Minnesota @ Michigan State preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 31, 2009 ) Michigan State 34, Minnesota 42

Its undefeated season a thing of the past, Michigan State now has to regroup and set its sights on winning the Big Ten and the automatic BCS Bowl berth that comes with it.

The No. 15 Spartans will be looking to bounce back from their first loss against last-place Minnesota on Saturday.

Michigan State (8-1, 4-1 Big Ten) rode a forgiving early-season schedule to an 8-0 start and a top-five national ranking but looked overmatched against Iowa last weekend,suffering a 37-6 setback. Kirk Cousins was intercepted three times in the game and did not get much help from a ground attack that managed just 31 yards on 20 carries.

Falling behind 30-0 at the half, Cousins was eventually replaced by Andrew Maxwell at quarterback. The secondary could not stop Cousins’ counterpart, Ricky Stanzi, who completed 11-of-16 passes for 190 yards and three touchdowns and was in control the whole game.

But all is not lost for the Spartans, who are now one of four teams atop the Big Ten with one loss. Of those four, Michigan State has one of the easier remaining schedules, with home games against Minnesota and Purdue followed by a road test at Penn State to end the regular season. But the Spartans are hurt by their weak schedule which does not include Ohio State.

The only one of the four that Michigan State controls a tiebreaker over is Wisconsin, which the Spartans beat in East Lansing in October.

The Golden Gophers (1-8, 0-5) are the perfect team to get Michigan State back on track; their only win of the season was a 24-17 triumph at Middle Tennessee State in the season opener on Sept. 2. Since then, Minnesota let go of coach Tim Brewster, firing the embattled leader after a loss at Purdue last month.

Minnesota got crushed by Ohio State last weekend, 52-10. The Gophers allowed 507 yards of total offense and managed only 277 of their own. Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor had an easy time of it against the Minnesota defense, completing 18-of-22 passes for 222 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while rushing for 55 yards and a score.

DeLeon Eskridge did have a a nice game against Ohio State, rushing 79 yards on 23 carries and Minnesota’s lone touchdown.

The Gophers have had their most trouble against the run this season, giving up 201.8 rushing yards per game and a total of 22 touchdowns.

Minnesota won the last meeting between the schools as Adam Weber threw for 416 yards and five touchdowns in a 42-34 home victory last Halloween. That was the Gophers’ last Big Ten victory.