EAST LANSING, MICH. -- The Michigan State Spartans were able to beat Minnesota last season to get to a bowl game. Now they need to beat them again to reach a possible BCS game.
Based upon the numbers, Michigan State should not have any problem beating Minnesota this Saturday at Spartan Stadium.
The Golden Gophers (8-3, 4-3 Big Ten) might have to resort to hoping that the Spartans look past them to the upcoming Big Ten championship game against the Ohio State Buckeyes on Dec. 7.
Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio has to make sure that does not happen.
The No. 11 Spartans (11-1, 7-0) have their eyes set on a BCS bowl, which could be out of the question with a loss to the unranked Golden Gophers.
The Spartans lead the all-time series, 28-17, but the Golden Gophers have won six of the last 11 meetings.
However, the Gophers have won just six times in East Lansing, most recently in 2006.
Dantonio said the Spartans will not take the Golden Gophers lightly.
"Minnesota is an outstanding football team, I believe," Dantonio said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. "They have a chance to win nine games in coming here for their last football game. They have experience. They have toughness that coach (Jerry) Kill has brought that to that football program.
"Coach (Tracy) Claeys has done an outstanding job as the interim head football coach, but I believe that everything comes from coach Kill, the philosophy, the dynamics that are involved in that football team, the people, and then also the way that they do things."
Everyone knows the way the Spartans do things.
It all starts with their defense, which has been ranked first overall in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision for 11 straight weeks.
In the Big Ten, the Spartans rank first in seven defensive categories: total defense, scoring defense, rushing defense, pass defense, pass efficiency defense, opponent third-down conversions and first downs defense.
"Those guys are really physical, they're not afraid to press you," Minnesota quarterback Philip Nelson told gophersports.com. "It's going to be about getting off the press and getting open and they like to grab a little bit and this is Big Ten refs, you can't expect the calls anymore and we never really did. We have to out-physical them."
The Spartans are allowing just 59.4 rushing yards per game, something they hope to continue against Minnesota running back David Cobb, who has 1,010 yards rushing and averages 5.3 yards per carry.
"Cobb is a 1,000‑yard rusher, and he's a guy that hasn't started all year, a lot like our guy, and has sort of gotten his rhythm and has sort of really adapted to the situation, but a very tough runner," Dantonio said. "Offensive line is big, physical, so they're a tough football team."
Nelson is also a threat to run. He's third on the team with 343 yards, 3.9 per carry.
The Spartans started the season struggling mightily on offense, unable to commit to one quarterback.
Since then, Connor Cook has taken control of that job and Jeremy Langford has emerged as a solid running back.
In the last four games, the Spartans have scored 42 points (at Illinois), 29 points (vs. Michigan), 41 points (at Nebraska) and 30 points (at Northwestern).
In the Big Ten, the Golden Gophers are ranked fifth in scoring defense (23.1 points allowed per game), seventh in rushing defense (151.5 yards per game), sixth in pass defense (224.1 yards per game) and eighth in total defense (375.6 yards per game).
"They play hard on defense," Dantonio said. "They're going to press you on defense. (Ra'Shede) Hageman, No.99, is a force. I think their secondary is very good. They run very well, tackle well, play man coverage, linebackers will attack you downhill. They'll pressure the quarterback."
Hageman has a team-high 11 tackles for loss.
"They're a great team that's going to be a challenge," Minnesota defensive back Antonio Johnson told gophersports.com. "Probably not as much of a rushing threat but a physical team like Wisconsin. You've got to be ready to come and hit 'em."
Last season when these two teams met, the Spartans were fighting to get their sixth win and secure a bowl berth.
Dantonio said he knew back then that this season's team would be different.
"I had no doubt that we'd bounce back," Dantonio said. "I said a long time ago that this was going to be a special football team, that I felt that because of the chemistry on our football team and the makeup of people that we have here.
"Last year at this time, we were a 5‑6 team trying to get to 6‑6 and go to a bowl game. But since that time I guess we've won 12 out of 13 games, if that would be correct. We started climbing at that point."
Now the Spartans hope to maintain their momentum against the Golden Gophers and keep climbing.
