The 5-2 Michigan Wolverines face the 3-4 Michigan State Spartans on Saturday night at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. Michigan has won the last three matchups, but Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore says to throw out the record books in a rivalry such as this one.
Michigan versus Michigan State gets chippy between fanbases and players alike, something Moore is fully aware of. Moore has made it clear to the Michigan team what they should be focusing on heading into the tilt.
“The outside noise doesn’t
matter, the talking doesn’t matter. It’s about playing the game, executing the game on the field,“ Moore told Brad Galli.
Moore wants all of Michigan’s energy to be focused on football.
“The biggest thing is that you’re not going to win the game talking. You’re not going to win the game with all the extra stuff,” Moore explained. “Conscious effort on just attacking what we need to attack to win the football game. The fans, the crowd, their players talking, people talk, that doesn’t matter. We have to worry about executing. And put in the work to go win the game.”
Michigan and Michigan State got into a skirmish after the final whistle last year, and in 2022, an incident occurred in the Michigan Stadium tunnel where seven Michigan State players were charged with assault and battery against Michigan’s Ja’Den McBurrows and Gemon Green. Moore, who was Michigan’s offensive coordinator in ‘22, knows that fighting can’t happen again.
“None of that helps you win the game; it actually takes away the energy from you winning the game. All we have to do is rinse, repeat. Urgency is the keyword right now, urgency in everything we do. Urgency in the detail, urgency, and that’s going to class, making sure everything’s aligned perfectly for us to win this game,” Moore said. “We can’t worry about it. Can’t worry about the past, but we can learn from it and learn about those things. We’re just going to continue to harp on that. All that stuff doesn’t matter; just work on things we need to work on to win the game.”
Moore says he has respect for Michigan State’s coaching staff and players.
“We’re going to get everything they got. We’re going to get their best. They’re going to get our best,” Moore said. “It’ll be a great game. A physical game. A great atmosphere. That’s all we can worry about.”
