Getty Michigan State will host Rutgers Saturday.
The Mel Tucker Era begins Saturday when the Michigan State Spartans kick off their 2020 season hosting the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in Lansing.
The game starts at 8 p.m. ET and will be televised on Big Ten Network. But if you don’t have cable, here’s how to watch a live stream of Rutgers vs Michigan State online for free:
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FuboTV
You can watch a live stream of Big Ten Network, the BTN alternate channels and 100-plus other TV channels on FuboTV, which you can use for free with a seven-day trial right here:
Once signed up for FuboTV, you can watch Rutgers vs Michigan State live on the FuboTV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV, Android TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad, or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the FuboTV website.
You can also watch the game live via FoxSports.com or the Fox Sports app. You need to sign in to a TV provider to watch this way, but you can do that with your FuboTV credentials.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV also comes with 250 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as a 72-hour look-back feature, which allows you to watch the game on-demand within three days of its conclusion, even if you don’t record it.
Vidgo
You can watch a live stream of Big Ten Network and 65+ other TV channels on Vidgo, which you can use for free with a seven-day trial:
Once signed up for Vidgo, you can watch Rutgers vs Michigan State live on the Vidgo app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Android TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad, or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Vidgo website.
You can also watch the game live via FoxSports.com or the Fox Sports app. You need to sign in to a TV provider to watch this way, but you can do that with your Vidgo credentials.
Hulu With Live TV
You can watch a live stream of Big Ten Network and 65+ other TV channels via Hulu With Live TV, which you can try out for free with a seven-day trial:
Once signed up for Hulu With Live TV, you can watch Rutgers vs Michigan State live on the Hulu app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Samsung Smart TV, LG Smart TV, Android TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad, or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Hulu website.
You can also watch the game live via FoxSports.com or the Fox Sports app. You need to sign in to a TV provider to watch this way, but you can do that with your Hulu credentials.
If you can’t watch live, Hulu with Live TV also comes with 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of DVR space and the ability to fast forward through commercials).
Sling TV
You can watch a live stream of Big Ten Network and 50-plus other TV channels via Sling TV’s “Sling Blue + Sports Extra” bundle. It comes with a free three-day trial, but if you bypass that, you can get $10 off your first month, and get Showtime, Starz, and Epix included for free:
Once signed up for Sling TV, you can watch Rutgers vs Michigan State live on the Sling TV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV, LG Smart TV, Android TV, airTV Mini, Oculus, Portal, iPhone, Android phone, iPad, or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Sling TV website.
You can also watch the game live via FoxSports.com or the Fox Sports app. You need to sign in to a TV provider to watch this way, but you can do that with your Sling credentials.
If you can’t watch live, Sling TV comes included with 10 hours of cloud DVR.
Rutgers vs Michigan State Preview
The Spartans are 13.5 point favorites in this one, and with good reason — they’ve beaten Rutgers every time they’ve played them over the last six years. Michigan State will be a very different-looking team this year, particularly on offense.
Mel Tucker has yet to name a starting quarterback after Brian Lewerke graduated, and the Spartans also lost two of their top wideouts, so their new head coach is focused on developing the young talent he has.
“We’re gonna play who gives us the best chance to win. So, we’ll just have to see how this week unfolds,” Tucker said, adding: “We’re trying to develop as many players as we can. A coach’s job is to teach, motivate and develop, and every player on our roster is getting coached hard, with attention to detail and a sense of urgency and anticipation of that player, ultimately, being on the field and playing winning football for us.”
As of now, Rocky Lombardi and Theo Day look to be the top two candidates to take the reins, but all will be revealed when the Spartans take the field. Lombardi started three games back in 2018 as a freshman, one of which was a victory over Rutgers in which he threw for 173 yards and a touchdown. Payton Thorne and Noah Kim could also see snaps if Tucker is looking to give his young signal-callers time to showcase what they can do.
Like Tucker, Scarlet Knights head coach Greg Schiano is in his first year with the program, and like Tucker, he also hasn’t named a starter. It will be between Noah Vedral and Art Sitkowski, with Vedral being the early favorite to start.
Rutgers scored fewer touchdowns than any other team in the FBS last year (18), so there’s much work to be done, and early returns suggest change child becoming.
“Every practice is high energy, high tempo,” Rutgers guard Nick Krimin said about Schiano’s offense this week. “A lot of the Big Ten football teams kind of huddle up, get the play and kind of mosey on up to the line of scrimmage. But with us, we’re kind of building that stamina. Get a jump on people, play fast, play physical and score a lot of points this year.”
On defense, Rutgers is hoping Schiano’s presence can help them find a new identity. The Scarlet Knights forced just 10 turnovers in 12 games last year, and Senior linebacker Tyshon Fogg said this week that they now have a new focus and mentality as a unit:
“The mentality of getting to the ball,” Fogg said. “Everyone is swarming to the ball. Eleven guys to the ball all the time. That’s the biggest thing. We are trying to force takeaways. Making plays and playing free. It isn’t as much about schematics, but more the mindset of the defense. All the guys want to get 11 hats to the ball and play consistent through the game. That’s the biggest change.”
They’ll get a golden opportunity to get after it against a young Michigan State offense while also getting the chance to start changing the course of their rivalry on Saturday.