Ryan Van Bergen
Michigan and Michigan State are set to battle on the gridiron Saturday. This will be the 102nd meeting between the two rivals. Michigan holds a 67-29-5 advantage in the series. There is a lot at stake in this game; bragging rights, the Paul Bunyan Trophy, and so much more.
First let’s address the Paul Bunyan Trophy. The two teams started playing for the gigantic trophy back in 1953. Michigan leads the series in that time span 34-20-2. The home team has won 13 of the last 17 games, the road victories; Michigan in 1997, 2003, and 2005, Michigan State in 2008.
Yes Michigan State won last year and they made sure everybody knew about, often in a classless manner. It seems Spartan fans are often more worried about what is going on at Michigan then what is happening with their own team. Perhaps they take that queue from their head coach.
Exhibit 1: Michigan loses to Appalachian State (2007) in Mark Dantonio’s first season at MSU. The Spartan coach is asked about that game in his teams post game press conference. He responds by saying, perhaps we should have a moment of silence.
Exhibit 2: Dantonio gets involved in a verbal dispute through the media with Michigan’s Mike Hart about whether or not Michigan State is Michigan’s “Little brother”. Dantonio goes as far as making fun of how tall Hart is during an interview.
Exhibit 3: Last year Michigan State went to Penn State for their regular season finale. With a win they had a shot at a share of the Big Ten title. The game was hyped up big time and rightfully so. Penn State hammered the Spartans 49-18. After the game Don Shane asked Dantonio if he was embarrassed by the outcome of the game after all the hype and build up for the chance at the big ten championship?
His answer, “no I’m not embarrassed. Embarrassing would be if our team was 3-9.” An obvious cheap shot directed at Michigan who had finished 2008 with a 3-9 record.
From the time Michigan State beat Michigan up until the start of the 2009 season all we heard about around here was that Michigan State had passed Michigan by in the world of College Football. Many were predicting MSU would win 10 or 11 games this year and Michigan would be lucky to get 6 wins.
So here we are Michigan vs. Michigan State game week. The Wolverines are 4-0 and ranked 20/22 in the polls. Michigan State is 1-3. I believe Michigan State is better then their record suggests. I also did not buy into the theory that Michigan’s Football program was in demise see exhibits a, b, c.
Having said all that you can throw it all out the window because this is a rivalry game. Records don’t matter. None of that other nonsense matters either. This game will be emotional and physical. Michigan State will enjoy home field advantage. This will be Michigan’s first road game of the season. Which means it will be the first road game for Michigan’s two freshmen quarterbacks.
We have two of the Big Ten’s best offenses set to square off against two struggling defenses.
Big Ten Leaders
- Total Offense: Michigan State ranks first, Michigan third
- Rushing Offense: Michigan ranks first, Michigan State 10th
- Scoring Offense: Michigan ranks first, Michigan State fourth
- Passing Offense: Michigan State ranks first, Michigan 10th
- Michigan’s Tate Forcier ranks 2nd in the Big Ten in passing efficiency at 148.8, Michigan State’s Kirk Cousins ranks 3rd at 147.6
So offensively both teams are chugging right along. It is on the defensive side of the ball where things get dicey for both squads.
Big Ten Leaders
- Total Defense: Michigan State ranks 7th, Michigan 9th
- Scoring Defense: Michigan ranks 5th, Michigan State 8th
- Passing Defense: Michigan ranks 8th, Michigan State 10th
- Rushing Defense: Michigan State ranks 4th, Michigan 8th
Despite the struggles of both defenses this game will feature two of the Big Ten’s best defensive players in Michigan State LB Greg Jones and Michigan DE Brandon Graham. Jones is tied for 2nd in the country averaging 13.0 tackles per game.
There has been much to-do about Tate Forcier’s injured shoulder. The injury is being reported as a bruised shoulder. Rich Rodriguez said Forcier would play this week. Keep in mind that when Forcier tossed that perfectly thrown game-winning TD pass to Martavious Odoms he did so with the injured shoulder.
That is just a preliminary look at the game. The full game preview is up here: Michigan ready to invade East Lansing
About Rob White