#Jacob Slade

LINCOLN - One more offseason. One more preseason. One more football season. And one more postseason. All with a new commissioner, and an eye toward a larger future in the league. One more trip around the sun with this iteration of Big Ten football. And one more year with divisional schedules. One more year, for certain, of a Big Ten title game. The…

Pickswise provides exclusive sports betting content to MLive.com, including picks, analysis, tools, games and sportsbook offers to help bettors get in on the action. Please wager responsibly. This Big Ten matchup features two teams trending in completely different directions. On one side, Michigan State is reeling after a pair of ugly defeats…

Michigan State heads into 2022 as one of the top curiosities in college football, with the Spartans attempting to follow up on last year's surprising 11-2 season, No. 9 national ranking and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl victory, all of which allowed third-year coach Mel Tucker to gain traction as a rising force in the profession. "Last year, we as a staff…

The Big Ten announced its annual awards for standout defensive and special teams players in the league on Tuesday afternoon as well select coaches awards and Michigan and Michigan State were well represented. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year while the Wolverines had six players earn All-league honors, three get…

MSU's football team badly needs some sort of positive identity. If one is going to take hold this season, it's likely to be the strength of the Spartans' offensive playmakers. That's their only potential matchup advantage through most of the rest of their schedule. But no offense in the history of football has ever been productive if its offensive…

After an impressive 11-win campaign in 2021, Michigan State is looking to build on its success heading into 2022. Mel Tucker and the Spartans have been a tough one for the oddsmakers to figure out, as the current over/under projection for MSU is set at 7.5. The schedule is certainly tough, with the gauntlet of the Big Ten East and a non-conference…

Kickoff temperature in East Lansing was a glorious 61 degrees on Saturday. You couldn't ask for a more welcoming embrace for the first football game following the autumnal equinox. Yet Michigan State coach Mel Tucker looked as if he was coaching a game somewhere near the equator. It did not take the internet long to notice. Jokes aside, Tucker's…

EAST LANSING - The final game of nonconference play was a loss for Michigan State. The Big Ten opener seven days later was another humbling defeat for the Spartans. A week after a 39-28 loss at Washington, Michigan State (2-2, 0-1 Big Ten) was steamrolled 34-7 at home by Minnesota (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) on Saturday. Here are takeaways and observations…

Michigan State's Mel Tucker shares harsh truths after Washington lossMichigan State football coach Mel Tucker speaks to the media on Monday, Sept. 19, 2022, in East Lansing. Free Press sports writer Chris Solari looks ahead to Michigan State football's Big Ten opener Saturday against Minnesota: Matchup: No. 21 Michigan State (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten) vs.…

Before each Minnesota football game, GopherIllustrated will ask five questions of an opposing beat writer. This week, we spoke with Michigan State beat writer Stephen Brooks of SpartanTailgate to preview the Gophers' Week 4 away game against the Michigan State Spartans. 1) After winning two laughers against MAC teams to open the season, Michigan…

This column finally broke out of its rut in Week 3 of the college football season, going 3-1 by correctly predicting an easy Mississippi win over circling-the-drain Georgia Tech and two unders in Texas A&M-Miami and Kansas State-Tulane. The only loss was Fresno State failing to keep up with USC after its quarterback suffered a high-ankle sprain in…

Welcome to the 49th article in the series. This marks the second-to-last time I will be covering the 2021 Michigan State football team, with the 2022 season beginning in only two days. Yesterday, I mentioned that Michigan State has a list of iconic moments from the last decade and a half. "Trouble with the snap," Elsworth's Rose Bowl tackle, and…

Michigan State isn't a favorite to win the Big Ten, but it has the right stuff to make a run. Despite losing WR Jalen Nailor and RB Kenneth Walker III, the Spartans' offense remains potent heading into 2022. There are some questions of depth - which will be graded in this piece - but there is enough top-end talent to guide the ship. Mel Tucker has…