ANN ARBOR, MI - SEPTEMBER 27: Michigan Wolverines head coach Brady Hoke shouts out instructions during the second quarter of the game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Michigan Stadium on September 27, 2014 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images) ANN ARBOR, MI - SEPTEMBER 27: Michigan Wolverines head coach Brady Hoke shouts out instructions during the second quarter of the game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Michigan Stadium on September 27, 2014 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)

By Ashley Dunkak

@AshleyDunkak

CBS DETROIT – Michigan head coach Brady Hoke said the struggles the Wolverines have endured this season have not affected recruiting.

“We’ve got such a great place here, and we were out last week,” Hoke told Stoney, Bill and Sara of 97.1 The Ticket. “The positiveness that the guys who have committed and how they’ve stuck together, how they believe in this program and believe in Michigan, it really hasn’t had a dent in any of that.”

The Wolverines could potentially help their recruiting significantly with an upset Saturday, when they play rival Michigan State in East Lansing. Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio always puts an emphasis on the game, both within his program and with his public comments.

Hoke does not go out of his way to say he dislikes Michigan State the way Dantonio does with Michigan, but he said Thursday that is in fact the case.

“I’m not a big fan,” Hoke said. “I like Mark, Mark and I have known each other a long, long time, and I think he’s a damn good football coach … We’ve got a lot of respect for what they’ve done, but obviously it’s not going to be a tea party on Saturday and shouldn’t be.”

Leading up to Saturday’s game, someone spray painted green the block “M” on the Diag at the University of Michigan and then spray painted beside it the letters “S” and “U.” Hoke did not seem overly perturbed by the action, stating that it shows the level of the rivalry between the schools.

“To be honest with you, it’s part of the emotion that people have and the passion that people have for the game,” Hoke said. “Is it vandalism? I guess by the letter of the law it might be, but that just tells you what a great rivalry this rivalry is and how emotional it is. As things have changed during the years, maybe with society and everything else, maybe that would be considered vandalism.”

With a bye last Saturday, Michigan has had two weeks to prepare for the Spartans, who are favored by more than two touchdowns.

“Coming off the bye I think you always have to be careful of trying to get too much done during that week or doing too much or revamping your offense or defense but also at the same time doing a good job of looking at what you’ve done well and hopefully you keep doing that well, and what you haven’t done as much, you’ve got to improve upon,” Hoke said. “From that standpoint it was good. Byes can be good or bad. Sometimes you lose a little momentum, sometimes you come out a little bit not with the same game speed that you want to play the game with.”

For the Wolverines to have any kind of a chance against the Spartans, Michigan will need a mistake-free performance from quarterback Devin Gardner, who has been criticized harshly as the team has floundered this season. Gardner has said that some of the negativity on Twitter has even extended to the use of racial slurs.

“To me, those people who are usually faceless, it just tells you what cowards they are and what kind of human beings they are,” Hoke said.