Redbox Bowl Media Guide
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
MICHIGAN STATE VS. OREGON LEVI’S STADIUM SANTA CLARA, CALIF. 6 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS• 9 BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS • 2015 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF • 26 AP TOP-25 FINISHES MICHIGAN STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS • 1855 PLACE • 550 S. HARRISON RD. • EAST LANSING, MICH. 48823 OFFICE PHONE: 517-355-2271 • WEBSITE: MSUSPARTANS.COM • TWITTER: @MSU_FOOTBALL • INSTAGRAM: MSU_FOOTBALL SCHEDULES & SCOREBOARDS MICHIGAN STATE (7-5, 5-4 BIG TEN) MICHIGAN STATE (7-5, 5-4 B1G) Aug. 31 UTAH STATE (BTN) W, 38-31 VS. OREGON (8-4, 5-4 PAC-12) Sept. 8 at Arizona State (ESPN) L, 13-16 Sept. 22 at Indiana (BTN) W, 35-21 Date .............................................Monday, Dec. 31 Sept. 29 CENTRAL MICHIGAN (FS1) W, 31-20 Oct. 6 NORTHWESTERN (HC) (FS1) L, 19-29 Kickoff ............................3 p.m. EST/12 p.m. PST Oct. 13 at No. 8/8 Penn State (BTN) W, 21-17 Location ................................... Santa Clara, Calif. Oct. 20 No. 6/7 MICHIGAN (FOX) L, 7-21 Oct. 27 PURDUE (ESPN) W, 23-13 Stadium ...........................Levi’s Stadium (68,500) Nov. 3 at Maryland (ESPN2) W, 24-3 Nov. 10 No. 8/7 OHIO STATE (FOX) L, 6-26 Surface ........................................... Natural Grass Nov. 17 at Nebraska (FOX) L, 6-9 TV/Web/Mobile .................... FOX/FOX Sports Go Head Coach Head Coach Nov. 24 RUTGERS (FOX) W, 14-10 Mark Dantonio Mario Cristobal Live Stats ..................................msuspartans.com OREGON (8-4, 5-4 PAC-12) MSU Record Oregon Record Tickets ...........................................msuspartans.com 107-50 (12th year) 8-5 (first year) Sept. 1 BOWLING GREEN W, 58-24 Overall Record Overall Record Sept. 8 PORTLAND STATE W, 62-14 All-Time Series ....................................... Tied, 3-3 125-67 (15th year) 35-52 (seventh year) Sept. 15 SAN JOSE STATE W, 35-22 Last Meeting ..............MSU 31, Oregon 28 (2015) Sept. 22 No. 7/7 STANFORD L, 31-38 (OT) Record vs. Oregon Record vs. MSU Sept. 29 at No. 24/RV California W, 42-24 Current Series Streak ..............1 by MSU (2015-) 1-1 0-0 Oct. 13 No. 7/7 WASHINGTON W, 30-27 (OT) Oct. 20 at No. 25/23 Washington State L, 20-34 FIRST-AND-10 – Oct. 27 at Arizona L, 15-44 • Michigan State is looking for its second straight bowl win and sixth in the last seven tries as the Spartans Nov. 3 UCLA W, 42-21 take on Oregon in the Redbox Bowl on Monday, Dec. 31 at 3 p.m. EST/12 p.m. PST from Levi’s Stadium Nov. 10 at RV/No. 24 Utah L, 25-32 in Santa Clara, California. The game will be televised nationally on FOX, with Joe Davis, Brady Quinn and Nov. 17 ARIZONA STATE W, 31-29 Nov. 23 at Oregon State W, 55-15 Bruce Feldman on the call. The Spartans finished the regular season with a 7-5 overall record and went • All times listed – Eastern. Rankings – AP/Coaches 5-4 in the Big Ten, while Oregon went 8-4 overall and placed fourth in the Pac-12 North Division with a 5-4 conference mark. It will be the first-ever matchup between the two schools in a bowl game. MEDIA COVERAGE TV: FOX Play-by-Play: Joe Davis • Now in his 12th season as head coach of the Spartans, Mark Dantonio owns a 107-50 (.682) record. He Analyst: Brady Quinn is one of just eight active FBS coaches to own at least 100 victories at his current school. For the fourth Sideline: Bruce Feldman time in his career, Dantonio was named a semifinalist in 2017 for the George Munger College Coach of the Year, presented by the Maxwell Football Club. Dantonio has won the most Big Ten Championships (three) RADIO: SPARTAN SPORTS NETWORK and bowl games (five) of any Spartan head coach and also ranks first with 11 bowl appearances. He is the Play-by-Play: George Blaha Analyst: Jason Strayhorn only Big Ten coach to win multiple Big Ten Championships (2010, 2013, 2015), claim a victory in the Rose Broadcast Host: Will Tieman Bowl (2014), and coach in the College Football Playoff (2015). Website: SpartanSportsNetwork.com Mobile: SSN 24/7 App (iOS, Android) • The second-winningest coach in school history with 107 victories, trailing only Hall of Famer Duffy Daugh- Flagship Stations: Lansing: WMMQ (94.9 FM)/WJIM (1240 AM); Detroit: WJR (760 AM) erty (109), Dantonio also ranks first in program history in conference winning percentage (.657, 65-34 Affiliates: 34 affiliates listed at SpartanSportsNetwork.com record, minimum 10 games); tied for first in AP Top 25 finishes (seven); second in Big Ten wins (65), home Satellite: Ch. 83 (Sirius), Ch. 83 (XM), Ch. 83 (SiriusXM. wins (63) and AP Top 25 wins (21); and fifth in overall winning percentage (.682). com) MSU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS • Michigan State is making its 28th all-time appearance in a bowl game and its 11th under Dantonio, the Associate Director/Football Contact ......Ben Phlegar most bowl games of any coach in program history. MSU set a school record with nine consecutive bowl Cell Phone ...................................... (517) 896-0031 appearances from 2007-15, including a school-record four-game winning streak (2011 Outback Bowl over E-Mail ................................. [email protected] No. 18 Georgia; 2012 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl over TCU; 2014 Rose Bowl over No. 5 Stanford; 2015 Cot- Assistant Director/Football Contact ........Zach Fisher ton Bowl over No. 4 Baylor). MSU is 12-15 all-time in bowl games and 5-5 under Dantonio. Dantonio’s five Cell Phone ...................................... (517) 896-2413 E-Mail [email protected] bowl wins, including last year’s Holiday Bowl against No. 18 Washington State, are also a school record. Office Phone .......................................... 517-355-2271 Website ............................................. msuspartans.com • Michigan State ranks first in the FBS in rushing defense, allowing just 81.3 yards per game. The Spartans Twitter ....................................................@msu_football have held their opponent to under 100 yards rushing seven times this season. MSU also has only given up Instagram ............................................@msu_spartans 29 rushes of 10-plus yards, which is tied for fewest in the FBS. MICHIGAN STATE FOOTBALL • MSUSPARTANS.COM • @MSU_FOOTBALL 2018 SPARTAN FOOTBALL GAME NOTES REDBOX BOWL MEDIA GUIDE: • In addition to leading the FBS in rushing defense, the Spartans also rank among the national leaders in TABLE OF CONTENTS third-down conversion defense (12th at .315), scoring defense (13th at 18.0 ppg) and total defense (14th at Game Notes ......................................................... 1-31 311.5 ypg). MSU has held its opponents to 21 or fewer points nine times, and although Ohio State scored Depth Chart/Career Starts Chart................... 30-31 26 points on Nov. 10, the defense allowed just 17 points (two TDs and one field goal). Utah State, who ranks Rosters/Pronunciation Guide .............................. 34-37 Updated Player Bios ........................................... 38-73 third in the FBS in scoring offense (47.5 ppg), is the only team score more than 30 points on the Spartans this 2018 Game Recaps ............................................ 74-85 season (31). The Spartans have also allowed just 12 touchdowns in the red zone, fourth fewest in the FBS. Mark Dantonio/Assistant Coaches ........................ 86-88 2018 Statistics ..................................................... 89-99 Bowl History/Records ..................................... 108-120 • The MSU-Oregon all-time series is tied 3-3, as the home team has won the six previous meetings. This will be the first neutral-site matchup. Dantonio is 1-1 against Oregon, with a win over the No. 7 Ducks in REDBOX BOWL CONTACT INFORMATION Spartan Stadium in 2015 en route to a Big Ten Championship. Oregon won the 2014 matchup in Eugene MICHIGAN STATE TEAM HOTEL on its way to winning the Pac-12 title. Both of those matchups featured AP Top 10 clashes and the winners The Hyatt Regency Hotel | (415) 788-1234 5 Embarcadero Center | San Francisco, CA 94108 eventually secured berths in the College Football Playoff. REDBOX BOWL COMMUNICATIONS • Junior defensive end Kenny Willekes, who entered the program as a walk-on linebacker for the 2015 Roger Hacker, Director of Communications Cell: 408-649-8824 | [email protected] season, has emerged as one of the top pass rushers in the nation. Named the Big Ten Defensive Line- Tessa Giammona, Coordinator of Communications man of the Year and a first-team All-American selection by The Athletic, he leads the conference in tackles Cell: 707-206-1661 | [email protected] for loss (20.5 for 84 yards) and ranks fourth in sacks (8.5 for 60 yards), totals which also rank among the Website: RedboxBowl.com | Twitter: @RedboxBowl national leaders (seventh in TFLs, tied for 28th in sacks). According to Pro Football Focus, Willekes leads REDBOX BOWL COVERAGE all defensive ends in the FBS with 21 quarterback hits. The native of Rockford, Michigan, is MSU’s active Daily practice updates, videos and quotes on leader in tackles for loss (tied for ninth overall in school history with 35.0) and sacks (10th in school history msuspartans.com and on Twitter @msu_football. To with 15.5). Willekes’ 20.5 tackles for loss rank second most in an MSU season. be added to MSU’s bowl email list, email phlegarb@ ath.msu.edu. • With the win at Maryland on Nov. 3, Michigan State became bowl eligible for the 11th time in 12 seasons MICHIGAN STATE QUICK FACTS under head coach Mark Dantonio. In addition, MSU also won its 700th game in school history. The Spartans GENERAL INFORMATION Location: East Lansing, Mich. own an all-time record of 701-458-44 (.601) in 1,203 games. MSU became the 27th school in the FBS to win Enrollment: 50,351 (fall 2018) 700 games. The Spartans also secured their 10th winning season under Dantonio with a victory over Rutgers Conference: Big Ten (East Division) in the regular-season finale.