WATCH: Michigan State stars discuss significance of taking on in-state rival Michigan
There’s nothing quite like a big-time rivalry in college football, and Michigan-Michigan State is consistently one of the best around.
The Wolverines and Spartans are getting set to battle it out once again for bragging rights, but this year a bit more will be on the line. Michigan is still looking to keep its College Football Playoff hopes alive. With just one loss, the Wolverines maintain a shot to get in but will likely need to run the table and win the B1G Championship Game to do so.
On the other side, Michigan State already has two losses. However, the Spartans still have a shot to win the B1G East Division with just one loss in conference play.
QB Brian Lewerke, DB Khari Willis, and RB LJ Scott recently discussed the rivalry in a segment with BTN, and there’s no denying they are focused for the grudge match. Lewerke indicated that one motivator for the contest is the number of Spartans who came before this team:
“They don’t like us, we don’t like them,” explained Lewerke. “We always have our past players call in, just talk about how much they want us to beat them, how much they hate Michigan.”
For Scott, he pointed out that Michigan likes to talk and call State names. However, it is the Spartans that have let their play do the talking on the field lately:
“We just always prove by showing that we’re the big brothers on the field,” said Scott.
You can watch the full segment below, courtesy of Michigan State on BTN:
“They don’t like us. We don’t really like them.” 👁
“We just always prove it by showing that we’re the big brothers on the field.” 👀
– @MSU_Football players didn’t mince words about the B1G in-state matchup coming up Saturday: pic.twitter.com/CsPd85Z4IT
— Michigan St. on BTN (@MichiganStOnBTN) October 18, 2018
Kickoff for the heated rivalry is set for Saturday at 12 pm EST on FOX.