Wary of Wolverines

EAST LANSING - Michigan is off to its worst start since 1967, has the least-productive offense in the Big Ten and will need a dramatic turnaround to extend its 33-season bowl streak.

Michigan State is off to its second-best start since 1966, has the nation's individual leader in all-purpose yards and net rushing yards, and is in position to earn itself a New Year's Day bowl appearance.

Welcome to Bizarro Week for the MSU-Michigan rivalry.

The Spartans (6-2 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) are the favorites - for just the second time since 1967 - in Saturday's matchup in Ann Arbor with the Wolverines (2-5, 1-3).

Yet trepidation lingers. This is a U-M team with plenty of talent and a desperate need for victory. This is a dangerous game for MSU - which is usually what people say each year about the Wolverines.

"Don't think for a second that we'll underestimate them because of their record," said MSU senior quarterback Brian Hoyer, who went through a full practice Tuesday and will start despite a bruised left (non-throwing) hand.

U-M is having a rough time in its first season under coach Rich Rodriguez. He replaced Lloyd Carr, ending a 39-year stretch of the Bo Schembechler coaching family at Michigan, and has made changes.

Mostly, the Wolverines have had a hard time adjusting to Rodriguez's spread offense. The line play has been shoddy and the quarterback play spotty. Turnovers have come in bunches, with a Big Ten-high 20 in seven games.

The offense's struggles may have affected a defense that was supposed to be a strength entering the season.

"The consistency level is the thing that's really been missing, speaking to the obvious, for four quarters," Rodriguez said Monday. "That's in all three phases. Our team knows that. We have yet to put together four quarters of consistently good football. We're capable of doing it, I know we are.

"We hopefully will have one coming up because we need to. If we want to win this game, we've got to play well in four quarters."

It looked like U-M might have turned things around in the Big Ten opener, when it stormed back from a 19-0 deficit to beat Wisconsin, 27-25.

But in their next game, the Wolverines lost 45-20 at home to Illinois, after opening with a 14-3 lead. Then came a shocking 13-10 home loss to Toledo.

Last week, U-M showed promise for the first half-plus at No. 3 Penn State, taking a 17-7 lead - before crumbling and losing 46-17.

Part of the problem in that game was the loss of starting quarterback Steven Threet because of a bruised throwing elbow. He's expected to be OK for the MSU game.

Threet has had his share of struggles, but he can throw it, and the emergence of junior running back Brandon Minor (22 carries, 117 yards) was a boost last week.

"They're very good conceptually, they take advantage of things," MSU coach Mark Dantonio said of the Wolverines' offense, "and if you watch them closely, you'll see they move the ball on everybody."

Defensively, U-M has been nearly as inconsistent, even though the Wolverines have plenty of veteran talent on that side of the ball.

They have been better against traditional, pro-style offenses, such as MSU's, than against spread offenses with mobile quarterbacks, such as Illinois' and Penn State's.

"They've got a good linebacking corps, they've got a strong (defensive) line that has played for a number of years," MSU fifth-year senior offensive tackle Jesse Miller said of U-M. "They're not young in any way. They're definitely talented and they know how to play the game."

Since 1966, only the 2003 team under John L. Smith that started 7-1 had a better eight-game record than these Spartans. The 1999 team also started 6-2.

But MSU is coming off a humiliating 45-7 home loss to Ohio State and hasn't defeated U-M since 2001.

The Spartans' confidence must be repaired quickly if they're going to validate the oddsmakers and get the seniors' first win of their careers against Michigan.

"Let's say I haven't eaten in five years," Miller said when asked how badly he wants the victory. "How hungry would you be?"