Jonathan Smith '100 percent' confident Michigan State will rally for the Wolverines

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Michigan State suffered its fourth straight defeat on Saturday at the hands of No. 3 Indiana, 38-13, falling to 3-4 on the season. After failing to regain the Old Brass Spittoon, the Spartans have a second-straight trophy game with a chance to regain the Paul Bunyan Trophy in their annual matchup with arch rival Michigan next Saturday, 25 at 7:30 p.m. Michigan State showed some signs of life against Indiana, moving the ball longer and more consistently than any team has this season on the undefeated Hoosiers defense. Michigan State quarterbacks Aidan Chiles and Alessio Miliojevic combined for 293 passing yards with Chiles throwing for 243 yards on 27-for-33 passing while Milivojevic had 50 yards passing on just 3-of-5 passing. Michigan State’s ability to generate some offense through the air as well as four quarters of fight from his team left Head Coach Jonathan Smith encouraged for next week’s rivalry game against Michigan. Smith hinted that he saw and heard some things from players immediately after the Indiana loss which suggested to him that the Spartans will be ignited and united next Saturday. “100 percent, 100 percent,” Smith said, when asked if he felt his team could get back up for Michigan after the loss to Indiana. “Listening to that locker room, (the) opportunity in front of us. Yeah, we’ve taken some body blows the last few weeks out and all of that. 100 percent confident in this group being galvanized, ready to go next week.” (MORE inside SpartanMag. Join SpartanMag now - $1 for the first week - and enjoy a complimentary year of The Athletic included with your membership.)