During his weekly press conference, head coach Mark Dantonio said the decision to play in Mount Pleasant — the first time MSU is visiting the venue in program history — was one made with the entire state of Michigan in mind.

“We took the opportunity to do it as an administration, athletics department and football department, to do something for the state of Michigan that would be valued, making it a historic event,” he said.

He added another motivation behind playing on the road was the opportunity to have junior quarterback Andrew Maxwell play his first road game start only 70 miles away, and in an environment that likely would have more green in the stands than an out-of-state opponent.

For Maxwell, Saturday’s game is another opportunity to prove he’s better than his numbers against Boise State might have indicated.

However, the Midland, Mich., native also has to count on his receiving corps, which also received scrutiny following Friday’s game.

“We don’t have a B.J. Cunningham or Keshawn Martin, that’s been established,” wide receivers coach Terrence Samuel said. “The most we have right now is three catches by a wide receiver, so we’ve got to try to put the best athletes, the best guys out there, and we will let them grow. Nobody’s safe, the guys that make plays will play.”

Samuel added sophomore wide receiver DeAnthony Arnett, who transferred from Tennessee this season, will see an expanded role this weekend after getting limited reps against Boise State.
On defense, the Spartans look forward to squaring off against an offensive unit that mirrors MSU’s own.

The defense struggled against Boise State’s quick attack offense, failing to reach quarterback Joe Southwick once.

Senior linebacker Chris Norman said the unit should have a much easier time adjusting to what the Chippewas will throw at them, since MSU’s offense is so similar to Central Michigan’s.

“We’ve just got to adjust to the tempo of the game,” he said. “We’re used to this kind of offense. It shouldn’t be too crazy for us, it shouldn’t juggle our minds a lot, so you’ve just got to get ready to go.”

The similarities in style between MSU and Central Michigan shouldn’t be too surprising, as Chippewa head coach Dan Enos played quarterback for the Spartans in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s and served as an assistant coach at MSU for four years under Dantonio and former head coach John L. Smith.

However, Dantonio won’t be taking the matchup against his former colleague lightly.

“You want him to do well,” he said. “You want Central Michigan to do well, but you have to take care of business on your side, so obviously you want to win. But when you get to games like this, you line up, you play, you get your football teams ready, you respect who they are and you play on.”