The Detroit News Matt Charboneau, Angelique S. Chengelis, John Niyo and Bob Wojnowski of The Detroit News offer their predictions on the outcome of Saturday's Michigan State vs. Northwestern game at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing (noon, FS1/760 AM). Matt Charboneau: Michigan State is still searching on offense and that search continues against a team that has won in its last two trips to Spartan Stadium and has won three of four in the series. How much giving up a 17-point lead last week will affect Northwestern remains to be seen. But with the way the Spartans have had trouble putting teams away, expect this one to be close. Michigan State, 27-20 Angelique S. Chengelis: Northwestern had a 17-point lead early on Michigan a week ago, and once the Wolverines made adjustments, the Wildcats were shut down. This could be close for a half, but Michigan State will take over. The Spartans have some key injuries and MSU quarterback Brian Lewerke has been shouldering much of the responsibility, and he will be rewarded against the Wildcats. Michigan State, 28-10 John Niyo: The Spartans’ injuries are a big reason they’ve struggled so much offensively. And the loss of Cody White isn’t going to make life any easier, especially against a stubborn Northwestern team that has won its last four Big Ten road games and doesn’t beat itself. Michigan State, 27-21 Bob Wojnowski: The Wildcats struggle to run the ball, and the Spartans have the top run defense in the country. Hmm. Looks like you can expect Clayton Thorson to throw a ton, and Michigan State’s secondary is vulnerable. But the Spartans can pressure the quarterback, and they’ll have ample opportunity to do so. Brian Lewerke needs to cut down on turnovers, or this could be another close, crazy one. Northwestern has won three of the last four in the series and will hang around here. Michigan State, 24-17 MORE COVERAGE Michigan State offense still searching for balance Trieu: J.D. Duplain to visit Michigan State, fresh off Ohio State offer MSU mailbag: Connor Heyward on the rise; LJ Scott's status still TBD Dantonio looking for an 'identity' for MSU<doc-sep>Free Press sports writer Chris Solari looks ahead to Michigan State's homecoming game Saturday against Northwestern: Fast facts Matchup: No. 19 Michigan State (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) vs. Northwestern (1-3, 1-1). Kickoff: Noon, Saturday, Spartan Stadium, East Lansing. TV/radio: Fox Sports 1, WJR-AM (760). Line: Spartans by 10 1/2. Injury report MSU: Out: WR Cody White (left hand); P Jake Hartbarger (right leg); CB Tyson Smith (illness); CB Josiah Scott (left leg); Questionable: CB Josh Butler (undisclosed); RB LJ Scott (leg); FB Collin Lucas (head); RG Kevin Jarvis (right leg); WR Darrell Stewart Jr. (left ankle); WR Jalen Nailor (undisclosed); WR Cam Chambers (undisclosed); DE Dillon Alexander (right leg); DT Mufi Hill-Hunt (knee); TE Noah Davis (undisclosed); LB Ed Warriner (undisclosed); LB Chase Kline (undisclosed); OL James Ohonba (undisclosed); RB Alante Thomas (undisclosed); Probable: LT Cole Chewins (undisclosed injury); LG/LT Luke Campbell (right leg); LG David Beedle (leg). Northwestern: Out: RB Jeremy Larkin (cervical condition; retired); Questionable: OL J.B. Butler (ankle); OL Blake Hance (undisclosed); OL Tommy Doles (undisclosed); LB Khalid Jones (foot); DT Ben Oxley (undisclosed); DB Greg Newsome II (undisclosed); LB Nate Hall (lower body); TE Trey Pugh (undisclosed); WR Jalen Brown (undisclosed). More:Michigan State football healthy enough to move forward? More:Michigan State football's Cole Chewins coping with 'frustrating' injury Scouting report When MSU has the ball: The Spartans’ struggling run game and banged-up offensive line continues to be the story, and mounting injuries at wide receiver are adding to the strain. The run game was better last week against Central Michigan, with QB Brian Lewerke running more and freshman La’Darius Jefferson emerging as a bigger back who is not afraid of contact. Still, MSU was missing four of its top six receivers by the end of the CMU win, after Cody White broke his hand. Should Darrell Stewart also sit out again with White, Lewerke will need to find another target so defenses cannot double-team senior Felton Davis III. Northwestern allows 379 yards per game, 142.3 rushing and 236.8 passing. Sophomore LB Paddy Fisher leads the Wildcats with 34 tackles in coach Pat Fitzgerald’s 4-3 defense and had 19 tackles against the Spartans last year. Northwestern ranks 121st out of 129 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in red-zone defense, last in the Big Ten. More:Mad at Michigan State's play-calling? It falls on Mark Dantonio More:Examining every turnover by Michigan State football QB Brian Lewerke More:Michigan State football defense seeks more pressure on Clayton Thorson When Northwestern has the ball: Quarterback Clayton Thorson, coming off a torn ACL in December, has been up and down this season, and the sudden retirement of top running back Jeremy Larkan disrupted an already languishing run game, which now faces the Spartans’ FBS-leading run defense (40.3 yards per game). Injuries and ineffectiveness on the offensive line have not helped either facet, with Thorson getting sacked six times last week in a 20-17 loss to Michigan. One thing the Wildcats do well is avoid penalties, ranking first in the Big Ten and sixth nationally at just 34 yards per game. The Spartans rank 92nd in the country at 67.8 yards penalized, with a few defensive personal fouls and pass interference calls in the past two weeks. CB Justin Layne and S David Dowell were called for pass interference penalties against CMU (the Chips declined the flag on Layne), but both had their first interception of the season. MSU has seven players with interceptions this season despite allowing 288.3 passing yards per game. Know the foe Veteran presence: Thorson, a senior who has started all 43 games of his Wildcat career, threw for career highs of 383 yards, 33 completions and three TDs in a loss to Akron two weeks ago. Against Michigan last week, he struggled against pressure and was just 16 of 27 for 174 passing yards. He did run for his first TD of the season. Thorson was 33 of 48 for 356 yards passing in the Wildcats’ 39-31 triple-overtime win over MSU last year. More:Northwestern holds the blueprint to beat Michigan State football More:Michigan State football all too familiar with Northwestern pass offense RB situation: Larkin remains Northwestern’s leading rusher with 346 yards and five TDs in his four games. Finding someone to replace that production could take time. The Wildcats used three running backs against Michigan, including converted wide receiver Solomon Vault. He combined with John Moton IV and Isaiah Bowser to average 2.7 yards on 21 combined carries, which totaled 56 yards. Moton ran for 36 yards on 13 carries against U-M in his first career start and has 57 yards on 25 carries with two TDs this season. Mean Joe: Northwestern defensive end Joe Gaziano has 16 career sacks, including 2.5 this season. Gaziano sacked Lewerke and forced a fumble in last season's game, and he also had a sack in the first start of Lewerke's career in 2016. Two cents Bend, don’t break: Despite allowing 288.3 yards per game and ranking 114th in pass defense, MSU ranks 68th nationally in allowing 12.41 yards per completion. The Spartans have given up just five passing touchdowns, two of them coming last week against CMU and one of them on a trick play. Streaking Cats: The Wildcats have won three of the past four meetings in this series, scoring 93 points total the past two years – the Spartans hold a 37-19 series lead all time. Coach Mark Dantonio is 5-4 against Northwestern since 2007. Ohio State's Urban Meyer, Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz and Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly are the only other coaches to have beaten Dantonio’s MSU teams four times. Prediction: MSU 20, Northwestern 13 Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Download our Spartans Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!<doc-sep>Souichi Terada Special to Detroit Free Press Welcome to our Michigan State football live blog as the Spartans take on Northwestern. MSU (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) hosts the Wildcats at Spartan Stadium and special writer Souichi Terada leads the conversation. Observations:Michigan State's offense a mess so far against Northwestern Feel free to follow along or join in the live analysis and banter. Access to live blog for mobile users.<doc-sep>
EAST LANSING — Halftime observations from Spartan Stadium, where Northwestern leads No. 19 Michigan State, 14-6, on Saturday. Offense is a mess No LJ Scott. No Kevin Jarvis. Now no David Beedle. And MSU’s offense has no consistency, either, failing to generate any type of a run game and allowing Northwestern to key in on the pass. MSU also had two red zone drives sputter and turn into Matt Coghlin field goals instead of TDs. Without Scott for the third straight game, neither Connor Heyward nor La’Darius Jefferson found much room running. MSU used walk-on Alante Thomas on one play to try and get some speed to the edge. Six different Spartans carried 14 times for 41 yards. Live blog:Join the conversation for Michigan State vs. Northwestern Lewerke got the offense moving late through the air in the 2-minute drill, but the pass game struggled for much of the half. And then the junior QB missed a linebacker dropping in coverage and threw his sixth interception of the season to end the drive in Northwestern territory. MSU has 159 of its 200 yards of total offense through the air. Lewerke is 14 of 25, and he has not been sacked because he has evaded pressure with his feet. Injuries Beedle hurt his arm on the second play of the game and left. Cornerback Josh Butler, who played only one snap last week against CMU, appeared to injure his leg in the second quarter and went to the bench. MSU continues to be without WRs Cody White and Jalen Nailor, as well as starting RB Scott and FB Collin Lucas. Defensive holes The Spartans’ pass coverage struggled against Northwestern QB Clayton Thorson, who is 15 of 21 for 219 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. This time, though, it was Thorson’s deep ball that burned the MSU defense. The first was a 77-yard scoring pass to Kyric McGowan as MSU safety David Dowell missed his assignment and left the receiver all alone on the left sideline. The second came one play after Butler’s injury and pass interference penalty. Thorson threw at his replacement, and Tre Person got beat and had to retreat in coverage without turning his head. He caught up to Northwestern’s JJ Jefferson, but the WR made a diving catch at the goal line for a 34-yard TD. The Wildcats have run the ball officially just eight times for minus-20 yards, but one was a sack of Thorson for a 12-yard loss and the other was a kneel-down at the end of the half. Record-breaker Coghlin’s two field goals, from 27 and 25 yards out, broke the MSU record for consecutive field goals. He now has 16 straight, topping Brett Swenson’s previous mark. Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Download our Spartans Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!