If you want to know how Michigan State became the biggest guy on the block — Jim Harbaugh’s words, not ours — in the Wolverine State, the best place to start looking is to the south. Eight years ago the Spartans found a coach from Ohio who went about building a powerhouse program by not only mining the local high school fields for talent but also hitting the Buckeye State hard. This week that coach, Mark Dantonio of Zanesville, brings a top-10 Michigan State squad to Columbus with 27 Ohio natives on his roster, up from the 13 that were there the year before he arrived in East Lansing. Ohioans to star for the Green and White under Dantonio include All-Americans Javon Ringer, Greg Jones, Jerel Worthy, Le’Veon Bell and Kurtis Drummond. “First of all, I think it’s a rivalry because for me, because I’m from Ohio, we have so many players from Ohio on our football team,” Dantonio said in Chicago at Big Ten football media days. “I think 27 last year, so it sort of comes with the territory at Michigan State a little bit. So it is for us a rivalry. I have deep respect for what they’ve done down there. I was a part of that back in the early 2000s (as an Ohio State assistant) and I respect that tradition very, very much.” The last time Michigan State played at Ohio Stadium, the Spartans won 10-7 in 2011. After losing at home to Ohio State 17-16 a year later, they stunned the undefeated Buckeyes 34-24 in the 2013 Big Ten Championship Game with quarterback Connor Cook of Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit starring on offense and linebacker Denicos Allen of Hamilton making a key stop on a fourth down play late in the game. But Ohio State got its revenge in East Lansing last year, winning 49-37, and now the Buckeyes will be trying to defend their division title against a team with more than a couple of players trying to prove why Ohio State should have recruited them or why they found Michigan State to be a better fit…
Continue Reading: Big Ten East Notebook: Ohioans could be key for or against Ohio State
