SB Nation Detroit - Michigan State Vs. Eastern Michigan: Spartans Struggle Early, But Pull Off 23-7 Win

Mark Dantonio reacts to Michigan State fans booing during Eastern Michigan game

2012-09-25T22:51:47Z

Hardly pleased by his players' performance on the field as of late to begin with, Michigan State football coach Mark Dantonio informed MLive's Diamond Leung on Tuesday that he is not too happy about his fans showering the team with boos during Saturday's win over Eastern Michigan.

"I think the crowd has got to remain positive obviously through thick and thin, especially during the thin times," Dantonio said. "I think that’s just the way you’ve got to go sometimes. If you’re a Spartan, that’s what you do."

Though Michigan State walked out of Spartan Stadium with a 23-7 victory over a well-coached Eagles program, a number of fans still made sure they let players and coaches know of their displeasure with Eastern's 7-3 halftime advantage. And as far as Dantonio is concerned, reactions like this aren't going to help anybody going forward.

"I know that there’s frustration out there, but we’ve won 16 out of 17 games in this stadium, so I think we’re working at it, and it’s frustrating for all of us as indicated," he said. "It just happens in the society we live in right now. When we did catch the one pass, they would give you the Bronx cheer."

Dantonio's 3-1 Spartans will hit the field this weekend to face an Ohio State team that has looked quite impressive thus far with sophomore quarterback Braxton Miller running the show. Regardless of whether they have been muted or not by Dantonio's comments, tens of thousands of raucous fans will once again line Spartan Stadium on Saturday desperate for another victory.

College Football Rankings, Week 5: Michigan State Up To No. 18, Michigan Dropped From Top 25

2012-09-23T23:56:14Z

Even though it was hardly what fans would call an impressive performance, Michigan State's victory over Eastern Michigan on Saturday still helped to move Mark Dantonio's Spartans up two spots in the most recent coaches' poll.

The Spartans climbed from No. 20 to No. 18 in the latest poll released on Sunday, and remain the highest-ranked Big Ten school in the country with Nebraska (No. 20) hot on their heels. Wisconsin, despite turning in a series of poor performances against middling opponents, earned the No. 23 spot in this week's poll.

Manhandled by Notre Dame's defensive front seven much like their rival Spartans the previous week, the Michigan Wolverines dropped completely out of the rankings after suffering their second loss of 2012. Though Brady Hoke's team currently sports losses against two of the better teams in the country, Michigan still faces an uphill battle in order to win back voter support after Saturday's poor showing.

Here's the full top 25 of this week's coaches' poll:

Rank	Team	Points
1	Alabama (57)	1473
2	Oregon	1371
3	LSU (1)	1361
4	Florida State (1)	1306
5	Georgia	1224
6	South Carolina	1149
7	West Virginia	1137
8	Kansas State	1000
9	Stanford	949
10	Texas	924
11	Notre Dame	836
12	Florida	817
13	USC	813
14	TCU	705
15	Oklahoma	699
16	Clemson	560
17	Louisville	493
18	Michigan State	404
19	Mississippi State	349
20	Nebraska	327
21	Oregon State	220
22	Oklahoma State	154
23	Wisconsin	102
24	Baylor	101
25	Rutgers	98
25	Virginia Tech	98

Be sure to visit The Only Colors for more Michigan State coverage, and check out Maize N Brew for more Michigan football news. Also head over to SB Nation's college football hub for more analysis from around the league.

College GameDay Coming To Michigan State For Ohio State Game

2012-09-23T16:44:12Z

ESPN announced on Sunday that College Gameday will be in East Lansing next week for the No. 20 Michigan State Spartans against the No. 14 Ohio State Buckeyes.

The Network noted that Gameday has been in East Lansing five times previously with the following results:

10/22/11 - (16) Michigan State def. (6) Wisconsin, 37-31
11/9/05 - (5) Penn State def. Michigan State, 22-21
9/18/04 - Notre Dame def. Michigan State, 31-24
10/9/99 - (11) Michigan State def. (3) Michigan, 34-31
10/25/97 - (5) Michigan def. (14) Michigan State, 23-7

Gameday begins airing live at 9 a.m. on ESPNU and then at 10 a.m. on ESPN. Chris Vannini of Michigan State blog The Only Colors noted that although Big Ten football hasn't exactly been stellar to this point in the season, ESPN didn't have many other marquee matchups to choose from for next week:

If you're wondering why Gameday is subjecting itself to Big Ten football, check out the schedule of games. Where else were they going to go? Tennessee at Georgia? Texas at Oklahoma State? Wisconsin at Nebraska? MSU/OSU is the only matchup between two ranked teams.

For more on the Michigan State Spartans, go to The Only Colors. You can learn more about college football around the country over at SB Nation's College Football hub.

NCAA Football Rankings, Week 5: Michigan Falls Out of AP Rankings, Michigan State Up One Spot

2012-09-23T16:22:40Z

The Michigan Wolverines fell out of the AP Top 25 rankings released Sunday following the team's 13-6 loss to Notre Dame on Saturday. The loss dropped Michigan to 2-2 on the season.

The Michigan State Spartans moved up from No. 21 to No. 20 in this week's poll despite struggling to beat Eastern Michigan. Michigan and UCLA (previously ranked No. 19) both fell out of the rankings, allowing Michigan State to move up.

Notre Dame, which has beaten Michigan and Michigan State in consecutive weeks without giving up a touchdown to either team, moved up one spot to No. 10.

Arizona, coached by former Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez, also fell out of the rankings this week.

Rank	Team	Points
1	Alabama (59)	1,499
2	Oregon	1,414
3	LSU (1)	1,346
4	Florida State	1,340
5	Georgia	1,245
6	South Carolina	1,147
7	Kansas State	1,067
8	Stanford	1,055
9	West Virginia	1,045
10	Notre Dame	1,003
11	Florida	864
12	Texas	856
13	USC	801
14	Ohio State	633
15	TCU	616
16	Oklahoma	611
17	Clemson	588
18	Oregon State	451
19	Louisville	414
20	Michigan State	348
21	Mississippi State	246
22	Nebraska	179
23	Rutgers	128
24	Boise State	114
25	Baylor	92

For more on Michigan State, check out The Only Colors. For more on Michigan, read Maize N Brew. Follow SB Nation's college football hub for the latest NCAA news.

Eastern Michigan Vs. Michigan State 2012: Le'Veon Bell Carries Spartans Past Early Struggles

2012-09-23T13:26:36Z

The Michigan State Spartans struggled early but followed the effort of running back Le'Veon Bell to victory Saturday, defeating the Eastern Michigan Eagles, 23-7.

Bell finished the game with a career high 253 rushing yards and one touchdown on 36 attempts, an average of seven yards per carry. In a game where Michigan State trailed at halftime, Chris Vannini of SB Nation's Michigan State Spartans blog, The Only Colors, writes that Bell is the absolute only offensive option the team has.

Le'Veon Bell has to do everything - On the ground, he finished with 253 yards on 36 carries and one late touchdown to put things away. That's 7.0 yards per rush against the worst rush defense in FBS. After Nick Hill fumbled a punt return, Bell was put back there. He had three returns for 18 yards. This is not ideal, but it appears the coaches don't trust anyone else.

Michigan State's next contest comes at home against No. 16 Ohio State.

For more on the Michigan State Spartans, go to The Only Colors. You can learn more about college football around the country over at SB Nation's College Football hub.

Eastern Michigan Vs. Michigan State Final Score: Spartans Find Offense, Win 23-7

2012-09-22T23:06:50Z

It took them a couple quarters, but No. 21 Michigan St. managed to find their offense and pull out a win over unranked Eastern Michigan on Saturday. Le'Veon Bell carried the rock a whopping 36 times for 253 yards. Still, he only managed one touchdown on the day, and it wasn't until the very end of the fourth quarter after MSU really started to get their offense going.

The Spartans were trailing heading into the second half, when Eastern Michigan took a Bennie Fowler fumble and turned it into a 23-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Benz to Donald Scott. It was their only score of the day, and their only bright spot on offense. They only managed 137 yards passing and 46 yards rushing altogether, and only kept this one close due to a strong defense in the first half.

After only netting a Dan Conroy field goal in the first half (Conroy also missed one in the first quarter, from 39 yards out), the Spartans managed 20 points in quarters two and three. Conroy was good from 35-yards and 44 yards in the third quarter, while Andrew Maxwell hit Dion Simms for a 10-yard touchdown in the fourth. That, coupled with the Bell touchdown in the final three minutes, was what the Spartans were able to do offensively.

Next week, the Spartans will have a tough matchup in No. 16 Ohio St., while Eastern Michigan will take on Kent State.

For more on the Michigan State Spartans, go to The Only Colors. You can learn more about college football around the country over at SB Nation's College Football hub.

Eastern Michigan Vs. Michigan State Score: Spartans Hold Narrow 9-7 Lead Through Three Quarters

2012-09-22T22:12:43Z

No. 21 Michigan St. has their hands full with the unranked and winless Eastern Michigan Eagles on Saturday. Through three quarters, they're leading by a score of 9-7. They're playing well on defense, having only allowed a touchdown when Tyler Benz hit Donald Scott for a 23-yard touchdown pass on the first play following a fumble.

The Spartans just can't get anything going on offense. Dan Conroy did miss a 39-yard field goal early on in the game, but a 12-7 lead over the Eagles isn't exactly ideal, either. All 9 points have come off of field goals, with Conroy hitting two from 35 yards and one from 44 yards out.

Andrew Maxwell is having a poor day at quarterback for the Spartans. He's 12-for-24 for just 70 yards, at an average of 2.9 yards per pass. Le'Veon Bell is the only bright spot on MSU's offense, running the ball 26 times for 157 yards, but they've been unable to finish out drives to this point.

For more on the Michigan State Spartans, go to The Only Colors. You can learn more about college football around the country over at SB Nation's College Football hub.

Eastern Michigan Vs. Michigan State Score: Spartans Trail, 7-3, At Halftime

2012-09-22T21:15:56Z

After a scoreless first quarter, we finally had some action between No. 21 Michigan St. and Eastern Michigan on Saturday.

Unfortunately for the Spartans, it's the Eagles who are out in front at halftime, holding a 7-3 advantage. After a turnover in MSU territory (a Bennie Fowler fumble, recovered by Justin Cudworth), quarterback Tyler Benz hit Donald Scott for a 23-yard touchdown to make the score 7-3.

The Spartans finished the first quarter at the start of a promising drive, as running back Le'Veon Bell had notched just their fifth first down of the day. Andrew Maxwell got the second quarter started off the right way, though, hitting Bennie Fowler for a 15-yard reception. A couple plays later, Bell hit a 15-yard run and Dan Conroy kicked a 35-yard field goal to make it 3-0.

Conroy had previously missed one from 39 yards. Michigan State will need to do a better job of extending their drives in the second half, given that they've been holding Eastern Michigan just fine on offense. They'll be kicking themselves big time if they manage to lose thanks to a fumble.

For more on the Michigan State Spartans, go to The Only Colors. You can learn more about college football around the country over at SB Nation's College Football hub.