It was followed by a stern reply to former U-M running back Mike Hart’s now infamous “little brother,” comment by angrily replying, “Pride comes before the fall.”

And it was reignited in an ESPN.com interview in April, when he responded to a question about U-M’s surge in recruiting by saying, “We’ve beat Michigan the last four years, so where’s the threat?”
In his six years at the helm, Mark Dantonio has made one thing abundantly clear: He doesn’t like U-M, and he’s not shy about saying so.

But as the Spartans (4-3 overall, 1-2 Big Ten) approach a potential historic milestone for the program — a record fifth consecutive victory over archrival U-M (4-2, 2-0) on Saturday (3:30 p.m., Big Ten Network) — Dantonio’s tone unexpectedly has shifted, undergoing a noticeable change to one of admiration and respect.

“I have a great deal of respect for Brady Hoke,” Dantonio said of the U-M head coach at his weekly press conference Tuesday.

“To be honest with you, I think Brady Hoke handles himself, at times, much better than I do. I have a great respect in how he handles his job, how he’s gone about his business there. I just go about mine and hope that other guy doesn’t come out in this press conference.”

With the Spartans’ season on the brink following a double-overtime loss to Iowa last weekend — MSU’s third home loss of the season — hopes for a return trip to the Big Ten championship game hinge on the Spartans’ ability to make history against their rival, a challenge Dantonio has decided to approach differently for the first time.

Making nice
Looking back on how he’s talked about the rivalry, Dantonio said his tendency to become emotional stems from his heritage.

Yet the compliments for Hoke, U-M senior quarterback Denard Robinson and the Wolverines in general were unusually frequent throughout Tuesday’s meeting with the media.
“I think Michigan is certainly back,” Dantonio said.

“I think that Denard is a tremendous football player. He is a central theme in whatever we’ve done defensively to try to and stop him … (and) we need to make sure we know where he’s at at all times, where (No.) 16 is on the playing field. He can make a play at any given moment and turn a game around. He’s been a great football player at Michigan and he’ll always be remembered as that.”

The changed tone is one Tom Dienhart, a senior writer for BTN.com, believes could have to do with MSU failing to live up to preseason expectations.

Dienhart said the MSU coaching staff might be choosing to downplay its trash-talking aggressiveness because the team’s recent struggles limit overt confidence.

“My only guess would be (that it’s because) they’re not playing that well,” Dienhart said. “I thought (MSU) was the best team in the Big Ten at the beginning of the year, and I thought this was the biggest game in the Big Ten.

“They’re 4-3, and they’ve lost three games at home. They’re not exactly hitting this game with a full head of steam, and your confidence has to be a little bit shaken.”

Yet when the Spartans’ head coach was asked if the team’s difficulties are the source of the change, Dantonio definitively said that wasn’t the case, citing the media as the main source for his past emotional responses.

“That has nothing to do with it,” Dantonio said.

“I always try to come up here and be who I am. It’s you guys that stoke that fire. Nobody’s done that yet, so we’re good.”

MSU Trustee and former head coach George Perles understands Dantonio and the challenge MSU will face on Saturday better than most.

Perles led the Spartans from 1983-94, including the team’s last trip to the Rose Bowl in 1988, but despite all his success, Perles was only 4-8 against U-M during his career.

That’s part of the reason the former MSU head coach said he has high respect for Dantonio and understands that the historic chase of a fifth consecutive victory can lead Dantonio to underscore his typical fire for the rivalry and decide to tone it down this week.

“I think (it carries) over from where he’s … raised in Ohio,” Perles said of Dantonio’s turbulent history with U-M.

“Michigan and Ohio State is a big rivalry, and it’s carried over to Michigan State. He’s still competing against Michigan, and that’s a big part of his life … (and) you certainly don’t want to motivate the other team by saying anything that isn’t positive.”

Moment of truth
Yet positives for MSU have been tough to come by, with Dienhart saying the biggest reason has been an underperforming offense, the missing leadership of former quarterback Kirk Cousins and junior quarterback Andrew Maxwell “not (being) as far along as we thought.”

Maxwell is coming off-arguably-his worst game of the season, completing 12-of-31 passes against Iowa including an interception in double overtime that ended last week’s game.

Quarterbacks coach Dave Warner said although the weather was a factor in Maxwell’s inaccuracy, he admitted the team’s performance throughout the season and the inconsistency in the passing game specifically are “not where we expected to be.”

“We knew we’d be young, but we thought we would be able to make progress through the first couple games and be able to gain some confidence and settle in, sort of be able to hang our hat on some things offensively, and that has not happened,” Warner said.

“We’re unproven yet, but we’re still trying to find that magic formula.”

With losses in three of the past five games and the continued difficulty in finding a rhythm in the passing game, Warner said team confidence has become a concern, but the heightened intensity of Saturday’s rivalry game should minimize some of those concerns.

“(I’m) worried about confidence all the time, absolutely,” he said.

“When you go into the season with high expectations and you sit here 4-3, getting ready to go play in Ann Arbor, that’s a factor, but it’s Michigan-Michigan State, so just put all that aside.”

Junior linebacker Denicos Allen said there should be a sense of urgency for players Saturday that begins with the rivalry and extends well beyond.

“(It’s) a big rivalry game in their house,” Allen said. “It’s time to see what we’re about. It’s time to see if we can respond to a loss like this and keep our hopes up for a Big Ten championship.”

The hope of a Big Ten title might seem farfetched to some, but Dantonio said the conference race is as open as its ever been, and a win Saturday has the ability to change the team’s fortunes.
“There’s a lot of parity,” Dantonio said of the Big Ten.

“I think there’s a lot of opportunity for players to play well and teams to rise up and win against anybody, really, so we just got to play them one at a time and focus on the present. That’s all I can tell you. I do think if we take care of our business, we’ve got opportunities ahead of us. But we need to take care of our business first.”

That business begins Saturday in a game that has the potential to alter the course of a season more than any other in Dantonio’s tenure.

If the Spartans pull off the upset, Dienhart said MSU could find its way back to the Big Ten championship game.

But if not, the season could turn ugly fast.

“Without a doubt, a win on Saturday would totally change the fortunes for Michigan State,” Dienhart said.

“This wouldn’t be an ordinary win. Obviously, a fifth consecutive win over Michigan, that’s never happened before, and who knows, there’s no 10,000-pound gorilla in the Big Ten, and maybe if Michigan State gets the win, it could get them on a roll and be a season-saving win.

“But a loss, especially a bad loss, a lopsided loss, could cause them to sink even deeper. At that point, you start to wonder if this team can get to six wins. I think they still will, but a big loss could cause this team to struggle to get to 6-6 or 7-5. The one thing they’ve proven they can do against Michigan is stop Denard Robinson; (defensive coordinator) Pat Narduzzi can do it. The key is scoring enough points.”