Mark Dantonio: Michigan State win over Michigan not perfect, but shows Spartans' strengths
It was a raucous bus ride Mark Dantonio hopes his Michigan State players, one the coach hopes they remember for a long time.
Through the dark, arriving back in East Lansing with the Paul Bunyan Trophy after a 14-10 victory Saturday night over Michigan.
And then it was back to work Sunday morning just a few hours later, ranked in the top 25 again for the first time in a year.
“We got home about, I don’t know what time it was, about 2 o’clock. But just the ride itself,” Dantonio said Sunday on a teleconference. “Nothing important on the ride, it’s just sitting sort of with yourself and collecting yourself and you win a big football game like that, you know.”
It was a momentous win, both in the rivalry and in the big picture of the season for No. 22 MSU (4-1, 2-0 Big Ten). It was Dantonio’s fourth win in five games at Michigan Stadium, which improved him to 8-3 all-time against the Wolverines. He has never lost two straight to U-M. And the Spartans have won eight of the last 10 games for the first time in the history of the rivalry. It also was the first night start in the 110-game history of the series.
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Despite a swirling deluge of rain throughout most of the second half, MSU did not turn the ball over and forced five from the Wolverines (4-1, 1-1). That and not allowing any sacks while getting pressure on Michigan QB John O’Korn, Dantonio said, were the big keys to victory.
“There was a lot you couldn’t see with that rain and everything else going on down there,” Dantonio said. “I was just really pleased with how hard we played. … The thing that you can look at our football team right now is that we’re playing extremely hard and we’re playing together. And we believe in each other and understand that there’s gonna be some mistakes, but we believe in each other. And it’s given us strength.”
There are things he believes the Spartans must correct. They had 11 penalties for 81 yards, and MSU struggled yet again to run the ball consistently.
“Not a perfect game on our part, just not a perfect game …,” Dantonio said. “So we live and we learn, but we got through it.”
ATTENTION BIG TEN: Dantonio said he and his staff plan to send a few plays to the Big Ten conference office to be reviewed.
“We’re going to send a couple plays in that looked like it was helmet-to-helmet to have them review it,” he said.
There were a few that appeared to be instances of such contact by Michigan linebacker Devin Bush Jr. on MSU quarterback Brian Lewerke late in the game.
“I took a lot of shots today,” Lewerke said after the game. “I have some bumps and bruises and stuff like that.”
According to the Big Ten, the replay booth has the final say-so in potential targeting calls.
SPECIAL TEAMS ISSUES: MSU’s two true freshman return men had some problems in the rain Saturday.
Laress Nelson muffed a punt and nearly had another. Andre Welch bobbled one kickoff and returned one horizontally rather than vertically that pinned the Spartans deep in their own territory.
“It is difficult for anybody out there,” Dantonio said. “Laress has done a good job back there. We want to continue to help him grow in that area. But the circumstances were tough. You know, he’s not playing all the time on offense, he’s in and out a little bit, but not all the time. He’s not caught six balls in 30 games, he’s a freshman. So that was difficult.
“Same with Andre Welch. On the back end, he bobbled the one when he did catch it at the goal line.”
Dantonio called those moments “growing pains” of having a young team. Both of them replaced Darrell Stewart earlier in the season, but the sophomore wide receiver was back for punts after Nelson’s second mistake.
“Some of those things we have to make decisions on obviously,” Dantonio said.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Download our Spartans Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!