Dantonio wants more offense from Maxwell, Bell vs. U-M

EAST LANSING (AP) — Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said Tuesday that his team will need better production on offense and the same stingy defense if it wants to contain Denard Robinson and upset No. 23 Michigan on Saturday in Ann Arbor.

The Spartans (4-3, 1-2 Big Ten) rank 11th in the league in scoring with just 21 points per game but are seventh in the nation in total defense with a 270.1-yard average. They never scored less than 26 points or allowed more than 21 in beating the Wolverines the past four years, matching their longest streak in series history.

“We’d like to score more points,” Dantonio said Tuesday. “But we’ve been there before and understand that aspect of it. The reality of the situation is we have three players on offense who played last year on a constant basis. The rest of our guys are new. They’re gaining experience as we go. And they’ve made some plays. The most important thing to me is that we don’t split this football team into offense and defense.”

That means quarterback Andrew Maxwell and running back Le’Veon Bell will have to be as good as they have ever been for an offense that is 10th in the Big Ten in rushing and 11th in scoring. Both have had their moments, but neither player was able to carry his team in losses to Notre Dame, Ohio State and Iowa.

Despite the perception that Michigan State’s passing game has been the problem, Maxwell ranks second in the conference in with 229.6 yards per game, despite a slew of dropped passes. He went more than 26 quarters and 233 throws without an interception before a tipped ball gave Iowa a 19-16 double-overtime win last Saturday.

Maxwell will face a tougher challenge against the nation’s No. 3 pass defense. The Wolverines (4-2, 2-0) are allowing just 134 yards per game through the air and have five interceptions, while permitting just three touchdown passes.

That could shift the burden to Bell in a matchup that almost always goes to the better rushing team. That has been true in 39 of the last 42 battles for the Paul Bunyan Trophy.