In the sixth Monday Morning Quarterback edition of the sports podcast, sports editor Chris Vannini and football reporters Jeremy Warnemuende and Jeff Kanan discuss No. 13 MSU’s 34-17 win against Michigan.
The guys talk about what the win means, being the third in a row for the Spartans. The Spartans outrushed the Wolverines, 249-162, as the team with the most rushing yards and the team that has won the game 38 out of the past 41 times.
The Spartans move to 6-0 and will play Illinois Saturday.
In the final moments of No. 13 MSU’s 34-17 win against Michigan, as MSU fans chanted loudly and were the only voice heard in the Big House, one thing became apparent: MSU has a stranglehold on this rivalry.
Perhaps more than MSU fans know — more than U-M fans would want to admit — the Spartans have dominated on more than just the football field.
For 1,073 days and counting, MSU has defeated the Wolverines on the football field and basketball court. The Spartans have taken the advantage in the rivalry and, if Saturday’s game was any indication, will be hard-pressed to give it up.
It’s more than just football. MSU has won every basketball and football game since losing 28-24 against U-M on Nov. 3, 2007, and made it a two-sided overtaking.
On Saturday, the Spartans used their running game to slowly assert themselves. U-M outplayed the Spartans for the first quarter, but then the MSU rushing attack took over and didn’t look back.
That’s the way this series has been contested during the past three years. The Wolverines have hung in there, not being the favorites they’re accustomed to being, but over time the Spartans have taken edge.
Play calling and execution can attest to how much the game means to the Spartans and how much they’ve grown since getting spanked by the Wolverines earlier in the decade.
In spite of great plays by the U-M defense at times Saturday and in spite of quarterback Denard Robinson’s three costly interceptions that could have made the game closer, MSU undoubtedly was better. U-M head coach Rich Rodriguez had his Wolverines prepared, but not Robinson’s playmaking nor a rivalry setting could lift the Wolverines past a crisp MSU attack that was good in the trenches and defensively sound.
It’s been a similar story in recent years, with the game being close, but MSU having just a little bit more.
As much as the Spartans needed Saturday’s game, U-M needed it more, hoping to show the country that it could thrive under Rich Rodriguez’s system and that it was here to stay among the national elite. Losing against Ohio State and MSU has become a tradition for U-M, which needed a win Saturday to reaffirm belief.
Saturday’s game confirmed that the culture of “Little Brother” no longer applies. The Wolverines destroyed the Spartans earlier in the decade, winning six straight before 2007.
But that was ages ago.
MSU head coach Mark Dantonio has turned the tide in the football rivalry in the past four years and gained exposure for his program. The Spartans are recruiting well in the state and have been more significant in the national race.
Basketball has been the same way, with head coach Tom Izzo leading the Spartans to success in the in-state matchup. It’s been a tight contest for U-M against MSU in recent seasons, competing against the fast and nationally-relevant Spartans.
Winning three straight, as the Spartans did Saturday, rarely happens in the rivalry. The Spartans haven’t won three straight since 1967 because few teams have been able to take a death grip on U-M.
Saturday’s win was representative of where the rivalry is at this point. Despite the Wolverines’ best efforts, they’ve been short of the Spartans in recent seasons.
The Spartans’ domination of this rivalry is very temporary, but isn’t about to be overtaken easily.
The Wolverines need a big rivalry win quickly before it becomes more than a temporary side note.
The Wolverines lost only their first game of the season Saturday, but have work to do in the rivalry.
The Spartans’ fans are believing, as the small but loud green-clad section in Ann Arbor could verify Saturday.
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They have a 6-0 team that has made all the right plays thus far.
Saturday’s domination was another step in the right direction for MSU and proof that the Spartans have been the top dog in the state for 1,073 days.
And counting.
Jeff Kanan is a State News football reporter. Reach him at kananjef@msu.edu.
