Game to renew Spittoon rivalry

During IU’s bye week, the focus was not on the Michigan State-Indiana rivalry. This week, however, all eyes are fixed squarely on the Spartans in East Lansing, Mich., junior center Will Matte said.

“Honestly, before I got to IU, I didn’t know this was a trophy game,” Matte said. “Obviously, after being here for a couple years, we haven’t been able to play them, but I’ve been hearing about it, especially now. It’s game week.”

The Old Brass Spittoon was put into effect in 1950 as the prize for the winner of the nearly annual game.

Michigan State has won 40 of the 53 battles for the Spittoon and won the most recent contest in 2008. Just five players on the current roster played against the Spartans in 2008. The matchup will become more common in coming years, senior offensive lineman Justin Pagan said.

“It’s not regularly (played) before, but now, every year, they’re our cross-divisional opponent, so it’s going to come back,” Pagan said. “We want to start off right and get the Spittoon.”

When the Big Ten moved to a two-division system, each team was assigned a cross-division rival, and since Michigan State-Indiana is one of the oldest rivalries in the conference, they now will play each other regularly.

A more commonly played opponent in recent years has been Illinois, which is also in close proximity to IU. Both Matte and Pagan are from Illinois.

“It would seem like it would make a lot more sense with Illinois, because there are a ton of Illinois kids at IU,” Matte said. “It’s fun to just create rivalries. It always makes it that much more interesting when you’re playing for a trophy.”

The trophy won’t be the only interesting aspect of Saturday’s game for sophomore wide receiver Jamonne Chester.

Growing up in Detroit, Chester not only grew up a fan of the Spartans; his high school mascot at Redford (Mich.) Covenant Christian was the Spartan. Chester played both football and basketball suiting up alongside a close friend who would continue to wear a Spartan basketball jersey into his college days.

“I grew up a Michigan State fan, man,” Chester said. “My boy Durrell Summers went there. Michigan State was at our practice, our games, every week. I was a Spartan in high school, but I guess not now. I play against them now.”

Chester is still close with Summers, who played for Tom Izzo’s squad from 2007 to 2011. Chester also played football against some current Michigan State players in high school, including a game of seven-on-seven football against junior running back Edwin Baker.

The rivalry with the Spartans isn’t the only game for a trophy remaining on the Hoosiers’ schedule. The final game of the season is against Purdue for the Old Oaken Bucket.

“The Bucket Game speaks for itself,” Matte said. “That’s always a crazy atmosphere, and it will be really fun playing Michigan State for the first time. It’s someone new I haven’t seen and I’m looking forward to the opportunity.”

The final two games carry meaning for the 1-9 IU team, especially the seniors, Pagan said.

Co-Offensive Coordinator Rod Smith echoed Pagan’s sentiments.

“Obviously, the season hasn’t gone the way anybody wants it to go,” Smith said. “We’ve been, for the most part, competitive playing with a bunch of young guys, so (we have) the opportunity to still go out and have stuff to play for. Trophy games, Big Ten games.”

For the younger players on the team like Chester, the final two trophy games carry the promise of ending the season on a high that can extend into next season, Chester said.

“It’s a big opportunity for us,” Chester said. “If we win these two games, we’ll have momentum going into next season, having both of these buckets and having something to fight for and hold on to.”