Big Brother Preview

"If they want to mock us, I'm telling them, it's not over. ... It will never be over here. It's just starting." - MSU Coach Dantonio after last year's loss to Michigan

It doesn't take a crystal ball to wonder what both teams will do this Saturday. MSU will try to run Javon Ringer 50 times so they can play ball control, shorten the game, and on Defense not let Steve Threet run over them like Pryor did the week before. Ok, that last part was bit of a joke.

Michigan on the other hand will try to spread the MSU defense out and open running lanes for Minor and McGuffie. Michigan will also try to keep MSU off balance with some screens and a couple of opportunities to get WR's down field. If you watched last night WVU vs Auburn game (mostly in the second half) you saw how effective Rich Rod's offense can be against a solid defense. Michigan is making strides, but they are not quite there yet. Let's hope we see the Wolverines from the first half of the Penn State for the entire game on Saturday.

This match-up reminds me of Michigan - Wisconsin. The keys to the game will be Michigan's Defensive Line vs Michigan's State Offensive line. Last week, OSU scored so much they basically took Ringer out of the game. The reason they scored so much was MSU's ability to turn over the ball. As we have seen out of Michigan this year, they have that same trait.

Keys for MSU include:

• Javon Touches


• Some type of passing game (Hoyer is banged up)


• 3 and out against the Michigan Offense


• Ball Control


• Can they back up their coaches "big mouth"

Keys for Michigan include:

• Stop Ringer - Stop MSU


• Linebackers need to protect against the long run


• Continue to move the ball on offense


• Keep Threet healthy


• Limit turnovers


• Can they back up "Graham's prediction/big mouth"

When Dantonio took the MSU job he made beating Michigan the #1 Priority for the program. Which he learned from his former Mentor Jim Tressel. It worked for the vest, it didn't work for Dantonio last year when Michigan made a late rally and beat MSU in East Lansing.

Dantonio did not take the loss too well and had this shot for former Michigan running back Mike Hart after his famous "Little Brother" smack. Dantonio said last year, "Does Hart have a little brother or is he the little brother? I don't know. He's that tall." And as he said the last sentence, he raised his hand to his chest.

For the record, Michigan is not very good this year and State is decent even though they weren't last week, when they got embarrassed at home. After the game, even the MSU Hockey team wanted to fight the MSU Football team after that debacle. Michigan hasn't played very well at home this year and I expect sort of the same game, Michigan looks great on offense for 2-4 drives and then things start to go haywire. If MSU can run the ball they will win, Michigan is not well suited for a shoot out. If Michigan can shut down Ringer and not let Hoyer fool the DB's with long passes, Michigan will have a good chance to win a close game. MSU is about a 4.0 point favorite in this one. I think MSU is shell shocked from last week and has a beat up QB. I think Michigan is used to getting blown out and really wants this win to salvage something out of this season. Michigan 24 MSU 13

Side note: RR was 2-0 vs Dantonio while they were in the Big East. Look for the weather to play a role in the game. The prediction is for high's in the low 50's and rain.

GO BLUE!

A quick reminder from last year