Mitten Masterkey: Week 2 arrives with ample intrigue, in-state showdown in East Lansing
Find TV assignments, schedule, pregame reading, a podcast and all the bits and bobs to guide your Saturday in the Mitten Masterkey.
Another week of college football is here in the Mitten, which means another week of pulling together all the relevant bits and bobs from around the state entering the weekend.
From coverage of the biggest story in sports this week, the WMU-Michigan ending and the clock fiasco within, to Central Michigan coming out flat, MSU winning its opener and EMU wanting to bounce back, there's a lot to get into.
That, plus the game schedule, some podcasting, picks and a few previews and predictions all to come. Let's dig in.
Mitten Football will be at…
Spartan Stadium for Eastern Michigan’s trip up to East Lansing.
The schedule and TV assignments
Games are Saturday unless otherwise noted.
- Noon: Michigan vs. Oklahoma, Fox
- 1 p.m.: Central Michigan vs. Colgate, ESPN+
- 3:30 p.m.: Michigan State vs. Eastern Michigan, Big Ten Network
- 6:30 p.m.: Western Michigan vs. Monmouth, ESPN+
And for the uninitiated, this master schedule absolutely rocks (just be aware times are central).
Listen to “In The Pocket”
Mitten Football is doing a podcast, with Andrew Graham and the Detroit News’ Connor Earegood covering all the CFB news, notes, happenings and the like across the Mitten each week.
Pregame, halftime reading from Mitten Football, others
- Better, not bitter: Western looks ahead after controversial call in almost-upset over Michigan (MLive, Sept. 6)
- Ending aside, Western Michigan's debut showed the 2026 Broncos are legit (Mitten Football, Sept. 6)
- Kyle Whittingham: Starting jobs, including Bryce Underwood's, aren't 'infinite' (Detroit News, Sept. 7)
- Chris Creighton shares impressions of Michigan State’s opener: ‘They were in control’ (Mitten Football, Sept. 7)
- ‘Soft, weak:’ Michigan football leaders sound alarm after troubling opener (MLive, Sept. 9)
- Matt Drinkall takes blame for Central Michigan’s out-of-sorts opener, outlines course corrections (Mitten Football, Sept. 9)
- Michigan State can’t test ‘football gods’ again after Week 1 failures (MLive, Sept. 9)
- Notebook: 2 injury notes, Lance Taylor's Dillon Moore praise, Jaion Jackson ejection fallout (Mitten Football, Sept. 9)
- Michigan State football wants aggressive, not reckless defense (Detroit Free Press, Sept. 10)
- The friendships folded in to Noah Kim's return to face Michigan State (Mitten Football, Sept. 10)
- Michigan football has one big target vs Oklahoma: QB John Mateer (Detroit Free Press, Sept. 11)
- Gaylord's Brady Pretzlaff proving MSU coaches' investment was worth it (Detroit News, Sept. 11)
Picks, preview
Read the full joint here with all the analysis and scores.
- Oklahoma over Michigan
- Central Michigan over Colgate
- Michigan State over Eastern Michigan
- Western Michigan over Monmouth
A unit to watch: Michigan State’s secondary
Two weeks in a row a Spartan position room makes the cut, but after giving up some big plays to Toledo in the opener and facing an Eastern Michigan team that wants to throw the ball down the field, MSU’s defensive backs will need to be buttoned down.
Defensive coordinator Joe Rossi intimated that his defense played aggressive but maybe stepped into reckless territory, biting on a double move and later mis-playing a gap to allow a long run. If the recklessness gets ironed out and the Spartans keep things in front of them on the back end, EMU might struggle. Otherwise, the Eagles have ways to score.
A fun prediction: Five different Broncos score TDs
Western Michigan didn’t score a touchdown in nearly defeating Michigan, but it’s a very safe bet that WMU finds the end zone — and repeatedly — on Saturday night against what was already an overmatched FCS opponent that now gets to bear the brunt of the Broncos taking out their emotions.
Running back Jalen Buckley and quarterback Broc Lowry are both likely candidates to pick up rushing touchdowns (not counting passing here), and you can basically pick three of the following players out of a hat as the other potential touchdown scorers: WR Aveion Chenault, WR Baylin Brooks, WR Egypt Nelson, WR Emazon Littlejohn, RB Lolo Mataele, RB Cole Cabana, TE Adam Parks, TE Nate Levicki.
