Michigan State football: 3 fearless predictions vs. No. 11 Penn State

Penn State will give Michigan State football all it can handle on Friday night in Detroit. It’s time for some predictions.

Folks, we finally did it. We made it to the end of the 2023 Michigan State football season after a nightmarish three months.

The Spartans will close their 2023 season on Friday night against No. 11 Penn State at Ford Field in Detroit and, well, the Nittany Lions are heavy favorites at -21.5. This would be a major upset for the Spartans, but they’re getting hot lately, winning two of their last three under Harlon Barnett.

Fresh off a win over Indiana, can the Spartans pull off the upset?

1. Nathan Carter rushes for 100 yards

Poor Nathan Carter. Not only has he dealt with losing the coach who brought him in via the transfer portal, but he hasn’t had a 100-yard game since September. And it’s to no fault of his own. The Spartans’ offensive line has been horrid and he has had little to no running room all season long. With a decent line, he would have over 1,000 yards this season, but right now he’s sitting at 753 heading into the final game.

Even though Penn State has a really good defense, I see Carter having his first 100-yard game since he had 108 against Iowa on Sept. 30.

2. Maliq Carr scores twice

Unlike Carter, Maliq Carr has been heating up and he’s coming off a career game against Indiana. The big tight end caught seven passes for 119 yards and a couple of touchdowns. He’s going to continue that success on Friday night.

Carr will be Katin Houser’s favorite target again and he’ll be a matchup nightmare for the Nittany Lions. He’s going to step up and catch six passes for 83 yards and two more scores. That’ll give him about 200 yards and four scores in the final two weeks of the season.

If he’s back next year, the next head coach will have a budding superstar tight end to work with.

3. MSU not only covers but keeps it within one score

The spread for this one favors Penn State by 21.5 points which is not surprising given the fact that MSU has been blown out by good teams all year, but the Nittany Lions haven’t looked great in recent weeks. Plus, this is technically a rivalry game and who doesn’t want to take home the beautifully ugly Land Grant Trophy?

Barnett has done a good job of keeping this team together and motivated despite a bowl game pretty much being off the table and we’ll see a “nothing to lose” performance from the Spartans.

Michigan State will have Penn State on the ropes late, keeping this game within one score but falling short 31-24.