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Friday Night Picks: Predictions for Notre Dame vs. Michigan State

By Greg Hadley

Sep 10, 2016; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback DeShone Kizer (14) chats with offensive lineman Mike McGlinchey (68) during the fourth quarter against the Nevada Wolf Pack at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame won 39-10. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 10, 2016; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback DeShone Kizer (14) chats with offensive lineman Mike McGlinchey (68) during the fourth quarter against the Nevada Wolf Pack at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame won 39-10. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /
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In one of the biggest games of the season, Notre Dame and Michigan State will renew their rivalry under the lights. Here’s who the experts are picking.

The Irish enter this game as 7.5-point favorites against the Spartans according to Odds Shark, but most of the predictions out there have this one as a much tighter game.

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On our Michigan State counterpart site on the FanSided network, Spartan Avenue, the staff writers made their predictions, and three out of four have picked Notre Dame to win, though none by more than a touchdown.

David Kenyon of Bleacher Report predicts a tight back-and-forth contest that the Irish eventually bust open in the second half behind DeShone Kizer and Equanimeous St. Brown for a 27-20 win.

All seven experts at CBS Sports picked the Irish to win over the Spartans, but three picked MSU to cover the spread and make it a one-score game.

Over at The Observer, Notre Dame’s student newspaper, the five beat writers are split on who they think will win, with four choosing Notre Dame and one choosing Michigan State, but they all agreed it would be an incredibly close game, with the largest margin of victory pegged at four points either way.

Like last week, all five predictors for Blue & Gold Illustrated have Notre Dame winning, and a few of them seem pretty confident that the Irish will cruise. Two writers predicted ND would win by double digits.

And lastly, for the Detroit Free Press, Chris Solari predicts DeShone Kizer will turn in another outstanding performance to outduel his Spartan counterpart, Tyler O’Connor, giving Notre Dame a narrow 31-28 win.

Our picks

Greg Hadley: 30-27, Notre Dame

Ben Belden: 31-21, Notre Dame

Chase Eyrich: 37-30, Notre Dame

Consensus

Everyone is saying this will be a knock-down, drag-it-out game with plenty of physicality, but that hasn’t stopped most experts from siding with the home team. Notre Dame and Michigan State are both fighting early in the season to stay in the College Football Playoff discussion, so it’s not too much to say that this game is pivotal.

What it’ll come down to, most people believe, is quarterback play. Given the physical, grinding style of both teams, tempo will not be an issue and the ground game should be negated on both sides. That leaves it up to the two QBs, Kizer and O’Connor, to put up points.

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Unsurprisingly, most expect Kizer to be the better of the two there. He has more experience and probably more physical tools and talent than O’Connor. That being said, he’s still dealing with a young wide receiving corps. If St. Brown and Torii Hunter Jr. can shake the Michigan State secondary and get open, the Irish should score in droves.

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