P.J. Fleck is not surprised Michigan State beat Michigan

Michigan State beat Michigan in an upset last Saturday, but count P.J. Fleck among those who were not surprised.

It wasn’t pretty, due in part to bad weather, but the Michigan State Spartans left Ann Arbor with a 14-10 win over No. 7 Michigan last Saturday night. After a dismal 3-9 campaign in 2016, Mark Dantonio’s team is now 4-1 this year and well on their way to going back to a bowl game.

Next on the schedule for Michigan State is a road trip to take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers for another Saturday night game. The Gophers are 0-2 in the Big Ten and 3-2 on the season.

During his tenure as head coach at Western Michigan, P.J. Fleck observed the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry from fairly up close. The Spartans, counting last week’s win, have now won eight of the last 10 games in the rivalry and two out of three since Jim Harbaugh took over at Michigan.

Fleck spews catch-phrases like “Row The Boat” and general hyperbole as a routine part of his vernacular, which surely helps him motivate his players if they’re willing to fully buy in. But his verbal game may now be starting to shift toward the Gophers upcoming opponents.

It’s hardly surprising for Fleck, or any coach for that matter, to heap praise on an upcoming opponent during the week going into a game. And recent history, regardless of national ranking or lack thereof, suggests Michigan State will beat Michigan a majority of the time.

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The Golden Gophers will play the other half of the Wolverines-Spartans rivalry this season as well, with a road game of their own in Ann Arbor is on the slate for Nov. 4. One has to wonder what Fleck will say in praise of Michigan, or maybe more specifically Harbaugh, during the days leading up to that game.