Most college coaches, I think, would prefer the underdog role. It's a lot easier to foster an "us against the world" mentality when the world actually thinks your team doesn't have a chance.
Michigan State wasn't an underdog against Oregon, but it's not as if they were heavy favorites (the line closed at Sparty [-4]). That will change, however, as the Spartans — like Ohio State — wade through the lesser parts of an OOC schedule and Big Ten play before its Nov. 21 showdown with the Buckeyes.
Dantonio will turn to his team's elders to lead the way.
From ESPN.com:
Now, the Spartans go from hunters to hunted. They will be favored to win their next eight games, at least six of them by large, sleepwalk-inducing margins. The current challenge for head coach Mark Dantonio is getting his team to a late November showdown at Ohio State with their unbeaten record and playoff hopes still intact.
To get there, Dantonio could continue to pull from his bottomless well of motivational perceived slights – a source that players insist is far from running dry despite their unanimously recognized success. Instead, he said Tuesday he would rely on his veteran leaders to deliver the message.
“Coaches can talk all they want,” Dantonio said. “If your seniors recognize a situation they're in and can basically relay that to the rest of their football team, I think good things sort of happen. We've taken a mature outlook. We understand the bottom can fall out at whatever you're doing at any point in time."
Sounds like it will be a clash of cultures when these two meet in Columbus.
