Michigan State University defensive assistant Mark Snyder watches players during the first spring practice of Michigan State University football team on Tuesday March 24, 2015 at the Duffy Daugherty Football Building on the Michigan State University campus in East Lansing.(Photo: Ryan Garza, DFP) EAST LANSING – Riley Bullough looks at Nebraska and thinks back three years. His position coach looks around and thinks back 13. In both cases, the expectation is a tough game when streaking, unbeaten, No.6 Michigan State (8-0, 4-0 Big Ten) takes on the battered, beaten Cornhuskers (3-6, 1-4) tonight at proud Memorial Stadium (7, ESPN). “Our guys know,” said Mark Snyder, MSU’s linebackers coach, of the anticipated challenge from a team that lost its first five games by 13 points before bottoming out a week ago with a 55-45 embarrassment at Purdue. “They absolutely know. That’s our jobs, and Coach (Mark Dantonio) has done a great job already and will continue. This will be a dogfight, there’s no doubt.” The Spartans got into a bunch of those in 2012, when Bullough was redshirting as a freshman linebacker. That MSU team finished 7-6, its last five losses coming by a combined 13 points. One was a dramatic 28-24 Nebraska comeback at Spartan Stadium, helping the Cornhuskers win the Big Ten’s Legends Division. “I kind of compare them to our 2012 team — lost a lot of close games but still had a lot of great players on the team,” Bullough said of Nebraska. “Just, things don’t always go your way. So they’re definitely gonna be fired up, we’re gonna be fired up, it’s gonna be a fun game.” The Spartans, No.7 in Tuesday’s initial College Football Playoff rankings, will be a step closer to the Big Ten East title if they can beat Nebraska for a third straight time, extend their overall winning streak to 13 and win their 13th straight Big Ten road game. …
Continue Reading: MSU’s Snyder says season reminds him of 2002 at OSU
