Tom Izzo puts Michigan State football's student section on notice

The Michigan State Spartans have been a major disappointment this season, and it has shown in the attendance in the student section. Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis enlisted the help of basketball coach Tom Izzo to rally some support, and after sitting through Saturday's loss to Nebraska, Izzo expressed his displeasure with all of the empty seats (via mlive.com):

"I don't want to hear about it being too cold," Izzo said. "If it is, we've got a bunch of wimpy students, you know?

"I love our students. I think students have got to hold students accountable. We ain't putting this on Hollis, and definitely not (Mark) Dantonio. We've got to self-evaluate."

This was the second straight home game where there was a number of empty seats in the student section. The entire upper deck of the student section was empty on Saturday, and there was a similar turnout last month when the Iowa Hawkeyes were in town.

Michigan State was ranked No. 13 in the preseason AP Poll. However, the Spartans have scuffled to a 5-5 overall record, and a 2-4 record in the Big Ten. Despite that, Izzo does not blame the product on the field for all the empty seats, and he's especially disappointed, because many of those tickets have been sold already.