Mark Dantonio in his weekly press conference on Tuesday fielded a lot of questions from the media in regards to the Spartans in a surprising situation of 0-2 in the Big Ten conference, and unranked for the first time in years.

"We're not cashing out this year yet" Dantonio said. With a look to BYU, he stressed the importance of doing what needed to be done to win a football game. Especially an out-of-conference game.

"Probably the most important thing is the game starts with 15 minutes on the clock, and you get 60 minutes to play, so regardless of what's happened in the past you have an opportunity to make it right, play forward and start to improve those situations that help you win a game"

Dantonio had another thought when presented with a stat that most players currently on his roster have never been on a Michigan State team worse than 11 wins in a season.

"I don't want to be too critical, but some guys, they've been born on third... they haven't experienced the pain that others have gone through to get to where this place is at, and sometimes you need to go back to take stock where this place has come from, what has happened to get it to there... just because you show up here doesn't mean you automatically win."

Dantonio did give his thoughts on facing a BYU team that seems battle tested heading into East Lansing. The Cougars (2-3) have played in extremely close games all season long. Their largest point margin (whether in victory or defeat) this season is three points. The Cougars came off of a barn burning 55-53 win over Toledo at home last Friday.

The head coach emphasized areas to get better in for this Saturday and said "it all starts with coaching" in terms of the Spartans getting back on course.

"We have to continue to find the inches, I don't think there's any question about that, that's what has allowed us to have great success here and we must continue on with that mindset"

In other Spartan football related news, Dantonio said linebacker Riley Bullough will likely be out for this weekend's game, but that Darian Hicks and Chris Frey should be available for Saturday to start.

Also on the Malik McDowell targeting foul that will make him sit the first half of action against the Cougars.

The Spartans look to get back on track when they host the BYU Cougars Saturday afternoon at 3:30 P.M. You can hear all the action on your home for Spartan athletics, Classic Rock 94.9 WMMQ and Lansing’s Big Talker 1240 WJIM.

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