Michigan State football: 3 bold predictions at Maryland in Week 2

Michigan State football opens up Big Ten play at Maryland in Week 2. Will the Spartans pull off the road upset?

Week 1 of the 2024 Michigan State football season didn’t go quite as planned as the Spartans escaped with a 16-10 win over a rather underwhelming FAU team. Michigan State looked like it had some first-game jitters and just couldn’t build on that 16-3 lead in the first half.

The Spartans now head into the second week of the season against their first Big Ten opponent of the year: Maryland.

The Terrapins opened the season with a 50-7 blowout win over UConn and they looked really good offensively. There’s no more Taulia Tagovailoa, but it feels like the offense hasn’t missed a beat.

Michigan State’s defense was the strength in Week 1, but will it be able to stand up against the Terps? Let’s get bold.

3. Nick Marsh has first breakout game

The already-thin receiver depth is getting even thinner after an injury to Alante Brown in the season opener. Michigan State will be looking for someone to step up as a top target for Aidan Chiles and I think it’ll be Nick Marsh on Saturday.

We didn’t see much of Marsh in the first game against FAU but I think he slides into a starting role and has his first collegiate breakout game. I think Jack Velling will have a nice bounce-back performance, but Marsh will steal the show with over 100 receiving yards and his first career touchdown.

2. Aidan Chiles has huge bounce-back

Watching Aidan Chiles struggle in the opener was shocking, to say the least, but it feels like there’s nowhere to go but up.

And that’s where he’ll go on Saturday afternoon in College Park.

Chiles completed less than 50 percent of his passes for 114 yards and two picks against FAU, but he’s going to completely flip the script against Maryland. He’s going to come out looking motivated and he’ll pass for 275 yards and two touchdowns with no picks on over 65 percent completions.

1. Game comes down to a last-second field goal

This is one of those games that I think could be a toss-up, but it would also surprise me if Michigan State won. The Spartans haven’t won games like this in a couple of years and I don’t exactly expect that right away from Jonathan Smith. But this will be one of those surprise performances by the Spartans and they’ll take Maryland down to the wire.

Michigan State will tie things up with a fourth-quarter touchdown, but a last-second field goal by the Terps from 42 yards out decides the game and the Spartans go home heartbroken with a three-point loss.