Boy Fights: a Michigan - MSU preview

And so here we are again. Michigan prepares to travel an hour to their kid brother's house just outside of the state's capitol. Big brother is riding high and ranked in the AP, and little Sparty is reeling after a distasterous start to the season and there are grumblings about their coach. It's been a while.

How long has it been? Two years? Really?

Since Michigan State hired a curmudgeon from Cincinnati who worked wonders en route to a 18-17 record (at a now top-10 school), many insane proclamations have come out of his mouth, and not(!) ALL of them have been racist, like when he called Mike Hart a little "brother." Here's what Dantonio said after MSU beat Michigan (*without cheating) for the first time since 1999:

"I'll go on record and say this one counts as more than one."
"The culture in the state of Michigan is changing."

Here's what's happened since he made those proclamations:
-Michigan State has gone 2-6 vs. FCS opponents; Michigan 5-3
-Michigan nabbed the number one recruit in the state (Will Campbell) and currently the number one 2010 commit (Devin Gardner) is pledged to Michigan
-MSU hasn't beaten a ranked team, Michigan has
-MSU reinstated a convicted felon to their team after he assaulted a MSU hockey player
-Michigan has a record-high team GPA
-The Spartans lost to a MAC team
-Mike Valenti has gone on a radio rant
-MSU players claim they aren't respected
-Dantonio became the first MSU coach to lose in South Bend in 16 years
-He may or may not have reset a countdown clock

So why do we care? Every year we go through this. Every year the Spartans muster up venom, and they almost always lose. When they do, they write stupid things like scUM on teh internets. When they win, they print t-shirts and make billboards with inane sayings. In short, they act EXACTLY like a little brother.

Michigan State doesn't know how to be a top program, and never will as long as they have a stubborn misanthrope like Dantonio in charge. Michigan is evolving and has the pieces in place to make a run for the next several years. State can't get past a game in the middle of the schedule.

A quick note on the actual game: MSU's secondary - Dantonio's supposed forte - has been awful. Conversely, Michigan's passing and running game have been very good thus far. Michigan, if Tate is healthy and Mooseman can snap the damn ball, will score points. Michigan State's lone strength is it's receiving corps, who might be able to exploit one of our corners if their QB can manage not to throw the ball into the stands when their man is wide open. I expect a similar game to the Michigan-Indiana game of last week save for one exception: the Michigan defense will be just a little bit improved, as what happens to young defenses. Expect a shootout. I hope we win, or else the Sparties will have to work an extra shift at the Kroger deli counter to pay for a billboard (hopefully this time they spring for a grammar-checker).