Rutgers @ Michigan State preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 10, 2015 ) Michigan State 31, Rutgers 24

A pair of teams still looking for their first conference victory clash Saturday afternoon when Michigan State hosts Rutgers in a Big Ten battle. The Spartans are surprisingly in a tie for last place after starting the season nationally ranked, and have dropped seven straight, while the Scarlet Knights are used to being in this position, though they’d love to jump above a perennial conference power with a win.

Michigan State’s season has been going downhill thanks to injuries on both sides of the ball, especially at quarterback. Junior Damion Terry could start this game after Tyler O’Connor suffered a head injury in last week’s loss to Illinois -- he would be the third player to start under center this season. Rutgers has played well the last two weeks, falling by just two at Minnesota and by six against Indiana, scoring 27 or more in each contest. Quarterback Giovanni Rescigno was under center for those two contests, averaging 239 yards passing and giving Rutgers an offensive spark it hasn’t had much this season.

TV: Noon ET. Big Ten Network. LINE: Michigan State -14

ABOUT RUTGERS (2-7, 0-6 Big Ten): While Rescigno has given the Rutgers offense a bit of a boost in the passing game, the Scarlet Knights have been going with a two-halfback formation that has helped the running game as well. Starting back Robert Martin is out injured, so Josh Hicks and Justin Goodwin have been lining up alongside each other, with the two combining for 124 yards against Minnesota and 91 yards against Indiana. For the junior Hicks, who played as a safety some last season after seeing his rushing attempts dwindle as the season went on, it’s been a bit of a career resurgence after he was MVP of the Quick Lane Bowl with 202 yards on the ground as a freshman.

ABOUT MICHIGAN STATE (2-7, 0-6): The Spartans’ rise in the national rankings over the last few years under Mark Dantonio was typified by a hard-nosed defense. That kind of defense hasn’t been evident much this season, thanks to a multitude of injuries that has made it hard for the unit to get any kind of consistency. It’s likely to continue that way as nagging injuries have sent defensive standouts Malik McDowell, Riley Bullough, Darian Hicks and Montae Nicholson to the sidelines at some point in the last week, making their status for this week uncertain.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Rutgers’ defense had a season-high 13 tackles for loss in last week’s loss to Indiana, the most by the Scarlet Knights since recording the same number against Louisville in 2012.

2. Michigan State has had a different starting lineup in every game this season on both offense and defense.

3. Spartans PK Michael Geiger tied a career high with four field goals against Illinois, moving into second place all-time on the school’s scoring list (334 points).

PREDICTION: Michigan State 28, Rutgers 20