Fourteen years ago, Mike Hart stood
behind a podium wearing a Block-M
quarter-zip
after
beating
Michigan
State 28-24. He smirked; shrugged, then
laughed. His “little brother” quote, now
infamous, has become ingrained in the
rhetoric of the rivalry.
This weekend on Oct. 30, Hart
will return to East Lansing as the
running backs coach for the undefeated
Wolverines. Michigan State also remains
unbeaten, making this the first time
since 1964 both teams play each other
while ranked in the top 10. That year, No.
4 Michigan beat No. 9 Michigan State,
17-10.
Now, the sixth-ranked Wolverines will
play their toughest game of the season
against the eighth-ranked Spartans.
Throughout the year, those watching
have speculated on how its performance
against lesser opponents will golf up
against more noteworthy opponents
throughout the last five weeks of the
regular season.
It’s the same story for the Spartans.
Just like Michigan, neither have played
against a team currently ranked in the
top 25, and yet both are among the nine
remaining undefeated teams, each with
legitimate College Football Playoff hopes.
Michigan State comes in with an
explosive offense, led by running back
Kenneth Walker III who tops the nation
in rushing yards per game. It has three
wide receivers — Jalen Nailor, Tre Mosley
and Jayden Reed — who average over 15
yards a catch, each with more than 20
catches on the season.
For reference, the Wolverines don’t
have a single player with more than 20
catches this season. It does, however,
have two top-50 running backs in
rushing yards per game. And, as a unit,
the running backs room out rushed the
Spartans by more than 300 yards this
season.
But the Spartans’ weapons strike at
a weakness of the Michigan defense
that first revealed its flaw three weeks
ago against Nebraska. The Cornhuskers
totaled eight plays of 20-plus yards against
Michigan, consisting of more than half
their yards over the game. Northwestern’s
one touchdown, meanwhile, came on a
75-yard touchdown run.
Michigan State has 38 plays of 20-plus
yards on the season and nine plays
of 50-plus yards, good for fifth in the
nation.
And then there’s Michigan’s offense,
much-maligned amongst the fanbase. No,
freshman J.J. McCarthy will not be the
quarterback, for better or worse. Junior
Cade McNamara will game-manage an
offense that is led by running backs Blake
Corum and Hassan Haskins and if the
defense limits big plays, the game will
be decided by one of those two running
backs.
At least, that’s what we think. The past
two months have merely been a rehearsal
for Saturday and November, with
Washington and Wisconsin not being the
measuring sticks we expected. A game
against top-10 Michigan State may go
along the script we expect, or it may not.
McNamara could make plays and blow
the game wide open, or he may be taken
aback by the most hostile environment he
has ever played in.
Either way, the game will act as an all-
important barometer going forward. It’s
a test that will measure the capability of
the entire team and the coach at the helm.
Jim Harbaugh, whose proverbeal seat
has considerably cooled in this season’s
first seven weeks, will coach in a pivotal
game against a rival. Can he dispell the
narrative of struggling against rivals and
struggling in big away games? Or by 4
pm on Saturday, will one more game be
added as an indictment against him?
“All focus is there,” Harbaugh said
after the Northwestern game. “When
you walk through that door I am going to
answer some questions about this game,
but it’s on to that game right now.”
Throughout the last eight weeks of
Michigan’s schedule, more questions
have been asked than opportunities to
answer them. The team has an identity, a
solid foundation.
On Saturday, we will know if that
foundation is strong enough to support a
potential playoff push.
Or if the “little brother” can knock it
over like a sand castle.
Managing
Sports
Editor
Kent
Schwartz can be reached on Twitter at @
KENT SCWARTZ
Managing Sports Editor
S P O R T S W E D N E S D A Y
Family reunion
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In biggest Michigan-Michigan State game
in 40 years, we will finally get answers
12 — Wednesday, October 27, 2021