Real Kato Blog: Big Ten Football 2020: Week 2 Preview

Big games here: Michigan plays a rivalry game against MSU, and Penn State takes on Ohio State.

#13 Michigan vs. Michigan State, 12:00 PM Fox
Yes, I know, we should throw the records out the window and anything could happen, but did you see the wretched state of the MSU program against Rutgers? Honestly, the team looked like they'd given up before halftime.

MSU is breaking in a new coaching staff and trying to do it with last year's 6-loss starters. The offensive line is abysmal, just as with the teams of the past few years: MSU only managed 50 yards of rushing against Rutgers. Good luck handling Michigan's terrorizing defensive ends.

Prediction: Michigan 38, Michigan State 6.

#18 Penn State vs. #3 Ohio State, 7:30 PM ABC
Well, there won't be much of a home crowd to give PSU an advantage in what would normally be an electric night game in Happy Valley. No, instead OSU comes to town with its legion of mutant athletes, and PSU will have to try to win based on merit alone. That could be... difficult.

But it's not impossible. I saw some cracks in the OSU defense last week against Nebraska; the Huskers got nearly 6 yards per carry and could have been competitive if they had remembered to put a defense onto the field. If PSU can keep Devyn Ford healthy (they're already down RBs Journey Brown and Noah Cain), he might be able to take advantage.

The issue, of course, is trying to get OSU's offense off the field. That'll start with getting some pressure on OSU QB Justin Fields, and that's possible too: he was sacked three times against Nebraska, and Penn State has the defensive personnel to match up with OSU.

But it'll take some luck to pull this off, and I don't think "lucky" is the word I'd usually associate with James Franklin.

Prediction: Penn State 16, Ohio State 31.

Games to Watch on TV
The Michigan game is at noon on Fox. There's not a lot of other great options, unless I suppose you're heavily invested in #7 Cincinnati and seeing whether they'll continue their win streak against a pretty good Memphis team. That's on ESPN.

At 3:30, the TOP TWO TEAMS IN THE BIG TEN EAST meet as Indiana plays Rutgers on BTN. Ok, maybe being 1-0 in the division doesn't actually make you into the top two teams, but this game might be sneakily interesting. Northwestern plays Iowa on ESPN. At 4:00, Texas plays #6 Oklahoma State on Fox.

The Penn State game is at 7:30 on ABC, and that's by far the most interesting game of the evening.

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