Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith discusses matchup with Michigan: 'Most important regular-season game that we'll play'

Michigan Wolverines football and Michigan State are both 4-3 overall and 2-2 in Big Ten play heading into Saturday’s matchup in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines are coming off two-straight losses (at Washington, at Illinois), while the Spartans just beat Iowa, 32-20, in East Lansing.

“We got a huge week ahead of us,” Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith said Monday. “We all know this thing is special — rivalry week in this state. This is what college football is about, so this is a big, meaningful game. I anticipate it being tough, physical. Big challenge Saturday night at their place, and we’re looking forward to it.”

Smith, who’s in his first year at Michigan State after spending the previous six seasons as the head coach at Oregon State, hasn’t yet experienced the Michigan-MSU in-state series, his program’s biggest rivalry, but he understands the importance.

“I definitely felt it upon arrival,” he explained. “I think I got asked about them even at my introductory press conference. So no, I felt it since getting here. I understand it.

“This is the most important game, most important regular-season game that we’ll play. And the passion for it, which I love being a part of … I’ve been in multiple in-state rivalries, so no question it’s been well-received on my end that this thing is important.”

Both Smith and Michigan head man Sherrone Moore are in their first seasons as head coach, though Moore was an assistant coach for the Wolverines for six years prior.

“I know it’s new for me, and excited to be a part of it on that end,” Smith said. “So looking at, they’ve got some similarities, schemes from the last year or two, but each year is new. They’ve got some new stuff, and obviously we’re pretty new on that side, too.”

Smith remembers “highlights” from Michigan-MSU games of the past. Some of his new players may not even have those memories, with a lot of new faces on both the Spartans’ roster and staff. Smith has spent time teaching the MSU players about the rivalry and the prize, the Paul Bunyan Trophy.

“To me, you definitely try to look for some consistency in your practices, your approach,” Smith said of preparation. “At the same time, this game is different, and so we started with that a little bit yesterday, just educating them, all of us.

“We’ve got 61 new guys on the roster in their first year here, coaches included, so we talked a little bit about the history and educated them there yesterday, so we are doing a few things that are different.”

Michigan State coming off stellar performance against Iowa

Michigan State came out firing after its bye week, seeing success in several areas Smith and the staff emphasized. The Spartans made some tweaks and polished up details in the run game, and dashed for a season-high 212 yards on the ground. They struggled against the run most of the season but held Iowa, led by All-America candidate Kaleb Johnson, to just 133 rushing yards.

Michigan State rushed for a combined 106 yards in its two games prior to beating Iowa — 47 against Ohio State and 59 versus Oregon. The performance against the Hawkeyes was a breakthrough, but a challenge against Michigan’s stout defensive line awaits.

“Iowa had a good defensive front, and we’re facing a very similar — if not better — defensive front this week, so we gotta find ways to continue to tighten it up,” Smith explained. “And we’re on tape now with a little bit of new scheme of having some success … this is college football, they got good coaches and scheme over there, so we gotta be ready to adjust and adapt to what we see on Saturday.”

Michigan’s strength is running the football, while its glaring weakness is its pass game. The Wolverines haven’t named a starting quarterback for this week, even though graduate Jack Tuttle opened last Saturday’s contest at Illinois. Smith noted that the Spartans will scout all of Michigan’s three quarterbacks who have seen game action, and that facing a physical team in Iowa last week will have helped prepare them to take on the U-M run game.

“You prepare what you see on tape, and we’ve got tape of all of their players that have played offensively,” he said.

“It is about a run game, because this run game of theirs is potent. It can be unique in some of their schemes; they do a nice job of that. So it’s a physical brand of football that we’ve gotta get ready for.”

Michigan has blocked a kick in each of its last three games — a punt against Minnesota and field goals versus each of Washington and Illinois. MSU has an outstanding kicker in Jonathan Kim, who’s 15-of-16 on field goals with a 55-yard long this season and 58-yard long in his career.

“We gotta prepare for it,” Smith noted. “We’re not going to hesitate to get Kim out there — he’s a weapon — but we gotta shore up some details on that thing.

“If you’re on field goal protection, that’s not every guy’s favorite play to be in on, but asking those guys to stout up in there, because it’s a huge part of it. And Michigan creates some problems in that area.”