msu vs. um: sixth time’s the charm

Well, we haven’t beat the furry rodents from Ann Arbor Community College since 2001. Two of those games were OT heartbreakers, but this is definitely getting ridiculous.

I’ve been saying all year that this MSU team is capable of beating anyone on any given weekend, and I still think that’s the case. Unfortunately, we haven’t actually beaten a team that’s worth a damn yet. Instead, we’ve seen a pretty typical Michigan State team that shoots itself in the foot when the game is on the line, and never quite plays to its potential. I hate writing that, but it’s true.

Now, all of that aside, reading stuff like this gives me reason to hope:

Dantonio is calling on his players to make a stand this year. He asked them a question last Sunday after their double overtime loss to Iowa, hoping they’ll have the answer on Saturday.
“How long are we going to continue to bow to the University of Michigan?” Dantonio said Monday at his press conference, repeating it to the media.

Ever since he was hired at MSU, Dantonio has embraced the in-state rivalry. At the all-state football banquet at Ford Field last December, Dantonio cut off his speech to send a message to a table of several U-M assistant football coaches.

Dantonio has proved that he isn’t a messiah this year, but when it comes to Michigan, I definitely feel like this guy gets it. That was clearly never the case with John L. Smith. To him, UM was just an average game. Coach Dantonio understands that we’re competing against UM 365 days a year.

He made it clear to them that he would have his Spartans coming out swinging when the teams face off. He made it clear that with him at the helm, they’re going to war with the Wolverines every year.
Dantonio has made the rivals from down the road a measuring stick for the Spartans in every sense imaginable.

“We compete against them in everything we do every day,” he said, “Whether it’s for a recruit, whether it’s for fans, whether it’s for a 9-year-old’s heart, whatever it is.”

Yeah, but do the players get it?

This will be junior running back Javon Ringer’s second shot at beating U-M, and he said he’s sick of his team being labeled Big Blue’s little brother.

A knee injury forced him to watch from the sidelines as the Wolverines dismantled the Spartans last year, and he still hasn’t forgotten the disappointed looks on his teammates’ faces.

He watched former MSU quarterback Drew Stanton and former wide receiver Matt Trannon walk off the field as seniors — their last chance to beat U-M emptying down the drain.

“I don’t know any good athlete who likes to go through their college career without beating their rival school,” Ringer said.

Now that he’s healthy again, he said he’s looking forward to helping his teammates get the satisfaction of beating U-M.

“We’re all trying to send our seniors out happy,” Ringer said.

At 3:30 p.m. today, the countdown clock strikes 24:00:00.

Twenty-four hours until Caulcrick, Thornhill and the rest of the Spartan seniors get their chance to slap that monkey — or Wolverine — off their back.

“This is my last year,” Thornhill said. “I have nothing to lose.”

As they say, “Never contend with a man who has nothing to lose.”