EAST LANSING, Mich. — Game week has arrived for the Michigan and Michigan State football teams who will meet Saturday in East Lansing with both teams undefeated.
"It is huge," Michigan running back Blake Corum said. "Both of us being from the state of Michigan there is obviously some tension right there, whoever wins gets the rights to boast, whatever you want to do the rest of the year, so it is a huge game and it means a lot."
The Spartans won last season's game 27-24 in Ann Arbor when each team struggled to a 2-win season.
"I am excited for some of these new dudes to experience what this game is like whether it is transfers or freshmen," Michigan State safety Xavier Henderson said. "I remember when I was a freshman I was like I will hate these guys too just because everyone else does but you get a different feel for what the game is like when you play in it."
Saturday will mark the first time that Michigan and Michigan State have met while both teams are ranked in the top ten in the nation since 1964.
"When you change how you prepare during the season, that is a problem," Michigan linebacker Josh Ross said. "We have been preparing the right way every week and this week it definitely is higher stakes we are going against an in-state rival but just attack it the same way and elevate for sure but it is about us having a great week of preparation and attacking it the right way like we have been doing every single week this season."
The Spartans are coming off a bye week, winning at Indiana 20-15 in their last game on October 16th.
"We have a lot of big games on our schedule, this is obviously one of them," Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne said. "This is a huge game, we are not going to downplay it and act like it is not a big game because it is, it's a huge game, in-state rivalry, it has been going on for years, and years, and years, there is a ton of history behind the game and you have got to prepare, you have got to prepare like you have never prepared before."
The Wolverines are coming off a 33-7 won at home against Northwestern last Saturday.
"There is the approach of one game at a time which you need to do," Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said. "You have to do that and you have to practice that and it has to be implemented, less a team be painfully humbled. Now we are in a situation, huge game, in some ways that mindset is similar, but in other ways it definitely gets turned up a notch."
The last time that Michigan and Michigan State played each other when both teams were undefeated was 2010.
"I told the players this morning and I have told them this before," Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker said. "When you have rivalry games like this, ultimately your legacy and reputation, a lot of it is formed by how you play and how you coach in these games."
Saturday's game is slated for a noon kickoff and can bee seen on FOX 17.
