Michigan State and Illinois are on different ends of the spectrum. Michigan State is 4-4.

Illinois is 5-4.

Not much difference there. However, the expectations were different. The Spartans were supposed to be much better than they have shown. The Fighting Illini?

The opposite.

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The players on both teams know this as well. And earlier this week, Michigan State defensive tackle Raequan Williams said something that may raise some eyebrows:

“They’re hot right now. We know that,” Williams said. “We see that on the film. They can get us. We know that. We’re not overlooking theme one bit.”

Williams is right. Illinois is hot. That’s easy to see. It’s won three straight games going into the B1G clash against the Spartans. However, to say that “they can get us” is a tad alarming.

Sure, everybody knows they can get beat at anytime. However, the attitude and mindset may be different for most — rather than putting it out there for the media that, yes, we can get beat in this game. You don’t typically see that.

Regardless, we’ll see how Michigan State responds to being a two touchdown favorite over a hot Illinois team on Saturday.