EAST LANSING – The annual battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy returns this week. Michigan State (3-4, 0-4 Big Ten) hosts No. 25 Michigan (5-2, 3-1) on Saturday (7:30 p.m., NBC) at Spartan Stadium. Here are three things we learned in Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith's press conference on Monday: 1. Bitter taste lingers Playing on the road under the lights against their top rival, the Spartans dominated the first quarter in Ann Arbor last year. They had commanding advantages in total yards (135-15) plays (22-4) and time of possession (13:21-1:39) but squandered chances meant a 7-0 lead flipped to a 9-7 deficit in the final 30 seconds of the half. Michigan State never regained the upper hand and
CONF | OVR | PF | PA | |
---|---|---|---|---|
4-0 | 7-0 | 307 | 81 | |
4-0 | 7-0 | 255 | 41 | |
3-1 | 6-1 | 309 | 101 | |
3-1 | 5-2 | 209 | 102 | |
3-1 | 5-2 | 201 | 119 | |
3-1 | 5-2 | 188 | 133 | |
3-1 | 5-2 | 159 | 106 | |
3-1 | 5-2 | 297 | 162 | |
3-1 | 3-4 | 157 | 192 | |
2-2 | 5-2 | 252 | 136 | |
2-2 | 5-2 | 238 | 178 | |
2-2 | 5-2 | 242 | 142 | |
1-3 | 4-3 | 198 | 121 | |
0-4 | 3-4 | 224 | 221 | |
0-4 | 3-4 | 190 | 229 | |
0-4 | 3-4 | 238 | 136 | |
0-4 | 2-5 | 159 | 195 | |
0-4 | 2-5 | 93 | 170 |