Opponent Talk: What Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio is saying about Indiana

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio has his team playing good football and the Spartans are 3-1 on the season after a nice win at Northwestern a week ago.

Here's what he had to say about Indiana a few days out from Saturday's conference game in East Lansing:

— On Indiana making a move up in the Big Ten East:
"They have always been a football team that has been extremely competitive in every football game. They have lost games at the end of the game, as evidenced by some of the games we've had with them over the years. When Kevin Wilson was there, it was more offensively. I think Tom Allen has come in there and done a great job defensively. You can see his fingerprint on the defense. They play hard. They are sudden. They are good tacklers. They provide pressure.''

— On what he sees from Indiana' first-year offensive coordinator, Kalen DeBoer:

"The offense has remained much the same. They have got a new coordinator in there from Fresno State who was at Eastern Michigan. He's done a nice job and he's done some different things that we have to get ready for, so there's that whole element that exists again now. I think he's got them playing at a very high calibre football. I know they had a disappointing loss at Ohio State, sort of snowballed on them, but been there. They were competitive early on in the football game and then some competitive things happened and got a way from them. We'll see how they play when they come to Spartan Stadium, but I anticipate a very good game. Always has been. I think he tries to do it right, too.''

— On preparing for two Indiana quarterbacks, Michael Penix Jr., and Peyton Ramsey:
"I think you've got to take both into consideration. I know Penix is coming off an injury and he hasn't played and maybe it's a shoulder injury or an arm injury. So got to take that into consideration with everything. Peyton Ramsey has done a great job. He's a gamer. He knows where to go with the ball. He gives you scramble ability. He understands the defenses he's reading. Penix is a very athletic guy. We haven't experienced him as much, so we don't really know, but we've seen him play and make plays, and he can take off with it.

— On the differences in preparing for the two quarterbacks:
"They are different enough that you've got to put them into -- when you break them down, you're saying, okay, he's the quarterback and here is the plays he's quarterback, and here is the plays he's quarterback, and then look at them a little bit differently. With that being said, I think the coordinator is the same. He's calling the plays, and so he has things he maybe likes a little bit more with one or the other, but I think there's similarities. About to be coach speak, but I think it's 50/50.''

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