Spartans Top Wolverines For Third Straight Year, 34-17

A video of highlights of Michigan State's 34-17 win over Michigan can be found below.

Ann Arbor, MI (Sports Network) – Edwin Baker, Le’Veon Bell, and Larry Caper recorded one rushing touchdown apiece, as the 17th-ranked Michigan State Spartans handled the 18th-ranked Michigan Wolverines, 34-17, in a battle between these two Big Ten rivals at Michigan Stadium.

Baker carried the ball 22 times for 147 yards for the Spartans (6-0, 2-0 Big Ten), who have won three straight games against Michigan for the first time since 1965-67. Bell rushed for 78 yards on seven carries.

Kirk Cousins completed 18-of-25 passes for 284 yards and a touchdown in the annual battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy. Mark Dell hauled in three passes for 93 yards and a score.

Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio returned to the team after missing the previous two games. A mild heart attack and a blood clot in his leg led to multiple trips to the hospital for Dantonio, who coached from the press box on Saturday.

Heisman Trophy candidate Denard Robinson connected on 17-of-29 passes for 215 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions for the Wolverines (5-1, 1-1), who own a 67-31-5 edge in the all-time series despite the loss. Robinson also carried the ball 21 times for 86 yards and a score.

After a surprising first quarter in which both the Spartan and Wolverine defenses controlled the game, both offenses broke out as expected in the second quarter.

Michigan took a 3-0 lead on a 34-yard Seth Broekhuizen field goal, but then the game opened up. The Spartans and Wolverines traded touchdowns midway through the quarter, resulting in a 14-10 Michigan lead. But the powerful MSU running game asserted itself from there, highlighted by a 41-yard touchdown run by Le’Veon Bell that gave the Spartrans a 17-14 lead. Dan Conroy added a 38-yard field goal to stretch the MSU lead to seven points.

The Wolverines had a chance to cut the lead to four before the half. Denard Robinson connected with Martavious Odoms for a 48-yard pass with three seconds remaining in the first half. But MSU blocked a 42-yard field goal attempt by Broekhuizen.

MSU’s defense has largely kept Michigan’s running game in check. Robinson gained only 49 yards on 12 carries in the first half, while tailback Michael Shaw added 42 yards on five carries.

Robinson has thrown for 140 yards, completing 11-of-15 passes with one touchdown. But a first quarter interception by MSU’s Trenton Robinson in the end zone killed a chance for Michigan to take an early 7-0 lead.

For the Spartans, Edwin Baker has rushed for 90 yards on eight carries, including a 61-yard touchdown run. Bell has carried twice for 44 yards.

At last, game day has arrived for the 2010 edition of the Michigan-Michigan State game. Although I personally didn't start thinking too much about this game until last Saturday night, the week went by pretty slowly because there was so much anticipation. Each and every day I was thinking about this game around the clock, and now the day has finally arrived where 5-0 will meet 5-0 in Michigan Stadium for the Paul Bunyan Trophy.

While you tick down the final hours until kickoff, check out a rundown of links below for items from this game's StoryStream that were posted over the course of the last week. There are links to a preview, depth charts, injury report, coverage maps and more.

• Sports Network preview
• Michigan depth chart; Michigan State depth chart
• Michigan injury report
• Tickets in high demand
• Weather forecast looks awesome
  
• Coverage maps
• Matt Millen announcing the game
• Heads up on possible forged tickets
• Betting line opens with Michigan as favorite
• No College GameDay in Ann Arbor
• Initial preview (from last Sunday)

I'd be lying if I said I wish both teams good luck today, because my rooting interests are clearly aligned with Michigan. Even so, I will say that I hope for a great game and may the best team win.

Michigan went all out for its season opener against UConn when it came to pregame festivities. There was a rededication ceremony, two flyovers, Brock Mealer leading the team out of the tunnel, fireworks and more. It was quite the spectacle, to say the least.

There won't be quite as many festivities for Saturday's game between the Wolverines and Spartans, but there's a pretty solid list of events going on before and during the game, including a parachute drop, which should be pretty cool.

Special Events
• Parachute Drop into the stadium by the 101st Airborne "Screaming Eagles" from Fort Campbell, Ky.
• Maize Out
• Michigan Football Letterwinner Tunnel

Presentations
• Honorary Captain Phil Brabbs
• 1955 Football Team Reunion
• 2005 NCAA Champion Michigan Softball 5-year reunion
• Michigan Rowers World Champions

I thought there was going to be a flyover as well, but perhaps not since it's not listed. I guess we will just have to wait and find out on Saturday.

(From The Sports Network)

GAME NOTES: The annual battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy takes on added significance this year as the 17th-ranked Michigan State Spartans head to Ann Arbor to take on the 18th-ranked Michigan Wolverines.

Both teams come in sporting identical 5-0 records, and the winner has the early edge when looking ahead to challenging for the Big Ten title.

This is the first game for Michigan State in hostile territory, as its only other game outside of East Lansing took place in Detroit against Florida Atlantic on September 11th in what was officially a road game, although you certainly couldn't tell by the MSU faithful that made the trek to the Motor City.

The Spartans could be playing their third straight game without head coach Mark Dantonio on the sidelines as he was just released from the hospital for the second time in the last few weeks. First, it was a mild heart attack suffered after State's overtime win against Notre Dame, and then late last week it was a blood clot in his leg. Dantonio recently said he expects to be at least in the press box for this game. Offensive coordinator Don Treadwell has guided the Spartans to victories over both Northern Colorado (45-7) and Wisconsin (34-24), the latter coming last week in the league lidlifter.

Michigan is fresh off a conference-opening win of its own, having outlasted a pesky Indiana squad in Bloomington last weekend, 42-35. The Wolverines, under the direction of third-year head coach Rich Rodriguez, have performed well offensively this year, scoring no fewer than 30 points only once in five games, hitting the 42-point mark twice and even getting to 65 points in a rout of Bowling Green in their final non-conference bout of the regular season.

The Maize and Blue are 3-0 at home this season, and will play three of their next four in Ann Arbor starting with this game against one of their most bitter rivals.

Michigan owns a 67-30-5 edge in the all-time series with Michigan State, and is 34-21-2 in the battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy. The Spartans, however, are the current owners of the trophy thanks to wins in each of the last two encounters. The home team has won 14 of the last 18 meetings.

Kirk Cousins threw for 269 yards and three TDs to lead the Spartans past visiting Wisconsin last weekend. When it came time to grind out some tough yards on the ground, running backs Edwin Baker and Le'Veon Bell were up to the task, combining for 162 yards. Mark Dell led all receivers in the game with six catches for 91 yards and a score. The Spartans, who claimed a near-13 minute advantage in time of possession, outgained the Badgers by a 444-229 margin.

With Baker (107.2 ypg, five TDs), Bell (94.2 ypg, seven TDs) and Cousins (226.4 ypg, nine TDs, four INTs) all performing at such a high level, it's no wonder the Spartans are among the league leaders in most statistical categories. MSU averages 36.2 points and 460.6 total yards per contest, converting nearly 40 percent of its third-down tries and scoring on 85 percent of its trips to the red zone.

On the other side of the ball, the Spartans have gotten solid seasons from several players, including Greg Jones (41 stops) and Chris Rucker (37 stops). Jones also paces the club in TFLs with five and INTs with two. Overall, the MSU defense is yielding just 18.6 ppg. Foes have found it particularly tough to run the ball against the Spartans, doing so for only 101.2 ypg. Only three of the opposition's 12 offensive TDs have come on the ground.

It was actually the other way around in last week's bout with Wisconsin, as the Badgers tallied 165 yards rushing but only 127 passing. Jones and Trenton Robinson each tallied eight stops in the win, with the former making three tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

Coach Treadwell was asked about the adversity the Spartans have faced this season, "You kind of take it one day at a time with where we are now. I think, I mentioned it maybe a week ago -- that one of the biggest reasons is that all the young men on our football team that are sitting in the front row that are seniors, four years ago they sat in the back row. Now you fast forward and they have been through coach Dantonio's system. He continued, "Dantonio has planted some tremendous seeds in our young men, and they believe in that. It has been kind of neat to see it flourish in front of our eyes."

Denard Robinson accounted for 494 yards of total offense (217 rushing, career- best 277 passing) and scored the game-winning TD late in the fourth quarter as Michigan survived a scare from Indiana last weekend. Robinson, who has run for 100 yards in all five games this season, led the Wolverines to their 17th straight win over the Hoosiers. WR Roy Roundtree matched his career high with 126 receiving yards, and he scored once, while Junior Hemingway made the most of his three grabs, taking them for 129 yards and a TD. Michigan won the game despite holding possession of the ball for just over 18 minutes.

Robinson has tossed his name into the early Heisman talk by throwing for 1,008 yards, seven TDs and only one INT, while rushing for a Big Ten-best 905 yards and eight scores. Roundtree is far and away the team's most productive pass catcher, having reeled in 25 balls for 337 yards and two TDs to this point.

Indiana head coach Bill Lynch praised Robinson and the explosiveness he brings to the table for Michigan, "He's just a great athlete. He's one of those guys that's just different. He's got speed. He's got awareness. He's got instincts and he's a very, very good passer as well. You can see it on film getting ready for him, but on the field you sense the same thing. Some athletes are just different. They have not only talent, but competitiveness and a sense of how to play the game."

Indiana picked up a whopping 35 first downs in the game, doing so primarily by way of the pass which accounted for 480 yards and three TDs. Michigan's effort against the run was much better, yielding just 88 net yards, although the Hoosiers did score twice on the ground. Cameron Gordon led the Wolverine defense with 15 tackles, of which 12 were solo efforts, and he also had an INT. J.T. Floyd added a career-high 13 tackles and Jonas Mouton finished with a dozen.

Coach Rodriguez spoke about the disparity in the stats following the Indiana game, "The stats are interesting, huh? 35 first downs for them to 15 for us. They ran 98 plays to 45 for us. I don't like seeing that. But the most important one is the win so we'll take that. Any Big Ten road win is a good win. We still have to know that we have to play a lot better. But we made the plays when we had to and got the win."

Through five games, Michigan is allowing 25.4 points and 433.6 total yards per game, while producing 41.4 points and 565 yards per outing. Mouton is the team's top tackler with 47, but Jordan Kovacs is right there with 46. The Wolverines have come up with seven INTs thus far and 30 TFLs.

Robinson is the key to everything the Wolverines do on offense, and him staying healthy and productive will keep Michigan in the Big Ten title hunt all season. That said, expect the Spartans to put their best foot forward in an attempt to knock off their most hated rival and remain perfect on the season. In the end, the home field advantage coupled with Robinson's exploits under center will be the difference in what should be a physical game from start to finish.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Michigan 34, Michigan State 27

Below is Michigan State's depth chart for Saturday's game against Michigan.

Below is Michigan's depth chart for Saturday's game against Michigan State. (Note: Fitzgerald Toussaint was taken off the depth chart since he isn't going to play because of a shoulder injury.)

The Michigan Daily reveals the Michigan injury report for Saturday’s showdown with the Spartans:

Out (0 percent chance of playing)
-Mike Jones – Leg
-Fitzgerald Toussaint – Shoulder
-Jared Van Slyke – Clavicle
-Mike Williams – Head
-Troy Woolfolk – Ankle

Probable (75 percent chance of playing)
-John Ferrara – Hand
-Mike Shaw – Knee

The big name on the list is Shaw, who missed last week’s contest with Indiana. It appears that he’s likely to play, but we’ll wait and see on him.

Combine two 5-0 teams, bitter in-state rivals and excellent weather and you have a recipe for a high demand of tickets. Considering that is the exact scenario playing out on Saturday in Ann Arbor when Michigan and Michigan State play, it should come as no surprise that the ticket prices for this year's edition of the battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy are absolutely through the roof right now.

Online ticket brokers and trading spots are listing tickets for the annual Michigan State University game against the University of Michigan at prices ranging from $160 in the corner, to $655 and $799 apiece behind the MSU bench, to $1,000 and $1,200 on the club level. 

The story is much the same on Craigslist, where most tickets range from $225 to $500.  

Not only are the prices extremely high, but the buzz in the ticket world is also off the charts for this game.

According to Stubhub.com, one of the nation's largest ticketing brokers, the game is already metro Detroit's No. 1 event of the year, based on an average ticket sales formula (quantity times the average ticket price). It exceeds the Eminem/Jay-Z concerts at Comerica Park and is the top ticket in the rivalry series in the past 10 years -- since Stubhub has tracked it. 

"This is actually the No. 1 college football game of the week based on gross sales on our site," Joellen Ferrer, Stubhub's spokesperson, said Tuesday. "It's also among the top five college football games throughout the entire season."  

The last two years, tickets have been released the week of the game by Michigan and Michigan State for face value. In 2008, there were actually some really good seats made available to the public just days before the game at Michigan Stadium. One of my friends obtained seats just a couple rows off the field in the south end zone for face value because of this. This time around, however, things are much different, because all of the face value tickets have already been sold. What's more, the chances of finding anything below $100 are slim to none, let alone for face value ($65).

It remains to be seen what the attendance for Saturday will be, but considering how much hype is surrounding this matchup and how much of a demand there is for seats, it's not unrealistic to expect a crowd upwards of 114,000. The record set at the UConn game was 113,090, so at the very least it's looking more and more like that record will be broken yet again.

Out of fear of potentially jinxing this and realizing that we do live in Michigan, I will just say that things are looking awfully good weather-wise for Saturday's Michigan-Michigan State game.

Because the Michigan-Michigan State game is often played in late October or early November, weather like this is not common at all for this rivalry. In fact, more often than not the weather is cold just because that is how October is in Michigan. If the forecast holds, though, it will definitely be a pleasant surprise to have mid-September-like weather for this game.

I don't know if there is anybody out there that can truly mimic Denard Robinson's speed and shiftiness, but Michigan State is trying its best to replicate what they will see on Saturday in practice by having Tony Lippett play Shoelace for the scout team.

"He was a spread-type quarterback in high school," Dantonio said. "He's extremely quick. Good burst, those types of things. Denard is an outstanding player. He makes people miss. The one thing about playing him, if he makes a guy miss, he has the ability to go the distance." 

Lippett ran track in high school and is expected to redshirt this season.

Denard Robinson was dealing with a sore knee earlier in the week, so Rich Rodriguez said he was going to give his star quarterback a bit of a break by limiting him in practice on Monday.

"Yeah, he'll be a little limited, just because he’s been running so much," coach Rich Rodriguez said Monday. "You want him 100 percent on Saturday. Denard is one you have to jerk out of there because he wants to take so many reps. He’s walking around fine. Everything is fine."

There has been no word on if Robinson was limited outside of Monday, but based on what Rodriguez had to say, it's doubtful. Robinson was limited on Monday last week and was fully ready to go by the time Saturday rolled around, so you would expect that he's been following a similar plan this week.

While Robinson did leave the Indiana game for a couple plays because of his sore knee, he returned and led Michigan to victory. Although he didn't look to be 100% after leaving the game, that is precisely why he was supposed to be limited on Monday; it allows him to recharge his batteries and get ready for the rest of the week.

Michigan running back Michael Shaw missed last week’s game against Indiana because of a knee injury, and didn’t practice much on Tuesday. But coach Rich Rodriguez expected Shaw would be able to participate more on Wednesday and is “optimistic” that he’ll be available to play on Saturday versus Michigan State.

Shaw is the Wolverines’ third-leading rusher this season, with 245 yards on 44 carries. His five touchdowns are second on the team.

Fellow running back Fitzgerald Toussaint might not be able to play on Saturday, however. Toussaint hasn’t played since suffering a shoulder injury against Bowling Green and was held out of Tuesday’s practice. Rodriguez said that if Toussaint couldn’t practice on Wednesday, he wouldn’t be able to play against MSU.

Toussaint also missed the first three games of the season, due to an injured knee.

Via HD Sports Guide, below is the coverage map for Saturday's Michigan-Michigan State game.

Those in the yellow will be able to watch the Michigan-Michigan State game on ABC. If you're in the blue or green, the game will be shown on ESPN. It isn't clear if it will be in HD or not on ESPN, but at the very least you will be able to watch it in SD.

UPDATE: Here is the HD/SD coverage map:

Basically, if you're out of the ABC region and are forced to watch the game on ESPN, you won't get it in HD, which kind of sucks.

It's better than having to listen to Pam Ward for three hours, but the announcer assignment for the Michigan-Michigan State game just plain sucks for fans of both teams:

Sean McDonough will handle the play-by-play with Matt Millen serving as the color analyst. Quint Kessenich provides sideline and analysis.

Millen has announced a few Michigan games in the last year, but to have him announcing a game with a pair of teams from this state is just wrong. Although Michigan and Michigan State fans are bitter rivals, especially this week, we can all agree that Millen is a complete buffoon who has no business being anywhere near football in the state of Michigan.

I don't have a problem with him being an announcer, but for ABC/ESPN to constantly shove him down the throats of Lions fans just plain sucks. The Lions are still struggling because of the awful decisions Millen made when he was with the team, so to have him announcing a game where lots of Lions fans will be tuning in is just a big slap in the face to this state as a whole.

Tickets are in high demand for Saturday's Michigan-Michigan State game. On Saturday before the game starts, you can bet there will be a lot of scalpers outside of Michigan Stadium and around Ann Arbor trying to cash in on their tickets before kickoff. I know many people are heading to Ann Arbor on Saturday without a ticket and are likely going to be buying from a scalper, so it's important to make sure any tickets you buy are legitimate.

From Tim Sullivan:

Michigan officials saying to be wary of scalpers selling forged tickets this weekend.

Forged tickets have been an issue at both Michigan and Michigan State games this year. Unfortunately, some scalpers see the opportunity to cash in on these fake tickets, so should you buy tickets outside of the stadium or something, make sure to thoroughly check them out before handing over any money.

The opening line for Saturday's Michigan-Michigan State game is out, and the Wolverines are currently a five-point favorite over the Spartans. Many expected Michigan to be favored since the game is in Ann Arbor, but for the spread to be five points surprised me a bit.

By Saturday I would expect the line to drop a bit, as taking MSU to cover is probably enticing for many gamblers out there. While the game is at Michigan, the Spartans have looked very good this season, so that may be a popular bet, causing the line to move more towards even.

No word yet on what the over/under will be set at for this game.

I said I would be shocked if College GameDay wasn't in Ann Arbor on Saturday, so color me extremely surprised that they are instead going to Columbia for the Alabama-South Carolina game. I figured that a matchup of undefeated rivals would trump a game between two ranked SEC teams, but I guess I was wrong.

I still think the Michigan-Michigan State game is much more interesting and would serve as a better spot for GameDay, but at the end of the day ESPN opted for the SEC over the Big Ten. I suppose we shouldn't be all that surprised:

After Michigan State got past Notre Dame a couple weeks ago, the speculation began about College GameDay coming to Ann Arbor on Oct. 9 if both the Spartans and Wolverines are undefeated. Well, fast forward to now and Michigan and Michigan State are in fact both 5-0 and it's looking very possible that GameDay could be making its first trip to Ann Arbor since the Ohio State game in 2007.

Based on last week's polls, these are the matchups that could be between ranked teams this week (rankings are from last week):

No. 1 Alabama at No. 20 South Carolina

No. 12 LSU at No. 7 Florida

No. 18 USC at No. 9 Stanford

Florida State at No. 16 Miami (FSU was almost ranked last week and should be in the top 25 when the polls come out today)

No. 24 Michigan State at No. 19 Michigan

Starting at the top of the list, it's definitely possible that College GameDay could be headed to South Carolina for what will be one of Alabama's toughest tests of the season. Will the fact that the game is going to be on CBS lessen the chances of a trip from the GameDay crew? It's possible, but just because a game is on CBS hasn't stopped them before.

Staying in the SEC, I think you can go ahead and cross the LSU-Florida game off the list. Alabama destroyed Florida on Saturday night, meaning this is no longer a matchup involving two undefeated teams. LSU is lucky to even still be undefeated, because they barely survived an upset bid from Tennessee. I just can't see GameDay picking this game, as they would likely choose Alabama-South Carolina if they are going to select an SEC destination.

Another game that can probably be crossed off the list is USC at Stanford. Both teams lost on Saturday night, so there won't be as much hype as there would be if this was a game between undefeated teams. What's more, College GameDay was at Oregon this week for the Ducks' game against Stanford, so it would have been unlikely for them to go to a Stanford game a second straight week anyway.

The only reason I could see College GameDay going to Miami for the Seminoles-Hurricanes game is because it is one of ABC's primetime games. While there are definitely storylines with this game, they aren't exactly all that interesting. Plus, neither FSU nor Miami is undefeated, and who cares about the ACC anyway, right?

All joking aside, the Michigan-Michigan State game makes the most sense for College GameDay. To me no other games compare when it comes to the vast amount of storylines that exist for this game. After all, you have two undefeated teams, an in-state rivalry game, Denard Robinson (who may be the most hyped player in all of college football right now) and Mark Dantonio's heart attack/recovery. That is just scratching the surface, but those four storylines alone are a lot more intriguing than anything other games have to offer.

I'm biased, of course, but I would personally be shocked if GameDay isn't in Ann Arbor on Saturday. It just seems like a natural fit with all of the different storylines, and GameDay hasn't been to a Michigan game since 2007, so they're due for a visit. Plus, I'm sure Desmond Howard wants to come to Ann Arbor for the game, so I'd be surprised if he wasn't doing everything in his power to have GameDay in Ann Arbor on Saturday.

A lot can change over the course of the next week, but the early weather forecast for Ann Arbor on Oct. 9 looks excellent:

Like I said, a lot can change, especially with Michigan weather, but various weather sites (as shown above) are predicting a beautiful day for football, so things are looking good weather-wise right now.