RedBox Bowl Spread: Michigan State vs. Oregon Prediction
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Jeremy Perry
These two coaching staffs have avoided major transitions since the end of the regular season. There has been no significant movement on the Michigan State side, and Oregon defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt – who was linked to the Colorado and Kansas State openings – appears to be staying put at UO under head coach Mario Cristobal.
Betting Analysis
The drama surrounding Oregon before this game concerned the status of quarterback Justin Herbert, who was dealing with a bruised shoulder late in the season and who is considering playing in the NFL. Herbert is healthy enough to play and will play this game. His NFL decision has still not come down yet. It is impossible to know exactly what he is thinking, but chances are that he will declare his intentions after this game. Oregon’s bowl preparations probably won’t be knocked off course.
Michigan State Spartans
The Spartans, like a number of other Big Ten teams this season, were limited by what their quarterbacks were unable to do. Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio could not get Brian Lewerke to improve from his 2017 season. Lewerke was a highly inconsistent quarterback, and his lack of accuracy in 2018 caused Dantonio to switch to backup Rocky Lombardi, who had a few brief moments of productivity but was never a sustained answer under center. The season devolved into a mess, with Dantonio shuffling both quarterbacks and not getting anything close to consistent results.
Michigan State’s offence actually got worse as the season went on. The Spartans scored 24 points on Nov. 3 against Maryland and then scored a combined total of 26 points in their last three games. They scored six against Ohio State, six against Nebraska, and 14 against Rutgers, with the winning score coming late in the fourth quarter. Even with a month to prepare for this game, it is hard to see how Michigan State’s problems will be resolved on offence. The defence did everything it could – it did not allow more than 24 points (Ohio State’s 26 included a safety) in any of the last seven games of the season. MSU allowed more than 30 points only once – in the first game of the season on August 31.
Oregon Ducks
The Ducks were flying high midway through the season. They had just beaten Washington to take the lead in the Pac-12 North. Their offensive line was playing at a high level.
Then everything fell apart. The Ducks lost three of four games in a disastrous sequence against Washington State, Arizona and Utah. Justin Herbert was erratic. The defence did not play well in the first halves of games, which forced Herbert into a lot of passing downs – when he got hit a lot. The team lost the cohesion it developed in early October. Oregon regrouped to win its Civil War rivalry game against Oregon State, but the Beavers are terrible. Oregon is a hard team to figure out entering this game against Michigan State.
