MSU's Harlon Barnett on Michigan: 'They're going to come after us'
After four consecutive defeats, Michigan State interim head football coach Harlon Barnett admitted the Spartans' most recent loss to Rutgers this past Saturday "was a gut-punch".
Leading 24-6 heading into the fourth quarter, MSU committed several special teams errors which helped the Scarlet Knights score 21 unanswered points and steal the game, 27-24. However, Barnett and the Spartans don't have any more time to lick their wounds.
Not with in-state rival Michigan up next.
"Looking forward to this week's game," Barnett said at his weekly press conference Monday. "As we all know, it's a big game and our guys are locked in and already looking forward to it, and it should be a great week."
Michigan State is a heavy underdog in this year's matchup, and Barnett expects no sympathy from the No. 2 Wolverines concerning the Spartans' recent struggles and misfortunes.
"Let's be honest about it," Barnett said. "They don't care that we've lost the last four games. They're going to come after us no matter what, right? And we would do the same thing, right? So, we've got to get ourselves together and move forward."
Like all Spartans, this game means a lot to Barnett. An Ohio native, the interim coach said his introduction to the rivalry didn't come until his freshman year in 1986, but former coach George Perles impressed upon Barnett the importance of this game.
"You don't really know until you play in it," he said. "Some guys, you [tell them] this is serious, this is big-time. It's the best rivalry in football, in my opinion. You try to tell them, but sometimes they just don't know until they play in it."
During his four years as a player, Barnett's went 1-3 against the Wolverines. He's enjoyed much more rivalry success on the sidelines, however, with a 10-4 record against Michigan as an assistant coach for the Spartans, a change in fortune the now interim head coach has enjoyed.
"As a player, didn't win as many as I would have liked to have won," he said. "But, as a coach, I have won more. So, that's changed — the winning aspect from my personal perspective."
Much of that success came under the leadership of former head coach Mark Dantonio, who led the Spartans to seven wins in this series over an eight-year stretch from 2008 to 2015, and finished with an 8-5 overall record against the Wolverines. While Dantonio is back on staff in an advisory role to Barnett this year, the interim coach was coy about the impact Dantonio would have on the Spartans this Saturday.
"Because he has a secret formula to success, I can't share. So, I'll just say it that way, if that's okay," Barnett said with a broad smile.
When asked what game from the past best defines the meaning of this rivalry to him, Barnett had an immediate answer.
"Minus-48 yards rushing," he said, referring to Michigan State's 29-6 win over Michigan in 2013, in which the Spartans' sacked U-M quarterback Devin Gardner seven times and held the Wolverines to their worst rushing performance in program history.
But, a decade later, Michigan State needs a monumental effort from this crop of Spartans to compete with their fiercest rivals. If there's a reason for hope, it's that MSU probably should have won its last two games against Iowa and Rutgers. But, catastrophic mistakes on special teams and turnovers swung momentum to the opposition in each game, leaving Michigan State on the wrong side of the scoreboard when the clock hit zeroes.
"We just need to start playing better, and now it's about finishing. That's our next step. We've got to finish, and we look forward to doing that this weekend," Barnett said.
"It's all about...great attention to detail. Crunch time, when the game is on the line, can you do what you're supposed to do? Attention to detail, discipline, do your job. You don't have to do anything extra. Doing your job is making a play. And so, when our guys get to that point - offense, defense and special teams - that's when we're going to be playing to the best of our potential late in games, trying to finish them out."
While Michigan State is trying to become a more disciplined football team, Barnett said that exact characteristic is what stands out about the Wolverines when he watches them on film.
"They are very disciplined in what they do - offense, defense and special teams," Barnett said of Michigan. "They play hard. They have a good passing game, as well as a running game. They have a good balance. They just do a good job. They do a good job of coaching those guys up and putting them in position to make plays. They're a good football team."
Michigan isn't running the ball as often as it has in the past under head coach Jim Harbaugh, but the Wolverines rush offense still sits in the Top 50 in the country in yards per game, and U-M tailback Blake Corum leads the nation in rushing touchdowns with 12.
"They're disciplined in how they attack everything they do," Barnett said of U-M's run game. "You can tell the offensive line is in sync, along with the tight ends and their running back. Everybody is in sync in understanding their assignments."
On the other side of the ball, Michigan has been even more impressive, albeit against a soft schedule thus far. The Wolverines' defense ranks first in the nation in points allowed per game (6.7) and second in yards per game allowed (233.1).
"Same type of thing," Barnett said of Michigan's defense. "They're disciplined in what they do. They understand where they fit and where they need to be in their assignments. That's what good teams do."
Asked for differences between this Wolverine team and the one the Spartans' faced last season, in a 29-7 defeat, Barnett said Michigan is mostly the same, except it's top players being a year older.
"They're just more experienced," he said. "They've got those same guys, but they're more experienced. They've got another year under their belt, and they're playing like that. They understand the offense, their assignments and where they need to be. They're playing like a more experienced group."
Kickoff between Michigan State and Michigan is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
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