A vastly disappointing for once-ranked Michigan State of the Big Ten comes to an end Friday in the Pinstripe Bowl from Yankee Stadium. The Spartans take on Wake Forest in the ACC, with Mark Dantonio’s team a short favorite on the Mybookie NCAAF odds.
How to Bet Michigan State vs Wake Forest Pinstripe Bowl Spread & Game Info
- When: Friday, 3:20 PM ET
- Where: Yankee Stadium, New York
- TV: ESPN
- Pinstripe Bowl Spread: Michigan State -3.5 (Total 50)
Series History
First-ever meeting.
Why Bet on Michigan State?
The Spartans finished the regular season with a 6-6 overall record (4-5 Big Ten) and are making their third consecutive postseason appearance. It’s the 12th bowl bid in 13 seasons under MSU head coach Mark Dantonio, who is the winningest coach in school history with a 113-57 record at the helm of the Spartans. MSU has won five of its last seven bowl games. The Spartans will be making their 29th all-time bowl appearance (12-16 record).The Spartans are very good on defense, led Kenny Willekes and Raequan Williams. Williams has started 41 consecutive games at defensive tackle, tied for the most in the Coach Mark Dantonio era. The 6-foot-4, 303-pounder from Chicago has 28.5 tackles for loss in his career, which ranks 19th most in school history, in addition to 11.5 sacks, 153 tackles, eight pass breakups and three forced fumbles in 49 career games. Williams has a career-high five sacks this season to go along with seven tackles for loss and 41 stops overall.
Willekes Fever
Willekes won the Burlsworth Trophy, which is awarded annually to the nation’s most outstanding player who began his career as a walk-on. He ranks first among all active FBS players with 1.27 tackles for loss per game and has 49.5 career tackles for loss overall. Willekes leads MSU and ranks tied for fourth in the Big Ten with a career-high nine sacks and is fourth overall in school history with 24.5 sacks. He also ranks first among all Big Ten defensive linemen with 69 tackles and has 14.5 tackles for loss this season.Senior QB Brian Lewerke led the Big Ten with 234 completions and ranked third with 229.9 passing yards per game. Lewerke is looking to become just the third Spartan starting QB, along with Dan Enos and Connor Cook, to win two bowl games for MSU; he led the Spartans to a 42-17 win over Washington State in the 2017 Holiday Bowl. Lewerke needs just 27 passing yards to become the fourth Spartan QB in school history to throw for more than 8,000 career yards and needs 29 completions to become the school’s all-time leader in that category.
Redshirt freshman running back Elijah Collins enjoyed a breakout season, landing on the All-Big Ten Third Team by rushing for 892 yards and five touchdowns. Junior wideout Cody White hauled in 58 catches for a team-best 825 yards and five scores.
Team Stats
Offense- Points per Game: 22.00
- Passing Yards: 238.50
- Rushing Yards: 123.00
- Yards per Play: 5.09
Defense
- Points per Game: 22.67
- Passing Yards: 210.58
- Rushing Yards: 108.58
- Yards per Play: 4.95
Why Bet on Wake Forest?
Wake is 9-4 all-time in bowl games. The Deacs are set to play in their fourth-straight bowl game. By defeating Temple in the 2016 Military Bowl, Texas A&M in the 2017 Belk Bowl and Memphis in the 2018 Birmingham Bowl, Wake Forest has finished the season with bowl victories in three consecutive seasons for the first time in school history.The Demon Deacons went 8-4 overall and tied for third in the ACC Atlantic Division with a 4-4 conference mark this year. Wake Forest endured a fair share of injuries throughout the season, including to its top two receivers, starting quarterback and top linebacker. The Deacs lost three of their final four games but still have a chance for their first nine-win season since 2007.
They had three players named first-team All-ACC in wide receiver Sage Surratt, defensive end Carlos “Boogie” Basham, Jr., and placekicker Nick Sciba.
Some Rankings
Surratt ended the regular season as the ACC leader in receiving yards with a school-record 111.2 yards per game. He was a four-time ACC Receiver of the Week and leads the nation with four games with 150 or more receiving yards. Surratt started each of the first nine games of the season before suffering a season-ending injury against Virginia Tech on Nov. 9.
Basham is second in the ACC in tackles for loss with 17 and third in the league with 10 sacks. Sciba set an NCAA record by converting 34 consecutive field goals including 23 straight in 2019. He finished the regular season making 24 of 25 field-goal attempts and is the ACC leader in kick scoring with 9.7 points per game.
QB Jamie Newman has completed 62.3 percent of his passes (208-for-334) for 2,693 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions this season and has 163 carries for 487 yards and six scores. He was injured in the first half of a loss against Syracuse in the regular-season finale but is hopeful of playing in this one. If not, it would likely be Sam Hartman getting the start. He started the first nine games last season as a true freshman before suffering a broken leg. Hartman appeared in three games this year.
Wake Forest has a 4-10 all-time record against Big Ten opponents. The Demon Deacons own victories over Indiana (2016), Purdue (2002) and two wins over Northwestern (1996, 1997).
Team Stats
Offense- Points per Game: 32.75
- Passing Yards: 297.75
- Rushing Yards: 175.67
- Yards per Play: 5.77
Defense
- Points per Game: 29.25
- Passing Yards: 247.17
- Rushing Yards: 162.58
- Yards per Play: 5.74
Michigan State vs Wake Forest 2019 Pinstripe Bowl Betting Trends
- Spartans are 8-0 SU in their last 8 games played on a Friday
- Spartans are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games this season
- The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Michigan State’s last 6 games played in December
- Demon Deacons are 8-4 SU in their last 12 games this season
- Demon Deacons are 4-2 ATS in their last 6 games against an opponent in the Big 10 conference
- The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Wake Forest’s last 7 games when playing as the underdog
