Excuse Peter Konz if he has things on his mind besides College GameDay, trash-talk, revenge or Bowl Championship Series rankings this week.
The redshirt junior center remembers plenty about the Badgers' trip to East Lansing, Mich., a year ago, things said on the field, missed opportunities and, most of all, the final score. Still, the Neenah native said his team does not have revenge on its mind as it prepares for a rematch with the Spartans Saturday night under the lights.
""I don't play the game for revenge,"" the humorous center said with a smile. ""I love the game, I play the game for love.""
There is a lot to love about the prospect of a nationally televised showdown between No. 4 Wisconsin (2-0 Big Ten, 6-0 overall) and No. 15 Michigan State (2-0, 5-1).
""You love to go against the people that are supposed to be first-rounders or the teams with the number one defense,"" Konz said.
No coincidence, MSU has both, or at least almost.
The Spartans boast the No. 2 defense in the country. The defense also tops the Big Ten, allowing just 186.2 yards per game to its opponents. It held Michigan's explosive offense and dynamic quarterback Denard Robinson in check last week en route to a 28-14 victory.
Michigan State's athletic, destructive front-seven is anchored by junior defensive tackle Jerel Worthy. The 310 pound wrecking ball is in line for some serious hardware and equal interest from theNational Football League once the season is over. Before it even began, Worthy made it known what he thought of UW's addition of senior quarterback Russell Wilson; over the summer he tweeted, ""It still don't matter cause they gotta come in spartan stadium. Homecoming he will see how the big ten gets down.""
The talk picked up again soon after the Spartans defeated Michigan, but it has been mostly uni-directional, flowing from east to west. The focus in Madison seems to be on preparing for the first true road test this season. A year ago, UW appeared rattled early on against MSU.
""That crowd during the day threw us off the tracks a little bit,"" junior guard Travis Frederick said, noting the atmosphere will be even more intense for a night game.
""It's a rowdy crowd and a physical defense and it definitely had an impact [last year],"" sophomore running back James White added.
Michigan State's defense got a little rowdy a week ago, helping the Spartans rack up 124 penalty yards on 13 infractions, including two personal fouls from sophomore defensive end William Gholston.
In practice this week, the Wisconsin scout team has been instructed to talk trash and try to get under the skin of the starters. Whether or not it's effective may become clearer Saturday night, but some players found some humor in it, as both Konz and Frederick called out freshman defensive lineman Warren Herring for being particularly bad at the craft. Konz has a unique way of dealing with the chirping, whether it be in practice or on Saturday.
""I try to turn it around on them and say thanks,"" Konz said. ""It kind of throws people off, I think. What are you going to do, hit a nice guy?""
Considering Wisconsin has not managed a win at Spartan Stadium in nearly a decade and the Badgers' earned a trip to the Rose Bowl despite finishing with identical records as MSU and a head-to-head loss to boot, there is clearly no love lost between the two programs.
""[MSU talk] is almost like a game-plan type thing,"" Konz said. ""That's part of who they are and part of their defense, but at the same time, we're going to be relentless as well.""
