Michigan Football: Could a Win over Michigan State Save Brady Hoke's Job?

Brady Hoke is barely hanging on to his job in the midst of his team’s collapse that began last season with a 29-6 loss to Michigan State. Since then, the Wolverines are 4-9 as they prepare for another visit to East Lansing, thanks to an unkind scheduling quirk.

Hoke desperately needs a victory over Michigan’s instate rival to save his job.

The fates of the two teams stand in stark contrast since they last met. Michigan State went on to win the Big Ten Championship followed by a Rose Bowl victory—all goals that Hoke has striven for and failed to attain since returning to Ann Arbor.

Michigan went into a tailspin, finishing in the basement of the Big Ten and getting embarrassed in a minor bowl game. Hoke also had to answer uncomfortable questions about how he handled the suspension of kicker Brendan Gibbons and Taylor Lewan, whose temper got him in trouble both on and off-the-field.

Date	Opponent	Result, Score
11/2/13	@ Michigan State	L, 29-6
11/9/13	Nebraska	L, 17-13
11/16/13	Northwestern	W, 27-19 (3OT)
11/23/13	@ Iowa	L, 24-21
11/30/13	Ohio State	L, 42-41
12/28/13	Kansas State (Bowl)	L, 31-14
8/30/14	Appalachian State	W, 52-14
9/6/14	@ Notre Dame	L, 31-0
9/13/14	Miami (OH)	W, 31-14
9/20/14	Utah	L, 26-19
9/27/14	Minnesota	L, 30-14
10/ 4/14	@ Rutgers	L, 26-24
10/11/14	Penn State	W, 18-13

This season, Michigan State picked up where it left off and is competing for another Big Ten title while fighting for a berth in the the inaugural College Football Playoff. Michigan also stayed on the same course, spiraling down as Hoke was once again forced to answer uncomfortable questions—this time about the team’s handling of backup quarterback Shane Morris’ head injury and his team’s failure to generate offense.

Hoke is under fire from all sides: Fans are disappointed in his team’s performance; the national media for his garbled response on the Morris injury; his own boss, athletic director David Brandon, even threw him under the bus, releasing a contradictory late-night statement less than 24 hours later after Hoke talked with the media about Morris.

But even as Hoke’s fate seems all but sealed, his current players seem united in defending him.

Tony Ding/Associated Press

Statements to the press are nice, but Hoke needs victories and a bowl berth to have any chance of returning next season.

The Michigan offense came out strong in its first game versus Appalachian State but has stuttered and failed since. The offensive line that reeked last season has only marginally improved. Freshman phenoms Jabrill Peppers and Freddy Canteen have all but disappeared while injuries on both sides of the ball have taken a toll on Michigan’s depth.

The nation will be watching this game, expecting a Michigan State beatdown and waiting to gauge if the Spartans are worthy of making the playoffs despite an early-season loss to Oregon. The stage is set for Michigan to put on an old-school performance that Hoke has been promising since he took over as head coach.

The odds against Hoke saving his job are long; but any hope hinges on Michigan’s performance this Saturday. Unfortunately for him, Michigan State is too talented and too focused on a larger mission to get tripped up by a struggling Michigan squad.

Michigan will fight for Hoke, but just putting up a good fight won't be enough to save his job.

Phil Callihan is a featured writer for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotations obtained firsthand

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