Nebraska Cornhuskers vs Michigan State Spartans Prediction, Odds and Preview - 09/25/2021

Game Time: 7:00 pm ET, Saturday, September 25, 2021

Venue:  Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI

Where to Watch:  Fox Sports 1

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Nebraska +5, MSU -5; Over/Under:  52 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Nebraska +5, MSU -5; Over/Under:  52 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Nebraska +5, MSU -5; Over/Under:  51.5 points

 

Nebraska Cornhuskers:  2-2 (7th place, Big Ten West)

Michigan State Spartans:  3-0 (1st place, Big Ten East)

 

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Nebraska Cornhuskers:  lost on the road on Sep. 18 against the Oklahoma Sooners 23-16.

Michigan State Spartans:  won on the road on Sep. 18 against the Miami-FL Hurricanes 38-17.

 

 

 

Nebraska is coming into this game with a 2-2 record overall and they are 0-2 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. This will also be a conference game for them and they are 0-1 in their conference games this season. That conference loss came in their season opener against the Illinois Fighting Illini. They then followed up that loss with 2 wins against the Fordham Rams and the Buffalo Bulls. That good fortune came to an end last week though as they lost to the Oklahoma Sooners in their last game. Adrian Martinez had a decent game as he completed 19/25 passes for 289 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Their run game was not good though as Rahmir Johnson led the team in rushing with 42 yards on 11 carries. Zavier Betts led the receivers with 61 yards on 3 receptions and Omar Manning had 2 receptions for 52 yards and 1 touchdown but no one single receiver really had a standout game. JoJo Domann led the defense with 7 solo tackles and 5 assisted ones. No one on the defense recorded a sack or an interception in that game. They have scored 118 points in their first 4 games and they have allowed their opponents to score 63 points against them. The Nebraska offense is averaging 481.3 YPG while the Nebraska defense is allowing 346.5 YPG.

 

 

MSU is coming into this college football game with a 3-0 record overall and they are 1-0 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. They are already 1-0 in their conference games this season and they will be playing in another one in this game. Their conference win came in their first game of the season as they beat the Northwestern Wildcats. They followed that one up with wins against the Youngstown State Penguins and the Miami-FL Hurricanes in their last game. Payton Thorne played a great game as he completed 18/31 passes for 261 yards and 4 touchdowns and zero interceptions. Kenneth Walker had a massive day in the run game as he led the team with 172 rushing yards on 27 carries. No one else really had much of an impact on the ground in that one. Jalen Nailor led the team in receiving with 82 yards and 2 touchdowns on 4 receptions. Xavier Henderson led the defense with 8 solo tackles in that game. Drew Beesly led the team in sacks with 2 while Jeff Pietrowski also had 1 in the game. Ronald Williams Jr. and Angelo Grose both had 1 interception each in that one as well. They have scored 118 points in their first 3 games and they have allowed their opponents to score 52 points against them. Michigan State’s offense is averaging 520 YPG while the Michigan State defense is allowing 381.3 YPG.

 

Michigan State has a much stronger offense than Nebraska does. They have both scored the same amount of points this season but MSU is gaining more yards per game than Nebraska and they have also played in 1 less game than them. Nebraska fought well to keep it close with Oklahoma last week but the Sooners have not looked as good as they have in previous years and Michigan State has been blowing out their opponent in every game so far. They will have the home advantage here and they have the better offense. They will work hard to keep their record undefeated as it is right now so the best play here is to take Michigan State to cover the spread here.

 

Nebraska Michigan State Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Saturday, September 25, 2021 (7:00 pm ET start time) is MSU 35 Nebraska 24.

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Nebraska Cornhuskers: 6-12 ATS against conference opponents. 1-5 ATS off 2 or more consecutive unders.

Michigan State Spartans: 8-1 ATS off an upset win by 10 or more as a road underdog. 57-48 ATS when the total is between 49.5 and 56.

 

 

Nebraska Cornhuskers:  J. Wright (S) out for season - Illness. G. Ervin Jr. (RB) out for season - Knee injury. C. Rogers (DL) Ques Sat - Undisclosed injury.

Michigan State Spartans:  R. White (WR) Ques Sat - Personal. C. Casteel (LB) Ques Sat - Undisclosed injury. A. Russo (QB) Ques Sat - Lower Body injury.

 

 

Nebraska Cornhuskers: Samori Toure is one player to watch in this matchup. He leads his team in receiving yards and he can make some big catches down the field. He will need to step up in this game and make some big plays himself if they want to beat MSU and win this game.

 

Michigan State Spartans: Kenneth Walker III is one player to watch here. He leads his team in rushing yards and he also has a team-high 5 touchdowns on the season. Look for him to make some big runs and find the end zone here.

 

"Our guys aren't into moral victories. We want to win games. Simple as that. There are definitely a lot of positives to take away from today, and we will do that once we watch the film. But at the end of the day, we lost the game. So that is that." - Adrian Martinez on the close game after losing to Oklahoma.

 

 

 

"It was a good team win for us on the road against a good opponent. Credit to our entire organization ... everyone had a part in this. We had a lot of challenges that we knew we would have to overcome to get this done." - Mel Tucker after their road win against Miami-FL.

 

 

WR Toure, Samori 

WR Martin, Oliver 

WR Liewer, Wyatt 

TE Allen, Austin 

QB Martinez, Adrian 

RB Stepp, Markese  

 

WR Reed, Jayden 

WR Nailor, Jalen 

WR Mosley, Tre 

TE Heyward, Connor 

QB Thorne, Payton 

RB Walker III, Kenneth 

 

Passing: A. Martinez (1017)

Rushing: A. Martinez (290)

Receiving: S. Toure (333)

Touchdowns: A. Martinez (4)

Sacks: P. Payne (2)

Tackles: L. Reimer (17)

 

Passing: P. Thorne (726)

Rushing: K. Walker III (493)

Receiving: J. Reed (277)

Touchdowns: K. Walker III (5)

Sacks: X. Henderson (2)

Tackles: X. Henderson (17)

 

Coaches:

Nebraska Cornhuskers: Scott Frost (4th season)

Michigan State Spartans: Mel Tucker (2nd season)

 

60 degrees F scattered showers, 64% humidity, 0% chance of rain, up to 9 mph wind speeds E.