Mark Dantonio says Michigan State 'won't quit on people'

Michigan St. Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio pledged that the team will not quit, reports Mike Griffith at Mlive.com. Praising his team's determination in Saturday's 16-13 win over the then-No. 25 Wisconsin Badgers, the coach wanted fans to know they were going to stick with things:

"We've been close, and what I'd like to say is basically, we're not going to quit,'' Dantonio said. "I said that last week [after 12-10 loss to Michigan], we won't quit on people. We've always hung in there and that's a tribute to our team leadership on our football team and our chemistry as a group of people and as individuals.''

Michigan State has been on the wrong end of a number of very close games in 2012, losing to the Ohio St. Buckeyes by one, the Iowa Hawkeyes by a field goal in double overtime and the Michigan Wolverines by just two points. Those narrow losses plus a loss to Notre Dame have left the Spartans at 5-4 overall and 2-3 in the Big Ten.

The Spartans have excelled on defense this year, holding opponents to an average of 15 points per game. They'll need a strong effort on Saturday, when the Spartans host the No. 20 Nebraska Cornhuskers, who are averaging 39.3 points scored per game.