The Michigan Wolverines and MSU Spartans played another classic game last fall in East Lansing, that began with Michigan staking a 23-14 halftime lead and ended with Michigan State winning 37-33.
It was the lowest point of the regular season for the Wolverines, who won the Big Ten Conference and boasted one of the most explosive offenses in the country led by running back duo Blake Corum and Hassan Haskins.
With the 2022 season just around the corner following this summer, Michigan vs. Michigan State is once again up for debate, along with the strengths and weaknesses of each team’s positional units.
Recently, Corum and another Wolverines starter were named to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team by one major publication, Athlon Sports.
Michigan State Wide Receiver Jayden Reed was the Spartans’ lone representative on the offensive team.
Now, one major Spartans publication has ranked the top offensive units in the Big Ten, and how they rank the Spartans and Wolverines may be surprising to some.
MSU Ranked As Fourth-Best Offense
According to the website SpartansWire, MSU has been ranked as the number four offense in the Big Ten with Michigan coming in at number five.
Running back is a major position of concern for MSU, who lost Kenneth Walker to the NFL.
“MSU is going to have to overcome the loss of Kenneth Walker this upcoming season,” SpartansWire wrote. “Wisconsin transfer Jalen Berger and Colorado transfer Jarek Broussard will look to fill that gap.”
The key players for MSU were listed as QB Payton Thorne, WR Jayden Reed, RB Jalen Berger, and RB Jarek Broussard.
Last year, MSU finished 6th in the Big Ten with 429.3 yards per game, three spots behind the Wolverines.
The two teams were closer in terms of putting points on the board, however.
Points per game wise, MSU finished third in the league last year with 31.8 points, four points behind Michigan in the second spot with 35.8 per game. Ohio State finished first with 45.7 points per game.
SpartansWire ranks Ohio State, Maryland, and Purdue numbers one-three, respectively, in the league on offense heading into this season.
Michigan Ranked Number Five, One Spot Behind MSU
Despite finishing ahead of MSU in key categories last year, the site ranked Michigan #5 in the league.
The Wolverines have plenty of reason for optimism, however, as Corum returns along with potential top ten NFL draft pick Ryan Hayes at left tackle.
Former five-star high school running back Donovan Edwards returns for his sophomore season as does starting QB Cade McNamara and his talented 2021 backup and starting job competitor J.J. McCarthy.
Several experienced pass catchers also return including star wide receiver Ronnie Bell who was out for most of last season with a knee injury suffered in the first game against Western Michigan.
Michigan led the Big Ten last season with 214.4 rushing yards per game, although MSU outrushed them 199 to 146 last season in East Lansing, which is usually a key stat to watch in the rivalry game.
SpartansWire wrote the following before ranking Michigan behind MSU.
“Michigan brings back a huge chunk of their offense from 2021, which ranked third in total offense.
With a new offensive coordinator, there may be a slight regression, along with uncertainty at who will be starting under center.”
For more information, check out SpartansWire’s full rankings by clicking here, and let us know on our Facebook page who you think has the edge heading into the 2022-2023 season, Mel Tucker’s Spartans of Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines.
