3 bold predictions for Michigan State football vs. Iowa

A prime opportunity to stop the bleeding and end a three-game losing streak presents itself to Michigan State football on Saturday evening as Iowa comes to town for homecoming.

The Spartans have lost to Boston College, Ohio State, and Oregon in back-to-back-to-back games to go from 3-0 to 3-3 and into a much-needed bye week to regroup. This team comes out of the bye looking to get back into the win column and Iowa won’t exactly be a pushover.

Iowa is 4-2 on the year with losses to Iowa State and Ohio State but it has shown some signs of life on offense, including a blowout a week ago against Washington at home. It’s weird to see this team put up points, but it looks much more competent because it does have one of the top running backs in college football manning the backfield.

With Iowa on the clock, let’s dive into some bold predictions for the Spartans.

1. Michigan State holds Kaleb Johnson under 100 yards

If Iowa is going to beat Michigan State, it’s going to have to be on the arm of Cade McNamara.

Joe Rossi and the defense are going to focus on slowing down Kaleb Johnson and that run game which has been so effective this season. Johnson has 937 yards and 12 touchdowns on an astounding 7.9 yards per carry and has had over 100 rushing yards in all but one game but the Spartans will hold him under that mark on Saturday evening.

This defense is going to surprise some people on Saturday with a run-stuffing effort.

2. Aidan Chiles will have 300-plus total yards

Through the first four games of the year, it felt like Aidan Chiles couldn’t seem to figure out how to avoid the turnover bug. He had seven interceptions and wasn’t protecting the ball as well as he should’ve but he bounced back in the past two games against elite competition. In fact, he had just one interception against Ohio State and Oregon and it feels like he’s turned the corner.

Now he just needs some consistency and efficiency.

That’ll start on Saturday night against the No. 78 passing defense in the country. Chiles will throw for 250 yards and rush for another 50 on his way to a 300-yard game against one of the (usually) stingiest defenses in the Big Ten.

3. Michigan State football will win in familiar fashion

You know the meme where Leonardo DiCaprio is pointing at the TV because he sees something familiar? That’s what Michigan State fans are going to be doing at the end of this game when Charles Brantley closes the door on Iowa after picking Cade McNamara off with just over a minute left.

When did we see that last? Back when Brantley was a freshman in 2021 and McNamara was still at Michigan. His one-handed pick on McNamara ended the game and gave the Spartans a huge come-from-behind win.

Brantley’s pick of McNamara will shut the door on Iowa.