“We talk in terms of Michigan State football and tradition and tradition around this country, Michigan State is one of those places that has a great tradition,” Dantonio said. “So to be a part of this 100th Homecoming, it is special. This university has been on the map a long time. With that comes a lot of things that have been around for a long, long time. This will be one of them.” 

What it means

For Dantonio and his players, Homecoming is an opportunity to reunite the Spartan family and spend time with familiar faces.

“I do look forward to seeing our players when they come back,” Dantonio said. Some of them come back every now and then, periodically, but for me, that’s what Homecoming is. It’s our players coming back. I think in a large university like this, I’m sure every segment of the university has people coming back and it’s special for me.” 

For junior linebacker Riley Bullough, Homecoming is an opportunity to hear from the former Spartans who laid the foundation for today’s success.

“Homecoming means a lot,” Bullough said. “We’re going to have a lot of former teammates here that we’ll see, former friends and the teammates that set the foundation for our program and how it is now. Whenever we can see them and have them speak to us it means a lot.”

Senior defensive end Shilique Calhoun is taking it one game at a time. He admitted that it is hard not to think about his time coming to an end.

“I just try to embrace my friends, embrace the moments instead of focusing on (the fact) that my time is deteriorating here,” Calhoun said. “I try to embrace each and every day, embrace the practices that we have, but there’s always going to be that time clock in my head.”

Calhoun said he didn’t realize how special Homecoming is until just recently. He also talked about how special it is to be playing in the 100th edition of the game likening it to playing in and winning the 100th edition of the Rose Bowl.

“I don’t think I realized Homecoming was such a big game until this year,” Calhoun said. “It’s such a big moment, a lot of the alumni to come back to experience that college life again and witness a game or to be on campus again. ..I think it’s going to be a sad moment (for me), but at the same time if we get a win, I’ll be pretty happy.”

The weekend will also serve as an opportunity for MSU to welcome the 1965-‘66 team back to campus. The 1965-‘66 team will be honored at halftime and the 1990 Big Ten Championship Team will also be in East Lansing for their 25 year reunion.

The matchup

Purdue is a team that has always played MSU tough, but that is unlikely this year.

Purdue opened the season with a 10-point loss to Marshall. In week three they suffered a lopsided 51-24 loss to Virginia Tech and just last week they were defeated by MAC opponent Bowling Green.

The Boilermakers only win this season came against FCS opponent Indiana State.

The Spartans won’t look past the Boilermakers because it is an important step toward their ultimate goals of winning a Big Ten Championship and a national championship.

“The Big Ten play is what we preach about all offseason and Purdue, a quality opponent who’s played us tough, is the first stepping stone to getting to Indianapolis,” Bullough said.

For senior center Jack Allen, the team’s long-term goals start with short-term goals.

“You’ve got to get (to the Big Ten Championship) to get to the next step,” Allen said. “I’ve always been a person that hasn’t looked past anyone or anything, you just take it a step at a time and right now our goal is just to win our side of the conference and we’re taking it a week at a time.”

Allen said with Big Ten play things get a bit more intense and ultimately this is what some guys came to MSU to do.

“I’m excited about it, it’s fun playing teams you don’t usually play,” Allen said. “But, at the same time we came here to play and we want to play some Big Ten teams. Everything is going to get amped up this week.”