Florida Atlantic game preview

[SpartanRocky]

Originally Posted by RH Spartan

I agree. We match up worse with FAU and frankly, they are better than ND. In addition, the injuries / absences in the secondary really scare me against a team that is pass happy. We could easily lose this game. I think it will come down to the last quarter.

On an aside, it was nice to see the special teams perform well last week. Similar plays on Saturday would be huge.

I was doing my own write-up for the game (I'll post it tomorrow or Friday) and was checking some special teams stats. We only gave up 23 yards/KR against Eastern and under 20/return against Cal. We allowed no punt returns against Eastern and only 2.8 yards/return against Cal.

Wow.

[In a pylon st8ofmind]

Scout.com: Big Ten Fearless Predictions, Sept. 13

Florida Atlantic (1-1) at Michigan State (1-1), 12:00 EST ESPN2
Why to watch: The Spartans got back on track after a season-opening shootout loss to Cal by blasting Eastern Michigan 42-10. Javon Ringer scored five times and the defense shut down the Eagle spread attack, and now the hope is for this to be tune-up time before Notre Dame comes to town next week. Florida Atlantic came up with a good shootout win over UAB after getting blasted by Texas in week one. QB Rusty Smith leads a good team that remains the favorite to win the Sun Belt, but it’s trying to make itself into more of a national player and it needs big wins to do it. This would count, as would a win at Minnesota next week. But really, the Owls are prepping for conference play in a Sun Belt that’ll be far better and far more difficult to get through than last year.
Why Florida Atlantic might win: The Michigan State secondary has been allowing yards in bunches so far. The EMU quarterbacks weren’t great, but they threw for plenty of big plays, while Cal fired away at will with bombs in both the passing and running games. Smith has been excellent so far throwing for 253 yards against Texas and 325 against UAB, and he should be able to hit the 250-yard mark if he gets time to work. The MSU pass rush hasn’t been anything special so far.
Why Michigan State might win: The FAU run defense hasn’t started the season. Texas running the ball for 232 yards and two touchdowns is one thing, but UAB cranking out 156 yards and two scores, and 326 yards through the air, is another. MSU should be able to blow the Owls off the ball for a full four quarters, and it should get another huge day from …
Who to watch: Ringer. The senior has taken over the goal line duties to go along with his job of moving the ball between the 20s, and the stats are coming. He had a nice first game against Cal, but he wasn’t able to break free. Last week he ran 34 times for 135 yards and five touchdowns while remaining the team’s best kickoff returner. That’s fine, but he’s not all that big and he’ll be needed fresh as the season goes on. In a perfect world, this is someone else’s game; 70 touches in two games are too many.
What will happen: Smith will get his yards and FAU will have some good offensive moments, but the Spartan offense will be too bruising and too effective. The game will blow open midway through the third quarter.
CFN Prediction: Michigan State 37 … Florida Atlantic 17 ... Line: Michigan State -16.5
Must See Rating: (5 Hole in the Wall - 1 First Blood) … 1.5