The Curse of Little Brother

The Recent History of Michigan vs. Michigan State

In the world of sports, when the game is over, the winning team is supposed to be humble and praise their
competitors. However, after big rivalry games this doesnt always happen. Sometimes, a player on the
winning team cant help but brag. Sometimes, the things you say come back to haunt you.
By Clarence Stone

Cardinal head coach David Shaw took a time out to go for

he sun was setting in Pasadena, California,

it on 4th and 1 with one yard to go. To make sure they

were prepared for the upcoming play, Spartan head coach

and the Stanford Cardinal were on the offensive. After

Mark Dantonio took a time out as well. It was a short

stopping the Michigan State Spartans offense late in the

yardage situation, and all Stanford had to do was punch

4th quarter, down 24-20, the Cardinal had a 1:46 to move

the ball up the middle to keep their hopes of winning alive.

score a touchdown and win the game. Stanford had

Both teams lined up, Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan

trouble throwing the ball through the Spartans defense all

took the snap, handed if off to Ryan Hewitt to try and

game, however they were successful running the ball.

punch it through the middle. However, Michigan State was

Trying to continue that trend, the Cardinal ran the ball for

ready as linebacker Kyler Elsworth jumped over his

3 straight plays, but were only able to get 9 yards.

defensive line, and stopped Hewitt from gaining the

crucial 1 yard that the Cardinal needed.
Stanford was out of chances, and Michigan
State won their first Rose Bowl in 26 years.

Inside Linebacker Ty Hamilton

(furthest on the left) celebrates his big
stop on 4th down to cement the Rose
Bowl victory.

5 days earlier, Michigan States biggest

unranked, wondering when the program would

rival, the University of Michigan Wolverines

finally turn itself around. While Michigan State

played the Kansas State Wildcats in the Buffalo

started off slightly slow and finished strong,

Wild Wings Bowl, and lost 31-14. However, the

Michigan got off to a 6-0 start, and then started

score did not indicate how bad this loss actually

falling apart. Years ago, that was not the case.

was for the Wolverines. With starting

From 1995-2007, Michigan was competing for

quarterback Devin Gardner out with a broken

national titles. They had top ten teams filled

foot, most of the Wolverines offense was barely

with players like Charles Woodson, Chris Perry ,

able to put points on the board. While the

and Braylon Edwards. They only had one season

Wildcats were able to score two touchdowns in

where they finished unranked. Meanwhile,

the first quarter, the Wolverines were only able

during that same time span, Michigan State was

to get a field goal. By halftime, the Wolverines

mediocre at best. They had a few great talents,

were losing to the Wildcats were beating the

but few players were high draft picks. They only

Wolverines 21-6. Michigan finally scored a

finished ranked once. When the two teams faced

touchdown with a two-point conversion in the

each other, Michigan beat Michigan State 10 out

4th quarter, but that was already after the

of 13 times. Now things have clearly reversed.

Wildcats scored a 4th touchdown and another

What happened, and when? There were a couple

field goal. The final score was 31 to 14 and

of different circumstances, like a change in

Michigan was handed their 6th loss in 7 games.

coaching on both teams and playing style.

These games represented the state of

However, the moment when it all changed is

these two college football programs. Michigan

clear. It all goes back to 2007, when Michigans

State finished the season as the number 3 team

star running back Mike Hart uttered the words

in the country, while Michigan finished

Little Brother.

In 2007, Michigan came back to beat

Michigan State late in the 4th quarter. During the
post game press conference Hart was quoted
saying I was just laughing. I thought it was
funny. They got excited. Its good. Sometimes
you get your little brother excited when youre
playing basketball and you let him get the lead.
Then you come back and take it from them.
This was also Mark Dantonios first Michigan
game as Michigan States head coach, who did
not take so kindly to that comment. That game
was a turning point for both programs, and that
statement was a catalyst that caused it.

Rivalries are nothing uncommon in

sports. Teams will play each other every year,
and the fan bases of those teams will despise the
players and fans of the other team. However,
theres something special about a college
football rivalry. Unlike professional teams,
where there is typically one team per major city
and the fans have a default team to root for,
college teams tend to represent the type of
person who goes to the school. When a team
plays another, its more than two teams playing
each other for victory; its a battle of history and
culture as well.
Michigan or Texas and Oklahoma, but
many of the larger rivalries are between the
schools within the state. Typically these rivalries
are between the principle public university (The
University of Michigan) and the land grant
school (Michigan State University). In the past

Mike Hart calls Michigan State Little

Brother during the postgame press
conference in 2007.

the main public university was the more

prestigious place that produced the doctors and
lawyers, while the land grant school produced

the agricultural students and were typically

Michigan started in 1817 while Michigan State

known for being more fun to attend. Although

didnt form until 1855. Michigan is considered

things are very different at the modern

the better of the two overall and is constantly

incarnations of these universities, the

ranked several spots ahead of Michigan State in

stereotypes of the schools still exist while their

national and worldwide polls of top universities

student body embodies these stereotypes to the

and colleges. The Wolverines started playing

opposing school. To the main public school, the

football in 1879, 17 years before Michigan State

students who attend the cow college state

did. The Wolverines also have the most wins in

school are constant partygoers who didnt take

college football history at 914 wins. In head to

school seriously enough to get into their school,

head match ups, Michigan leads with 68 wins to

let alone handle the work that they have to do.

Michigan States 33. From 1996 2007, the

To the state school, the students who attend the

Wolverines had a 10-2 record against the

main public school are stuck up, pompous, and

Spartans. Historically and statistically, Michigan

unbearably arrogant. There is no better way to

being considered the Big Brother in the rivalry

describe how Michigan and Michigan State

makes perfect sense. Naturally, the Michigan

students and athletes feel about each other.

faithful adopted the moniker almost

In the purest definition of the term, Big

Brother and Little Brother really do describe
the relationship between The University of
Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State
Spartans almost perfectly. As a school and a
football program, Michigan is older with a much
longer and storied history. The University of

immediately.

Its a battle of history

and culture as well

It was during the 2007 game between

the Wolverines and Spartans where everything
changed. The previous year, the Spartans didnt
even put up a fight, losing 31-13. This years
game was very different. Although Michigan had
a 14 3 lead going into halftime, the Spartans
came out firing in the second half and scored 3
touchdowns to take a 14 - 24 point lead with
7:40 left in the game. Then Michigan mounted
its comeback with a 79 yard touchdown drive to
bring the game within 3, followed by a 65 yard
drive ending in a 31 yard touchdown to retake
the lead. On Michigan States following offensive
drive, Michigans defense held strong and
Michigan won 28 24. It was during this games
post game press conference that Mike Hart gave
his Little Brother statement.
2007 was a pivotal year for both
Michigan and Michigan State. For Michigan, the
2007 season was (unknowingly) the beginning
of the end. The previous year, Michigan was a

Wide Receiver Mario Manningham (right)

makes the game winning catch against
Michigan State in 2007.
national title contender, but lost the final game
of the season the Ohio State Buckeyes, and then
the Rose Bowl to the USC Trojans. Yet because
the rest of the season had been such a success,
many felt like the Wolverines would start off the
2007 season on the right foot and be right back
in title hunt. That didnt happen, as the
Wolverines would be upset at home against the
Appalachian State Mountaineers, and get blown
by the Oregon Ducks 39 7 the following game.
Then the Wolverines seemed to get back on
track as they went on a 6 game win streak that
was capped off by the win at Michigan State.
Then after Mike Harts conference, the

Wolverines suffered two bad losses against

Dantonio did just that by not only having a

Wisconsin (37-21) and Ohio State (14-3) before

winning season at 7-6 and making a bowl game,

ending the season with a win over Florida and

but by only losing the 6 games by 7 points or

Heisman trophy winner Tim Tebow in the

less. Yet despite his success that year, it was

Capital One Bowl. However even though things

obvious that the Michigan game and Mike Harts

ended on a good note, with both Michigans

comments had an effect on him. After hearing

Head Coach Lloyd Carr retiring and starting

the remarks, Dantonio responded saying, They

quarterback Chad Henne and running back Mike

want to mock us all they want, Im telling them

Hart graduating, the Wolverines looking for a

its not over. It will never be over. Its just

new leader.

starting. The Spartans channeled this anger and

For Michigan State, 2007 it was their

won their final 2 games of the season to get a

current head coach Mark Dantonios first year.

winning record. As it turns out, Dantonio was

The Spartans had come off of two straight losing

right, as a new era of Spartan football had just

seasons, including losing 7 out of 8 conference

begun.

games during the 2006 season.

Michigan State hired Dantonio to
steer the program back in the right
direction. Helping to lead the
Spartans to a 10-2 season as
defensive coordinator in 2000,
Dantonio was brought back to be a
defensive minded head coach and
recapture some of that success.

Michigan State Head Coach Mark

Dantonio.

There comes a time when Little

Brother is finally able to beat Big Brother. As he
gets bigger, stronger, and faster, older brother
gets older, and slower. Although things may
even out eventually, once little brother starts
winning there is no going back to the way things
were. In the case of Michigan and Michigan State
this is exactly what has happened.
Since the 2007 season ended and Lloyd
Carr retired, Michigans football program has
been in flux. After a very shaky coaching search,
Michigan hired Rich Rodriguez, who brought in
an entirely different playing system to the team.
Although Rodriguezs system worked elsewhere,
it didnt at Michigan as he was fired after going
15 22 over 3 seasons. He didnt beat Michigan
State once. His replacement Brady Hoke has not
done much better. Going on his 4th year as head
coach, Hoke has gone 29 17, but in each
seasons his teams have actually regressed and
lost more games than the previous year. He has
only beaten Michigan State once. In all, in the

past 6 seasons, Michigan has gone 44 39 with

one bowl win and is 1 -5 against Michigan State.
Michigan State is a much different story.
The Spartans have stuck with Dantonio the
entire time, and he has turned them in to
national title contenders. Dantonios emphasis
on defense has made the Spartans one of the
toughest teams to play in college football. In the
6 seasons since the 2007 season, Michigan State
is 69 -30, they have won several titles ranging
from division championships to Rose Bowls. In
their head to head match ups against Michigan,
the Spartans won 4 games straight after the
2007 game. In their past 2 meetings, Michigan
has not been able to score a touchdown. Now
Michigan State is considered the superior
program.
The two teams are coming together to
play each other again this weekend. The
Wolverines already have a losing record at 3-4,
while the Spartans are again playing for a spot in
the Big Ten Championship at 5 1. The
Wolverines are the underdogs while the

Spartans are the dominant force. Many people

do not think that this weeks game will even be
close. . This is a complete reversal of how things
were before 2007. Then, Big Brother was still
better, teasing his sibling as he played him. Now,
Little Brother is the better of the two, and its his
turn to have some fun.

LB Kyler Elsworth (furthest left), Mark

Dantonio, and QB Connor Cook (furthest
right) celebrating their Rose Bowl win.