Jeff Seidel

Detroit Free Press Columnist

The emotion bubbles under the surface at Michigan State.

It starts with coach Mark Dantonio and seeps into every player.

"Coming up, Michigan didn't really recruit me, so I take that personally," MSU linebacker Taiwan Jones said.

Jones took an unofficial visit at Michigan. Then, he took an official visit at MSU.

"I saw a big difference in how they treated their players, the recruits," Jones said. "No matter what star, how many stars you had, no matter your status, I felt like Coach D treated everybody the same. He treated you like you needed to be here. So I feel like I needed to be here. That's why I came here."

Yes, you can hear the resentment and emotion in his voice. Just like you hear it from Dantonio.

It's fascinating to listen to the Spartans talk. Every so often, without fail, they mention "Coach D" in passing. They bring up something he has taught them. Something he has ingrained in them.

Dantonio has built a powerful, well-oiled machine at Michigan State. It is a team fashioned in his own likeness. Intense. Focused. Hardworking. Never satisfied. And forever feeling slighted. The Spartans are ranked No. 8 in the country, but they still act and talk as though they are the underdogs.

"As soon as you come here, you are all in," fifth-year senior lineman Travis Jackson said. "Coach D talks about being all in."

"All in" means many things, but it starts with wanting to crush Michigan, which makes it unlikely the Spartans will overlook the Wolverines when the teams play Saturday, even if the Spartans are 17-point favorites.

Meanwhile, in Ann Arbor, Brady Hoke has driven the football program into the dirt over the last calendar year. The Wolverines have lost 10 of their past 15 games, which is never acceptable at U-M.

It's hard to imagine how Hoke can survive another disaster against a rival.

"We are kind of at different ends of the spectrum," Hoke said of MSU.

To be fair, he was talking about turnovers.

But in reality, he could have been talking about the programs.

Clearly, Michigan has a rich tradition, but this program is in crisis.

There was the Brendan Gibbons situation. And Concussion Gate. And Ticket Price Gate. And Fireworks Gate. And Late-Night Press Release Gate. And the Fire Dave Brandon March. And all the PR blunders Michigan made after the Shane Morris situation.

But make no mistake, everything would be different if this team was winning. Michigan fans are in an uproar because this team has become irrelevant and has fallen into mediocrity.

College football coaches live by an easy rule: If you win, you stay; if you lose, you are gone.

By all accounts, Hoke is a great guy and his players love him. But he has done nothing to prove that he knows how to build a championship team at Michigan, much less sustain a good one.

In his first season, Hoke took Rich Rodriguez's players and won 11 games. Since then, the program has been on a steady decline. It's like the Wolverines are taking a bullet train into a dark cave.

To make it worse, they have struggled against their rivals.

But Hoke has another shot. He could change everything with a miraculous upset Saturday. It is his chance to prove that this program already has hit rock bottom and is on the way back up. Everything could swing on this one game, if the Wolverines beat the Spartans.

In all likelihood, that's not going to happen.

The Spartans are too talented, too well-coached. And, as they say, they are all in.

With a win, Dantonio will become the second-winningest coach in MSU history. Dantonio is 5-2 against the Wolverines, including three straight in Spartan Stadium. The Spartans haven't allowed a touchdown in eight quarters against Michigan.

"Coach D says whoever wins the line of scrimmage has the better chance of winning the game," Jeremy Langford said. "That's what we need to continue to do."

Coach D says.

The Spartans say that a lot. He sets the tone for everything.

Meanwhile, the Wolverines have tried to downplay this game, saying it's just another game, which is absurd. Clearly, that is a calculated public-relations strategy to avoid fanning the flames.

But it has had the opposite effect. It makes the Wolverines look arrogant and above this game. Like they are stuck in the past, clinging to what once was. It's like an old dude heading to a nightclub, putting on a Polo shirt with the collar turned up, fixing his hairpiece and dousing himself in Old Spice to try to impress the ladies, thinking it's 1980.

But this is a new time, and MSU has what Michigan wants.

A great coach and a great program.

Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @seideljeff.

Join us for a live blog of the MSU-Michigan game Saturday afternoon.



Rivalry week

Matchup: Michigan (3-4, 1-2 Big Ten) at No. 8 Michigan State (6-1, 3-0).

When: 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

Where: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing.

TV: ABC (Channel 7 in Detroit).

Line: Spartans by 17.