Analysis

Week 3 picks, preview: Michigan State reignites Notre Dame rivalry, EMU visits Madison

The Week 3 slate has arrived, headlined by a major rivalry being rekindled in South Bend.

(Via Michigan State Athletics)

The Week 3 slate has arrived, with five games spread throughout the day across the state of Michigan — and afar — starting with Eastern Michigan at Wisconsin just afternoon and capping off with a primetime showdown between old rivals Michigan State and Notre Dame at 7:30 p.m.

Dig in to picks and previews below.

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Eastern Michigan at Wisconsin, 12:30 p.m., Camp Randall Stadium, Peacock

Eastern Michigan gets a double dip of Big Ten foes, and will face a Wisconsin team that’s rather familiar to the MSU team that just vanquished EMU, and might even be a bit better roster wise. The Badgers look to be a pretty balanced offensive outfit, as Luke Fickell’s team has what looks like the early stages of a solid run game and have finally, apparently, landed the plane on a good quarterback in transfer Colton Joseph. After getting rolled up by Notre Dame after a strong start vs. the Irish, Wisconsin then ran over Western Illinois to get to 1-1, racking up 406 yards in a 36-9 win.

But while the Wisconsin offense looks like a balanced and rugged Big Ten outfit, oddly enough the defense for the Badgers is a bit suspect, giving up 302 yards to Western Illinois and field goal drives in each of the first three quarters. EMU will have to do better than field goals, but between Noah Kim and the pass catchers and a run game that started to churn vs. MSU, the Eagles should be able to get the ball moving vs. a defense that just gave up 154 rushing yards to a team from a lower classification. But keeping it close doesn’t turn it into a win for EMU, either.

Wisconsin 27, Eastern Michigan 17

Central Michigan vs. Wyoming, 1 p.m., Kelly/Shorts Stadium, ESPN+

CMU and Wyoming have had basically mirror seasons of each other so far: Lost on the road vs. an FBS foe in Week 1, come home and scrape by an FCS team in Week 2. Wyoming might be a bit more sound offensively, but Central Michigan’s defense looks solid. But that might be the margin, if CMU’s defense can again produce a big takeaway edge to set up the struggling CMU offense with short fields and extra possessions. Either way, the CMU defense that pitched a shutout in the second half vs. Colgate will be needed in this one, largely to slow down Cowboys running back Sam “Tote” Harris and a big UW offensive line.

Wyoming is fairly pedestrian on defense, but CMU’s offense has been worse than that for six of eight quarters to open the season. But in the second half against Colgate, CMU found a groove offensively, running the ball to great effect as it seemed like players settled in and a tense vibe gave way to a gritted-teeth, grind-it-out win. Central Michigan will need to get at least that much out of the offense and QB Angel Flores, who Drinkall said will take on a more central role as quarterback this week. This game will likely be close and low scoring, with a few defensive swing plays for Central Michigan making the difference in a needed win.

Central Michigan 21, Wyoming 16

Michigan vs. UTEP, 3:30 p.m., Michigan Stadium, CBS

Michigan found A Recipe to win games last week, at least against equal-to-better opponents: Take the air out of the ball on offense, run the quarterback, and play incredibly stingy defense. At a minimum, the Wolverines could do that against lowly UTEP and still probably win something like 31-3, but that also wouldn’t serve the Wolverines best going forward. And facing a UTEP team that lost to an Oklahoma team (that Michigan just beat) by 50-plus, Michigan should have ample opportunity to let quarterback Bryce Underwood and the passing game try to click into gear.

Underwood struggled badly in the opener then looked cleaner in Week 2, but wasn’t asked to do all that much as a passer. With Michigan capable of playing from big leads against UTEP, this should be a laboratory for Underwood and Co. to iron out some kinks in the passing offense. Also, too, this should be a day where Michigan’s running backs finally get going after two quiet performances in the first two weeks for Jordan Marshall and Savion Hiter. If Michigan can’t put on a strong offensive showing in this one, they might not all season.

Michigan 45, UTEP 6

Western Michigan at Rice, 7 p.m., Rice Stadium, ESPN+

The Broncos head to Houston to face Rice, and aside from playing where John F. Kennedy promised that Americans would walk on the moon about 64 years and a week ago, this game poses a distinct challenge for the WMU defense in defending against Rice’s triple option, headed up by transfer QB Jacurri Brown. Brown began his career at Miami (Fl.) before transferring to UCF, and is a big, long, impressive athlete heading up the rushing attack alongside a few dangerous tailbacks for Rice: Tyvonn Byars and Enock Gota.

But if the Broncos can hem in that rushing attack, Rice might be DOA. It’s hard to get a read on the rest of the Owls, either, as they faced an FCS team in the opener in a blowout win before getting played off the field by Notre Dame in Week 2. It’s not a very representative sample size. But the hope for a WMU program humming in Year 4 under Lance Taylor is just comprehensively better than what’s been a moribund Rice program in Year 2 of a regime. Also look for WMU’s pass game to have a good night against an FCS opponent.

Western Michigan 28, Rice 10

Michigan State at Notre Dame, 7:30 p.m., Notre Dame Stadium, NBC

This is one of the best rivalries in college football in terms of “integral to the fabric of the sport’ cultural considerations, especially around the midwest. Notre Dame helped MSU get into the Big Ten, there’s the game of the century, modern moments like Little Giants, and then there was a nine year gap where these teams didn’t play. Thank god that’s resolved for the fans. For Michigan State’s football team, facing a Top 5 Notre Dame team on the road, it’s a different story.

This Irish team is complete, well coached, and has one of the best quarterbacks in the country in CJ Carr, the grandson of former Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr. Head coach Marcus Freeman has, as usual, a loaded defense and the offensive line, while blocking for some unproven backs, is good once more. There just aren’t many gaps in the armor for MSU to exploit. MSU will need sterling days from Alessio Milivojevic and the run game, plus a defensive performance with a few takeaways, to give itself a chance. But even that’s probably not enough right now for the green and white.

Notre Dame 38, Michigan State 17