ANN ARBOR, Mich. – No. 7 Michigan State will travel to Ann Arbor to square off with No. 12 Michigan on Saturday for the first top-12 battle between the in-state rivals since 1999, when the No. 11 Spartans hosted the No. 3 Wolverines in East Lansing.
The buildup to this season's meeting ranks among the most highly anticipated games in the rivalry's history. Michigan State sits in the top 10, coming off of back-to-back double-digit win seasons, while Michigan, after a seven-year nose dive, appears to be on the upswing under new head coach Jim Harbaugh.
Both teams are undefeated in the Big Ten and hoping to compete for the East Division title. Michigan State is a sure-fire College Football Playoff contender and Michigan is hoping to enter that conversation this weekend.
Read: What's at stake for Michigan, MSU on Saturday
Saturday is a huge game for the state of Michigan, the Big Ten conference and college football as a whole. Two of the top coaches in the country will meet for the first time to set the tone for the second half of the season.
But no matter how well Harbaugh and Mark Dantonio prepare their teams, the players on the field will ultimately determine the outcome. It'll take a spirited effort across the board to win this game, but I've narrowed the rosters down to 10 players you'll need to keep an eye on Saturday.
L.J. Scott -- Running back, Michigan State
Season stats: 70 carries, 418 yards, six touchdowns
L.J. Scott might be the most important offensive player on the field Saturday against a Michigan defense that stops the run better than any team in the Big Ten.
In 42 of the last 45 meetings between Michigan and MSU, the team that gained more rushing yards won the game. Last season, the Spartans out-rushed the Wolverines 219-61 and ran away with a 35-11 win. Two years ago, Michigan infamously rushed for negative 48 yards while MSU ran for 142. The Spartans blew Michigan out of East Lansing, 29-6.
Scott leads Michigan State with over 400 yards and six touchdowns despite having 25 fewer carries than Madre London. The freshman averages 6 yards per carry and was held below 4.5 yards per carry only once in the first half of the season -- a 2.1 YPC effort against Air Force.
Saturday will be Scott's toughest matchup of the season. The Wolverines allow fewer than 70 rushing yards per game and only 2.2 yards per carry. Scott will be asked to run behind a battered offensive line that hasn't been fully healthy since the start of the season.
If Michigan State can find a consistent running game against D.J. Durkin's front seven, it'll really open up the middle of the field for quarterback Connor Cook.
Chris Wormley -- Defensive end, Michigan
Season stats: 14 tackles, seven tackles for loss, one sack
Chris Wormley grew into Michigan's most disruptive defensive lineman this season, making seven tackles for loss in the first six games. Michigan State's offensive line is on its heels due to injury, and if Wormley can take advantage, it would put the Spartans in a huge hole.
Michigan State is the eighth best team in the country on third downs, converting exactly 50 percent on the season. Cook has so much success on third downs because MSU's rushing attack sets up shorter attempts with positive gains on first and second downs.
Wormley is Michigan's best chance to put the Spartan offense behind the sticks. A third and 12 might turn into a third and 8 or longer, making it much tougher to extend drives.
Aaron Burbridge -- Wide receiver, Michigan State
Season stats: 34 catches, 560 yards, four touchdowns
Michigan's secondary has been the best defensive unit in the Big Ten through six games, allowing just 115.5 passing yards per game. But it hasn't seen a receiver as good as Aaron Burbridge.
Burbridge has four games of over 100 yards receiving this season, but none were more impressive than his nine-catch, 146-yard effort at Rutgers. The senior is Cook's favorite target on third down and made a pair of huge catches to give MSU a late lead in New Brunswick.
If Michigan State falls victim to Michigan's front seven, it will be up to Cook and Burbridge to carry the offense.
Jourdan Lewis -- Cornerback, Michigan
Season stats: 17 tackles, two interceptions, 10 passes defended
No single player has improved under Durkin more than Jourdan Lewis, who developed into one of the top coverage cornerbacks in the nation during the offseason.
Lewis has defended the sixth most passes in the country and picked off throws in each of the first two Big Ten games. His pick-six in the second quarter against Northwestern took the fight out of the Wildcats before they even reached halftime.
Northwestern threw toward Lewis 11 times and completed just two short passes for a total of 21 yards. According to Pro Football Focus, Lewis has been thrown at 34 times this season, allowing just 11 catches for 67 yards.
Lewis hasn't matched up against any elite wide receivers this season, but faces a really tough test in MSU. Cook won't be afraid to throw toward Lewis, and his receivers make excellent catches in traffic.
The most critical play to watch in this matchup will be the back-shoulder pass to Burbridge against Lewis. If Cook makes a mistake, Lewis will make him pay. Otherwise, the junior will have to be in perfect coverage to break it up.
Shilique Calhoun -- Defensive end, Michigan State
Season stats: 24 tackles, six tackles for loss, five sacks
Two of the weaker units on display will be the Michigan passing attack and the Spartan secondary. Jake Rudock won't have much trouble with the secondary itself, but Shilique Calhoun will put his own stamp on that matchup if he lives in the Michigan backfield.
Rudock isn't going to light it up for the Wolverines -- he's a game manager who counts on a great running game to open up receivers in the short passing game. But when the offensive line gives Rudock time to throw, he can step up in the pocket and pick a secondary apart.
That's where Calhoun comes in.
The senior defensive end already has five sacks and six tackles for loss this season, hurrying opposing quarterbacks 10 times. Calhoun has been responsible for 41 yards of loss this season, 40 of which came on sacks.
In the season opener against Utah, the only game in which Rudock was under consistent pressure, he threw three interceptions, including a game-clinching pick-six.
Calhoun is the best defensive player for the Spartans, leading the team in TFL yards and sacks, so he'll have to ensure that the secondary doesn't stay in coverage long enough for Rudock to do legitimate damage underneath.
Mason Cole -- Left tackle, Michigan
Strength matches up against strength in the trenches when a stout MSU defensive line squares off with a surprisingly effective pass blocking unit for Michigan.
Calhoun leads a Spartan pass rush that ranks behind only Penn State and Oklahoma State with 21 sacks on the season. Six of those sacks came in close games against Purdue and Rutgers, so Michigan State is really relying on pressuring the quarterback.
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Mason Cole will lead the effort to slow down that pass rush on Saturday, making his 19th straight start. Cole started at the most important spot on the offensive line as a true freshman because of his elite pass-blocking ability.
Rudock relies heavily on his offensive line to give him time to go through his progressions, but Calhoun and Malik McDowell -- with a combined eight sacks this season -- will be coming hard off the edges. That's where Cole and right tackle Erik Magnuson have to step up and keep Rudock on his feet.
Michael Geiger -- Place kicker, Michigan State
Season stats: 23/24 extra points, 5/9 field goals, long of 47 yards
If there's one Achilles' heel for this dangerous Michigan State team, it's the special teams.
The Spartans have been susceptible to big returns on special teams, and Michael Geiger has been shaky since an excellent freshman season in 2013.
Geiger made 15 of 16 field goals as a freshman, including all eight attempts from at least 40 yards. He took a step back last year, going 14-22 and just 3-8 from 40 or more, and continued to struggle in the first half this season.
Michigan State has converted just five of nine field goal attempts this season, and Dantonio has tried only once from beyond 40 yards. Geiger can be an X-factor in one of two ways: On one hand, the junior will obviously need to capitalize on any chance to score points against this stout Michigan defense. If he misses an early field goal attempt, it could suck the life out of Michigan State -- as demonstrated by Northwestern last Saturday.
But Geiger's shaky first half could also affect the game through Dantonio, who might decide to pass up a field goal chance and go for a fourth down or even fake a field goal, as he's been known to do in big games.
Jehu Chesson -- Wide receiver/Kick returner, Michigan
Season stats: 13 catches, 132 yards, five carries, 112 yards, two touchdowns, one kick return, 96 yards, one touchdown
You might notice that Jehu Chesson has a much longer stat line than the other players on this list, and that's exactly what makes him so valuable to the Michigan offense.
Chesson represents the greatest home run threat for the Wolverine offense, which relies heavily on short gains and long, sustained drives. Chesson's primary role comes as the No. 2 wide receiver, but two of his touchdowns this season came on runs, one of 36 yards (against UNLV) and another for 66 yards (against Maryland). Chesson took jet sweep handoffs on both plays and picked up some huge blocks on the left sideline, letting his speed do the rest.
But Chesson's best chance to score this week might come via the kickoff return, where Michigan State has allowed two returns of more than 70 yards this season -- the most of any team in the country. Chesson opened the game against Northwestern with a 96-yard kick return touchdown and might have a chance to do more special-teams damage against the Spartans.
Connor Cook -- Quarterback, Michigan State
Season stats: 97 of 162 (59.9 percent), 1,334 yards, 12 touchdowns, two interceptions
Michigan might have the strongest defense, the most disciplined special teams and even the more balanced offense. But Michigan State has a huge advantage at the most important position in football: Quarterback.
Cook is so important because he's the one player in this matchup who can take over the game by himself. The senior holds an unprecedented 28-3 record as a starter at Michigan State and is quietly putting together his best statistical season.
Cook is completing nearly 60 percent of his passes for the first time in his career and taking care of the ball at an astounding rate. He's thrown just two picks in 162 pass attempts while averaging 8.2 yards per throw. Unlike the quarterbacks Michigan faced in the first half of the season, Cook can beat great coverage with even better throws. He put that precision on display during the final, game-winning drive against Rutgers last weekend.
But most importantly, Cook has gained critical big-game experience throughout his three seasons starting at Michigan State. In 2013, he beat Ohio State for a Big Ten championship and then brought home a Rose Bowl title with a close win over Stanford. Last season, he engineered the comeback of the year in the Cotton Bowl, leading three fourth-quarter touchdown drives -- 71 yards, 60 yards and 81 yards -- to pull out a 42-41 victory over Baylor.
The only Michigan players who experienced a game of this magnitude are the fifth-year seniors -- Graham Glasgow, Joe Kerridge and Desmond Morgan -- who participated in the Sugar Bowl. Only Morgan, who made 10 tackles against Virginia Tech, played in that game.
Cook has shown an ability to take over a game if it comes down to the fourth quarter. If Michigan's in that position, somebody new will have to step up.
Jabrill Peppers -- Safety/Punt returner/Kick returner, Michigan
Season stats: 21 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, five passes broken up, 8.73 yards per punt return, 24.75 yards per kick return
Jabrill Peppers, like Chesson, might make a game-changing play in the return game, but most teams haven't given the electric freshman an opportunity to do so. Pat Fitzgerald was particularly worried about kicking to Peppers, going straight to Chesson on his team's only kickoff and sacrificing distance for hang time in the punting game, forcing Peppers to call for fair catches.
Peppers' greatest value comes on the defensive side of the ball, where he's listed at safety but plays everything from cover corner to edge rusher. Peppers is the best pure athlete on Michigan's roster, but his greatest weakness at the start of the season came in pass coverage, where he played a step behind receivers and got caught with his back to the ball.
Now, after six weeks of steady improvement, Peppers fills in comfortably as a third corner behind Lewis and Channing Stribling on some snaps and drops back into better ball-hawking positions on others.
If Harbaugh kept any tricks in his back pocket during the first half of the season, they likely involve Peppers, who was also a standout offensive player in high school. His versatility allows him to play almost any position on defense, so Harbaugh might give the Spartans some new looks by bouncing Peppers around the field.
Peppers is a proven playmaker, but he's still searching for his first college interception. Cook doesn't make many mistakes, but if he forgets about Peppers, he'd better be ready to make a tackle.
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