Copyright M Live Michigan
EAST LANSING – The annual battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy returns this week. Michigan State (3-4, 0-4 Big Ten) hosts No. 25 Michigan (5-2, 3-1) on Saturday (7:30 p.m., NBC) at Spartan Stadium. Here are three things we learned in Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith’s press conference on Monday: 1. Bitter taste lingers Playing on the road under the lights against their top rival, the Spartans dominated the first quarter in Ann Arbor last year. They had commanding advantages in total yards (135-15) plays (22-4) and time of possession (13:21-1:39) but squandered chances meant a 7-0 lead flipped to a 9-7 deficit in the final 30 seconds of the half. Michigan State never regained the upper hand and lost 24-17 for its third straight defeat against Michigan. That still sticks with Smith, whose job security is being questioned heading into his second matchup against the Wolverines. “I don’t know about surprised but I can feel, still, a bitter taste in your mouth after that one, after experiencing it,” Smith said. “I’m talking particularly in the 60 minutes of it, opportunities we had we didn’t execute of being in that environment leaves a bad taste in your mouth that has not gone away.” Michigan State has lost four straight games by double digits and heads into Saturday as a 14-point underdog. The Spartans are desperate to stop the bleeding and an upset win against the Wolverines would be a big step toward doing so. “The way I message it to the team and organize it as a team,” Smith said, “this particular Saturday is going to be different in the messaging approach than any other Saturday we play with.” 2. Not another long-term injury Michigan State has already been without one starting safety nearly the entire season as Nikai Martinez played only 67 defensive snaps in two games while missing the other five. The Spartans also lost their other starting safety late in the third quarter of last week’s 38-13 defeat at Indiana. It’s unclear what happened to Malik Spencer but he was replaced by Aveon Grose after recording four tackles. “Not a long-term thing,” Smith said of Spencer. “This afternoon we’ll get a final-final (availability) for tomorrow’s Tuesday’s practice but was told this isn’t some long-term thing.” That’s just one of the latest notable injuries for the Spartans, whose depth is stretched thin at multiple spots. Four offensive linemen who have started this season were out last week with two of them done for the year. Left tackle Stanton Ramil was injured in a Sept. 20 loss at USC and Smith initially said he’d be out about a month. Guard Kristian Phillips was hurt two weeks ago and among the nine players listed as out for Michigan State on the pregame availability report at Indiana. Martinez made the trip to Bloomington but didn’t play while the status of others, including returner Alante Brown, starting nickelback Ade Willie, tight ends Brennan Parachek and Jayden Savoury and defensive tackle Grady Kelly, remains uncertain. “They’re getting closer,” Smith said of some of the guys who have missed multiple games, “but it will still be toward the end of the week to know for certain.” 3. New-look Wolverines Michigan’s quarterback shuffle last season led to ranking 130th out of 133 teams in the nation in passing yards at 129.1 per game. There’s no uncertainty at the top spot this year with freshman Bryce Underwood the unquestioned starter and the true freshman is settling in. The former No. 1 overall recruit in the nation, Underwood isn’t posting eye-popping numbers but has completed 62.4 percent of his passes for 1,440 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions. He has five touchdown throws in the last three games combined against only one pick and gives the Wolverines a different look than a year ago. “I think there’s a different play caller (Chip Lindsey), a different quarterback,” Smith said. “The quarterback’s skillset creates differences than last year just going off their recent last game or two. I think last week you looked at them and they had some balance offensively so there’s some differences.” Michigan’s offensive strength still remains on the ground with a top-25 rushing attack averaging 212.1 yards per game. Alabama transfer Justice Haynes racked up 705 yards and eight touchdowns on 95 carries before missing last week’s win against Washington due to injury but is expected to practice this week. Even with Haynes out, Jordan Marshall stepped up to rush for 133 yards and a score against the Huskies. Meanwhile, Michigan State hasn’t reached 100 yards on the ground as a team three straight games. “I think the matchup is huge, the line of scrimmage for both sides, whether offense or defense,” Smith said. “They have shown to have an effective run game and that is something that we’ve got to be able to answer to and bow up to.”
