Predicting the Michigan State football vs. Penn State game in East Lansing on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on ABC from Spartan Stadium:
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Rainer Sabin
Now that Mel Tucker has signed his new, fat contract extension, the focus returns to the football team he coaches. But it’s one that is now depleted after injuries have kept some of their best players on the sideline. Last Saturday, the rest of the Spartans should have stayed there because they didn’t look like they belonged on the field in a lopsided loss to Ohio State. With its offense in suboptimal condition, MSU must now overcome Penn State’s top-five defense. It’s up to Tucker to find a way. But he may come up a dollar short on this day. The pick: Penn State 24, Michigan State 20.
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Jeff Seidel
The Spartans were too beat up and too beat down after the Ohio State disaster. MSU just doesn’t have the depth to overcome injuries. And the Spartans pass defense is still the MSU pass defense. It’s a glaring weakness. The pick: Penn State 28, Michigan State 21.
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Chris Solari
The Spartans’ offense finds moving the ball tough, but Thorne is able to generate enough to keep the chains moving by spreading the ball around. The Nittany Lions tie it late, but MSU moves into field-goal range for one final Matt Coghlin game-winner in his last home game, shades of his first, back in 2017. The pick: Michigan State 23, Penn State 20.
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Shawn Windsor
The Spartans are missing several starters and their best player, Kenneth Walker III, is banged up. This won’t look like the debacle last Saturday in Columbus, but MSU is running on fumes. The Spartans hang around until the end but don’t quite have enough. The pick: Penn State 26, Michigan State 24.
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