Confident Michigan State faces test at Wisconsin
In beating Notre Dame last week, Michigan State got over a major emotional hurdle that was left over from last year’s lost season.
For an encore, the Spartans have a chance to knock off a nationally ranked conference title contender and end the longest active winning streak in major college football at No. 9 Wisconsin on Saturday.
“This will define us a little bit, there’s no doubt about that,” said Spartans coach Mark Dantonio, who took over after a 2-8 skid that began with a loss to the Irish cost John L. Smith his job last year. “If you want to play in this conference and challenge for this conference title, you have to be able to go away and compete well in a place like Wisconsin.”
Michigan State and Wisconsin both are off to 4-0 starts.
The difference? The Badgers were expected to be there.
“As you have more and more success, the stakes get higher and higher,” said Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema, whose team has won 13 straight dating back to last season. “As we have more and more wins in this program, people expect more and more things. That’s natural. That’s human nature. But as a head coach, and as a group of players, what we focus in on is Michigan State.”
Wisconsin has won its first four games — but not as impressively as expected. The Badgers didn’t earn many style points in a closer-than-expected 17-13 home victory over Iowa last Saturday.
Quarterback Tyler Donovan said the Iowa game taught the Badgers that being a conference favorite means getting each team’s best effort every week.
“Every team is going to bring their A game against us,” Donovan said. “It’s going to be physical, and they’re going to bring everything they’ve got. That’s where we need to keep pushing and know that in our preparation each week.”
Cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu doesn’t expect anything to come easy the rest of the season.
“It’s Big Ten play,” Ikegwuonu said. “Every game’s going to be a four-quarter game, so you gotta play tough all four quarters and find a way to win.”
The Badgers got an improved defensive effort against a shaky and banged-up Hawkeyes offense last week. Still, they let an Iowa receiver get behind them near the end of the game and were fortunate that a deep pass that could have cost them the game fell incomplete.
Wisconsin’s defense was among the best in the nation last year, but hasn’t quite lived up to its billing in 2007. The Badgers gave up too many yards in non-conference games against Washington State, UNLV and The Citadel.
This week, they’ll face a potent Spartans offense that averages 200.8 yards rushing per game, led by the running back tandem of Javon Ringer and Jehuu Caulcrick.
“They’re a ranked team, and it’s going to be a very hostile environment,” Caulcrick said. “I was there my freshman year, and it was an unbelievable place to play. I’m looking forward to it. We have a lot to prove, and we’re going to try to prove it on Saturday.”
The Spartans have a first-year starter in quarterback Brian Hoyer, who threw four touchdown passes against Notre Dame.
Hoyer said the Michigan State defense is taking pressure off of him.
“I know that I can maybe take a risk here and there because I know they’ve got my back,” Hoyer said. “And that’s something that we’ve definitely learned since the first week, this is a growing trust thing.”
The Spartans lead the nation in sacks with 5.25 per game — led by defensive end Jonal Saint-Dic — and will go hard after Donovan, another first-year starter who has scrambling ability and can throw downfield.
But the Badgers continue to be a run-first team with bruising back P.J. Hill, who is averaging 128 yards rushing per game.
It’s a tough test for the Spartans, but Dantonio said his team expects to win.
“We may be underdogs for a lot of people, but our players will go there expecting to win,” Dantonio said. “We have a lot of confidence right now. We have confidence that if we play fast and make plays, we can be successful.”
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