Dantonio Addresses Penn State Game, Reaching Season Goals

In his last weekly presser of the regular season, MSU football head coach Mark Dantonio called the upcoming Michigan State football game at Penn State a “program game.”

The Spartans have not played against the Nittany Lions since the conference first realigned and added the championship game. Now that the Big Ten has been reformatted again, MSU and PSU will play every year once again for the Land Grant Trophy.

The last time Dantonio traveled to Happy Valley was in 2010, where the Spartans clinched their first Big Ten Championship in nearly two decades in a 28-22 victory

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“Yeah, that was a great moment I think in our time here these last eight years,” Dantonio said. “We did it the hard way. It was a cold day. We had to go away to do it, and we got it done. I think when you do things the hard way you have a little bit more appreciation for it. But it was a great moment.”

This year, the Spartans will not be playing for a Big Ten Title, but they do have an opportunity to get their 10th win. Dantonio called getting the 10th win of the season the benchmark for Michigan State

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“I believe that winning 10 games around here right now is the benchmark. Obviously that gets you a little bit of notoriety,” Dantonio said.

“I think that’s what we’re trying to do here, and then springboard from there to great possibilities like last year. Obviously came up a little bit short this year, but the season is not over yet. Looking to move forward.”

Michigan State, who moved up to No. 10 in the College Football Playoff Poll, is favored by 13 points in their matchup with Penn State. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. in the regular season finale.


Bradley Allen is a multimedia journalist for Impact Sports

Photo: Bradley Allen/Impact Sports