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Published Oct 30, 2020
Tale Of The Tape: What The Analytics Say About Michigan And Michigan State
Clayton Sayfie  •  Maize&BlueReview
Staff Writer
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@CSayf23

Michigan Wolverines football takes on in-state rival Michigan State at noon ET on Saturday. The Wolverines are coming off of an impressive 49-24 victory at Minnesota, while the Spartans lost their season-opener to Rutgers at home.

Here's a look at how the two teams compare, when looking at various analytics.

RELATED: Maize And Blue Breakdown Podcast With Sayfie And Fox (Oct. 29)

RELATED: Previewing Michigan State With A Spartan Insider

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ESPN's Football Power Index (FPI)

The Football Power Index (FPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team's performance going forward for the rest of the season. FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Here are the national ranks and scores for each team:

Michigan: 11th with a score of 16.8

MSU: 82nd with a score of -4.2

Here are the ESPN Team Efficiency Scores:

Michigan

Overall: 1st with a score of 96.8

Offense: 2nd with a score of 97.6

Defense: 9th with a score of 87.0

MSU

Overall: 95th with a score of 14.0

Offense: 100th with a score of 6.5

Defense: 58th with a score of 49.4

ESPN's SP+ Rating

ESPN's SP+ rating is "a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency" created by Bill Connelly, designed to predict future games, and doesn't serve as a résumé ranking. Here's how the metric sees Michigan and Michigan State:

Michigan

Overall: 11th with a rating of 21.1

Offense: 41st with a rating of 32.6

Defense: 2nd with a rating of 11.4

MSU

Overall: 29th with a rating of 12.2

Offense: 85th with a rating of 25.8

Defense: 9th with a rating of 13.3

Analysis: Michigan's season-opening win against Minnesota impressed the computers, especially offensively, with the Wolverines scoring quickly (seven touchdowns in less than 25 minutes of possession). MSU, on the other hand, struggled in many facets, with turning the ball a whopping seven times being the most glaring issue. FPI gives Michigan a 93.4 percent chance to beat the Spartans in The Big House.

Michigan Offense vs. MSU Defense

According to PFF, Michigan has the No. 20 offense in the country while MSU's defense ranks at No. 13 after one week.

A note on PFF grades — a single-game grade of about 64 is considered average.

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