CFB Today: Rutgers vs Michigan State 10/9/21 College Football Picks, Odds, Predictions

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights meet the Michigan State Spartans Saturday in week 6 Big Ten college football action at SHI Stadium. The Michigan State Spartans look for their first 6-0 start since the 2015 CFB season. The Rutgers Scarlet Knights need a win here to rebound from back-to-back losses.

The Michigan State Spartans have won three of their last five road games. Payton Thorne is completing 63.1 percent of his passes for 1,236 yards, 11 touchdowns and one interception. Jayden Reed and Jalen Nailor have combined for 732 receiving yards and eight touchdowns while Tre Mosley has 16 receptions. The Michigan State Spartans ground game is averaging 210.8 yards per contest, and Kenneth Walker III leads the way with 680 yards and eight touchdowns. Defensively, Michigan State is allowing 20.6 points and 428.8 yards per game. Xavier Henderson leads the Michigan State Spartans with 45 tackles, Jacub Panasiuk has four sacks and Chester Kimbrough has one interception.

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights have lost six of their last eight home games. Noah Vedral is completing 66.7 percent of his passes for 914 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions. Bo Melton and Aron Cruickshank have combined for 459 receiving yards and three touchdowns while Brandon Sanders has 11 receptions. The Rutgers Scarlet Knights ground game is averaging 148 yards per contest, and Isaih Pacheco leads the way with 267 yards and three touchdowns. Defensively, Rutgers is allowing 21.2 points and 320.2 yards per game. Olakunle Fatukasi leads the Rutgers Scarlet Knights with 43 tackles, Julius Turner has 2.5 sacks and Max Melton has two interceptions.

The Spartans are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 road games and 3-0-2 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Scarlet Knights are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games in October and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The over is 6-2 in Spartans last 8 games overall. The under is 4-1 in Scarlet Knights last 5 conference games. The road team is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 meetings.

I said heading into this season that the Rutgers Scarlet Knights are as talented as they’ve been in forever, and they’re playing well despite a limited offense. Rutgers took Michigan down to the wire and has won all the games its supposed to win. With that said, the Michigan State Spartans are unbeaten, with two of those wins coming on the road, and they have an offense that’s 24th in total offense and 19th in scoring offense. This hasn’t been your typical Michigan State team that’s three yards and a cloud of dust. I’ll lay the reasonable number with Sparty.