Joe Rexrode

Detroit Free Press

EAST LANSING –

To review about Mark Dantonio — he grew up in Ohio cheering for Notre Dame and has spent 19 of his 35 college football coaching years at Michigan State or Ohio State.

It would be difficult to find a coach more conditioned to dislike Michigan.

"I remember when my daughter was in second grade, we were at Ohio State then, but she wrote a little story," Dantonio said Tuesday, offering up a new story of deeply ingrained U-M disdain. "She wrote short stories, and in the story (it said) if you wore blue and gold, you went to jail for a week."

It would be impossible to find an MSU coach who has better mastered the Wolverines. Dantonio, in his eighth season in charge and 14th overall in East Lansing, is 5-2 against U-M (.714 winning percentage). Duffy Daugherty is second on that list at .579 (10-7-2) in 1954-72.

If Dantonio improves to 6-2 and 75% against U-M as expected Saturday when the No. 8 Spartans host the Wolverines, he'll also be alone in second on MSU's all-time victory list with 71. Daugherty is No. 1 with 109.

As Dantonio made obvious Tuesday during one of his least favorite events of the year — the news conference to preview Michigan — he would rather just get right to the game than talk about it.

There also was a bit more confident playfulness than usual as Dantonio dodged sound-bite attempts, though, perhaps traced to the clout he has earned in this always important rivalry. Not that he'll play along with that perception.

A media member started a question by mentioning how MSU has "dominated five of the last six games" and Dantonio cut him off.

Dantonio: "I wouldn't say dominate."

Reporter: "You've won five of six, dominated last year I suppose…"

Dantonio: "I wouldn't say that, either."

The actual question, by the way, was how MSU manages to keep its intensity in this game despite its recent success.

"Well, you know, you could go a lot of ways with that question, couldn't you?" Dantonio said. "I'm sure everybody across the state would like that. Why is it so personal? It gets in your blood."

That was first obvious for all to see in 2007 after Dantonio's first MSU team squandered a 24-14 lead in the fourth quarter of a 28-24 loss, followed by U-M running back Mike Hart saying the Wolverines were never worried — it was like letting your little brother win for a while in driveway basketball, he said, then coming back at the end and winning.

Two days later, Dantonio let emotion fly in his "Pride comes before the fall" speech. That will be brought up annually as long as Dantonio is coaching MSU, and it's the main reason he's skittish about talking U-M. As he has said many times over the years, he believes emotion — and the assembled reporters — got the best of him that day.

Asked about that Tuesday, he said he "had to set a tone" then. And that he recently watched the video.

"I looked a lot younger then," he said.

Dantonio also made clear his respect for Brady Hoke and Michigan as a program. He got out of the conference without any damage, but not before quipping: "I have a hard time believing that Brady had this long of a press conference."

Eight of Dantonio's players also spoke Tuesday, all in news conference form so all questions and answers could be accounted for — the norm for Michigan Week.

Attempts to get bulletin-board quotes included a question asking how MSU has success in this series "against a team that has so much more talent than you guys come into Michigan State with."

Connor Cook and Taiwan Jones shrugged and talked about hard work and team chemistry. Jones did admit it's difficult "trying to keep all your emotions in right now."

Cook did not admit to being careful.

"I think I'm pretty honest in my answers, to be honest," Cook said. "What I tell you guys is what I usually tell my teammates. We respect Michigan. We know they're a great team. Obviously, they're not having the season they want to have this year, but we know they're going to come in here and give it their all, and they're going to try to punch us in the mouth and try to out-tough us.

"That just means we've got to come in a little more angry than them with more intensity, more energy, and try to take them out."

Contact Joe Rexrode: jrexrode@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @joerexrode. Check out his MSU blog at freep.com/heyjoe.

Beat writer Joe Rexrode will answer your questions about MSU in a live chat at 10 a.m. Thursday at freep.com/sports. Submit early questions here. Then 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.