Mark Dantonio remembers September 22, 2012.
On that day nearly two years ago, the Spartans were a high double-digit favorite over the visiting Eastern Michigan Eagles. But MSU trailed for most of three quarters, including a 7-6 halftime deficit, before eventually defeating the Eagles 23-7.
Coming off an emotional, high-profile loss to Oregon, Dantonio knows his team can't afford to overlook EMU this Saturday, especially with the memory of their last meeting fresh in his mind.
"We need to come ready to play," Dantonio said. "We need to be able to perform. And every time you step on the field, you're competing against not just the opposing team, but you're competing against yourself, your attention to detail, your excellence, your ability to go take the next step as a player."
Dantonio anticipates inserting some of his younger players in the lineup against EMU, particularly redshirt freshmen and true freshmen. While unsure whether or not they will fill some starting roles, Dantonio was clear that the youngsters will get an opportunity to play.
On the defensive side of the ball, freshman defensive end Montez Sweat, redshirt freshman defensive end Demetrius Cooper and sophomore defensive end Evan Jones could all see playing time. Offensively, Dantonio knows it's important for young running backs Delton Williams (sophomore) and Gerald Holmes (freshman) to get touches.
Dantonio hopes good game experiences will translate into increased confidence both in the short and long term for his youngest players.
"You can get X amount of confidence in practice, but that has to transfer to the game field," Dantonio said. "When you do have experiences on game day, it just makes you more confident, makes you more positive and allows you to I think go farther."
It will also help them grow accustomed to the surrounding game-day atmosphere.
"We have got a lot of players who have not played as much football, and they are playing in front of 76,000 people or so," Dantonio said. "There's going to be anxiety, anxiety for everybody involved here. So you need to be able to build on that anxiety and use that to your advantage and be able to prepare yourself to play."
The newest Spartans aren't the only ones looking forward to Saturday. Coming off a bye week, on top of the Week 2 loss to Oregon, MSU is itching to get back on the field in front of its home crowd.
"You take it as it comes," Dantonio said of his team's early bye week. "You build on it. You try to use it for what it is and you try to get better because of it. So I think that's what we try to do. We want to be fresh. We want to be motivated to play and have great attention to detail, all those different things we talk about, and I think our players are."
While most of his players took advantage off the off-week to support their high school football teams Friday night, Dantonio enjoyed watching three of his former players on Sunday. Kirk Cousins (Washington), Brian Hoyer (Cleveland) and Drew Stanton (Arizona) each led his respective team to victory.
"I think that's a statement of Michigan State football," Dantonio sad. "What they have been able to accomplish individually and then as a group, just being from Michigan State."
On Saturday, Dantonio hopes his current quarterback Connor Cook can enjoy the same success at the college level and lead MSU its 10th straight victory over EMU.
