provide the scoring in last week's victory, and this matchup looks like a recipe for a tough, gritty game.

I expect a low-scoring battle, but one in which the road team ultimately finds a way to come away with the victory.

Washington 20, Michigan State 12