Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/423095
P R E G A M E R E P O R T M I C H I G A N S T A T E @ P E N N S T A T E 3 : 3 0 P . M . , N O V . 2 9 A B C / E S P N 2 MICHIGAN STATE FACTS COACH Mark Dantonio (South Carolina, '79) COACH'S RECORD 73-31 in eight seasons as head coach (44-19 Big Ten); career record: 91-48 2014 RECORD 9-2, 6-1 Big Ten RECORD VS. PSU The Nittany Lions lead the all-time series, 14- 13-1. MOST RECENT MEETING Penn State scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns, but its rally fell short and Michigan State escaped Beaver Stadium with a 28-22 vic- tory (and the Land Grant Trophy) on Nov. 27, 2010. GOOD NEWS The Spartans lead the Football Bowl Subdivision in turnover mar- gin with an average of +1.73 per game. They've had 31 takeaways this season, third-most in the country. BAD NEWS The Spartans are vying for a spot in a marquee bowl, but they may actually be better off in the Citrus Bowl, where their opponent would be a high-profile SEC team rather than Marshall or Georgia Tech. DID YOU KNOW? Since joining the Big Ten in 1993, the Nittany Lions have only lost once to the Spartans at Beaver Stadium – the 2010 matchup ref- erenced above. In the course of the series, which dates back to 1914, the Lions have gone 9-5-1 at home. Four of those five losses predated the Paterno era, occur- ring between 1946 and '65. Since the start of the Big Ten era, Penn State's home record vs. Michigan State is 8-1. T I M O W E N | O W E N . T I M . B W I @ G M A I L . C O M N O V E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 1 4 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 1 WINNING WAYS Dantonio has turned Michigan State into one of the Big Ten's elite programs. With 73 victories at MSU, he is the school's second-win- ningest coach, trailing only Duffy Daugherty (109). Photo © 2010 MSU Board of Trustees GREEN ENERGY Michigan State has plenty of wins, now it wants respect Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio calls this a "program game." Sure, championship hopes were all but dashed when the Spartans fell to Big Ten East Division rival Ohio State, 49-37, ear- lier this month, but in Dan- tonio's eyes there's still more leD to be accom- plished. More important than the Land Grant Trophy – the hard- ware for this PSU-MSU rivalry that finally gets some fresh air Saturday aDer a three-year stay in Michigan State's trophy case – is earning the 10th win of the season. Dantonio has matched or surpassed that win total in three of the past four years and said Tuesday he believes that should be his team's "bench- mark" every season. "It's been a very big thing for this pro- gram," he continued. "It puts us in the hunt always to be relevant in terms of the na- tional picture and certainly to be relevant in the Big Ten picture. I think that's what we're trying to do here, and then springboard from there."