REPORT: Michigan State Severely Disrespected Through Early Going
Michigan State will face the Oregon Ducks on Friday.
The Spartans aim to avoid a three-game losing streak after opening the season with three consecutive wins. Michigan State now sits at 3-2 on the season. After losing to Ohio State at home last weekend, Coach Jonathan Smith and the Spartans travel west to face another top team in college football.
Michigan State has shown flashes of a talented team, like when it upset Maryland on the road earlier this season. However, in the last two weeks, the Spartans have been a team that has continued piling up turnovers and losses as they have struggled in many critical areas this season.
The Spartans’ two consecutive losses caused them to drop in the eyes of many college football experts after their first three wins began making believers out of a few of their doubters. However, the last two weeks have undone some of Michigan State's progress over the season's first three weeks.
Paul Myerberg of USA Today ranks 134 college football teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision weekly. After the last two weeks, Myerberg has continued to drop the Spartans in his rankings after initially giving them a respectable ranking. After losing to Ohio State, Myerberg ranked the Spartans as the 64th-best team in the country, which is five spots lower than he ranked them the week before.
Myerberg ranked Michigan State as the 13th-best team in the Big Ten. He ranked Michigan State ahead of Purdue, UCLA, Northwestern, Minnesota and Maryland, a testament to how far Michigan State has come in a relatively short time. However, it also shows how far the Spartans have to go to rebuild the program to what it once was.
Michigan State has returned to reality after the last two weeks and will likely have another reality check after Friday's matchup with Oregon. However, despite what happens Friday night, Michigan State still has a shot at a successful season, including a bowl game appearance.
It will be up to Smith and his coaching staff to not let a difficult stretch of games derail what has been a productive season so far. The Spartans are still ahead of schedule no matter what happens.
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Ezekiel is a former Sports Editor from the Western Herald and former Atlanta Falcons beat writer.