Copyright M Live Michigan
EAST LANSING – Four straight losses, all by double digits. The juice Michigan State began the season with amid a 3-0 start is long gone but another trophy game is ahead and it’s the biggest one on the schedule. The Spartans (3-4, 0-4 Big Ten) host No. 25 Michigan (5-2, 3-1) on Saturday (7:30 p.m., NBC) in the 118th installment of the rivalry. “It’s a very important, meaningful game so that creates a huge opportunity for us, especially kind of where we’re at with things,” coach Jonathan Smith said on Monday. “This season hasn’t gone our way, all those things, I think it comes at a good time to galvanize this group and have a great week of work getting ready for Saturday.” Smith is only in his second season leading the Spartans but the fan base is growing increasingly frustrated with the direction of the program. Snapping a three-game skid against the Wolverines and reclaiming the Paul Bunyan Trophy under the lights at Spartan Stadium would be huge. “I know it can change our season,” Smith said, “no question.” Smith was a newcomer to the rivalry last year and, following a 24-17 loss in Ann Arbor, admitted it took experiencing the game for the first time to really appreciate the intensity. That led to adjusting how the game is approached, including adding more emphasis in the offseason. “I think about the preparation and using more of that fuel, that passion for our preparation and then obviously playing with it within a disciplined approach,” Smith said. “In football it comes down to doing your job at a high, high level so we want to foster a lot of that fuel to be able to play our best.” Michigan State snapped a three-game skid last year with a surprising win against Iowa and then dominated the first half at Michigan the following week. Self-inflicted errors piled up and the Wolverines pulled away. “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.” Following an embarrassing homecoming defeat against UCLA, Michigan State put up a lot more fight on the road last week but still lost 38-13 at unbeaten Indiana. There’s now an opportunity to pull off an upset in the matchup Smith hears more about from fans than any other game. “We all know what this week is, a huge rivalry week, which is one of the best things about college football,” Smith said. “This game being the most meaningful game on our schedule, we did flip the switch pretty quickly yesterday as a team, digesting some of the things from the film and then moved forward. This game means a ton to our players but also former players, the program, I think about alumni, all of it.”
