Michigan Football: Spartans' Mark Dantonio Launches a Shot at the Wolverines

Steve Spurrier firing a shot at division rival Georgia and conference rival Nick Saban last week must have left something in the water. Something that made its way up to East Lansing, Mich., because Spartans coach Mark Dantonio is most certainly feeling frisky.

In an interview with ESPN's Brian Bennett, Dantonio had this to say about his in-state rival: "We've beat Michigan the last four years. So where's the threat?"

Nothing about mutual respect. Nothing about looking forward to making it five in a row. Nothing about the rivalry being a hard-fought game. Nothing but total dismissal of the Wolverines. The Sugar Bowl Champion Wolverines. The hard-recruiting—very hard-recruiting—Michigan Wolverines.

Sure, in the battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy, the Wolverines hold a 67-32-5 edge in the series. Sure, the Wolverines are recruiting at a ridiculous pace since the arrival of Brady Hoke. Sure, Dantonio loses his quarterback, his wide receivers and the running back who led the charge against the Wolverines a year ago.

So what? Mark Dantonio most certainly doesn't care.

He's got designs on continuing his success against the Maize and Blue, building upon the Spartans' four-game win streak. As it stands right now, he's got a football team that he expects to beat Michigan. Even with the loss of Jerel Worthy, the Spartans return a defense that looks to resume its annual bottling up of Denard Robinson.

As the Michigan hype machine builds off of the success of Hoke's first season, Dantonio isn't worried.

He likes where he sits right now. He has the team that was playing for the Big Ten title in December. He has the team that won a piece of the Big Ten championship in 2010. He has a team full of players that have never lost to Michigan.

Brady Hoke is off to a hot start, both on the field and on the recruiting trail. While I disagree with the casual dismissal of the Wolverines, the fact is Dantonio doesn't much care.

This year's game should be a good one, and with the game coming late in October, Sparty should have its receiver issues sorted out.

Hoke's already beating the doors down in the Big Ten on the recruiting trail; his next task is to get the championship on the field. That involves beating Michigan State—something Michigan has not done, as Dantonio points out, in its last four tries.