The cardinal rule of college football is do not commit turnovers.  However, don’t give up long third down conversions isn’t too far behind.

Both principals were violated by Michigan today in their 38-28 defeat to No. 15 ranked Iowa.  They failed to complete their spirited comeback with Tate Forcier leading the charge.

Iowa made a lot less mistakes and was able to make big plays when they really counted, particularly on third down and long.  Iowa got outstanding performances from Ricky Stanzi, quarterback, Adam Robinson, running back, and wide receivers Derrell Johnson-Koulianos and Marvin McNutt.  Robinson, out of all of them, was the most impressive.  As the only proven and healthy back he continues to take a pounding but keeps on producing.  The Hawkeyes converted 7 out of their 13 attempts on third down.

Iowa, however, probably isn’t too pleased with their performance on defense, despite forcing the Wolverines to turn the ball over four times.

Michigan’s performance on offense was outstanding against one of the best defenses in the nation.  They gained 522 total offense yards in addition to 29 first downs.  Early second quarter Denard Robinson had to leave due to an injury.  However Michigan’s offensive didn’t skip a beat, as Tate Forcier took over, leading the Wolverines on three scoring drives during the fourth quarter.

However good teams can not excel in one phase of the game while being terrible in two others.  The Wolverines, after sevens games this season, are horrible on special teams and defense.  For a football program such as Michigan, their inability to execute the basics on the kicking game and get stops is staggering.  During the team’s bye week Rich Rodriguez and the Wolverines have lots to work on before their pivotal road game versus Penn State.  Iowa is returning home next week to face Wisconsin.

Mark Dantonio, in his four years of coaching Michigan State, has emphasized the rivalry his team has with Michigan.  The Spartans have certainly responded by beating the Wolverines in their last three matchups.

Suddenly there is a new challenge for Dantonio’s team.  For the remainder of the season, Michigan State needs to attempt to make the Michigan game on Saturday appear to be just one win on their schedule, one of several big victories for them in this memorable season.

Dantonio said, when we came in, we wanted to be able play the best and play at a very high level.  What that means to me is you need to have the ability of playing the top 20.  Over the past two weeks we have done that.  Our conference is a really difficult one and we still need to play through it.  Next week our next challenge will await us.

The more wins we have, the bigger the games become.

Michigan State, after defeating Michigan by a score of 34-17, is 6-0.  The last time they had a 6-0 record was in 1999.  Also, after defeating Wisconsin and then Michigan back to back, the Spartans have moved into the No. 13 spot on the AP poll.

The Spartans have continued to win over a tough stretch that started with Dantonio suffering a mild heart attack on September 19.  He had to miss two games before he returned to coach on Saturday from a box over the field.

Dantonio said, coming into this game I said it like it was a kind of winner take all game, in terms of bragging rights for the conference and rising in the polls.  We decided not to play this game close to our vest.  We played to win.

Although it was an emotional victory, as all wins are versus Michigan, Michigan State will need to put this game behind them quickly.  The impressive start by the Spartans has raised the stakes in next week’s game at home versus Illinois.  On Saturday Illinois routed Penn State by a score of 33-13.

Kirk Cousins, Michigan State quarterback said, we know from that alone we are in for a big challenge.  We’ve only made it halfway.  There’s still lots of work for us to do.

Michigan State will have to play without Chris L. Rucker, starting cornerback, who the team suspended on Sunday for one game at least for violating team rules.

Cousins passed for 285 yards along with one touchdown versus Michigan.  Unlike Denard Robinson, his counterpart, Cousins was able to avoid costly turnovers.  Lately Cousins has looked very sharp, complementing Le’Veon Bell and Edwin Baker, running backs.

Don Treadwell, offensive coordinator said, without question Kirk Cousins is for our program a tremendous leader.  It’s not just the things he does on game day.  He does so many things that are behind the scenes.  He is team’s and offense’s emotional leader.

1999 was the last time Michigan State had a 6-0 record.  Their winning streak was emphatically snapped when Purdue defeated the Spartans 52-28 when Drew Brees passed for 509 yards.  Ron Dayne then rushed for 214 yards against the Spartans defense to lead Wisconsin to victory by a score of 40-10.

The last time the Spartans had a 7-0 start was in 1966.  That year they went 9-0 before their famous 10-10 tie with Notre Dame.

Michigan State this year still has six remaining Big Ten games.  At this rate however, they may be the underdog in just one of those games- their October 30 contest in Iowa.  This season Michigan State is not playing No. 1 ranked Ohio State.

Dantonio said, we are halfway through.  Things are going well however, it doesn’t make the whole season.

Two ranked 5-0 teams that are part of a rivalry that is already heated have made it tough to get a ticket to the Michigan State-Michigan game.

According to one of the largest ticket brokers in the nation, Stubhub.com, the game is the No. 1 event this year for metro Detroit already based on average ticket sales.  It exceeds the Jay-Z/Eminem concerts held in Comerica Park, and for the series rivalry is its top ticket for the last 10 years or since when it was tracked by Stubhub.

On Tuesday Stubhub spokesperson Joellen Ferrer said, it’s one of the five games in college football for the whole season.

Fans have paid, on average on the site, $200 per ticket with pricing ranging $50-$600.  For better seats some asking prices are $1,400.  The face value for the tickets are $65.

On Stubhub sellers set their own ticket prices, with the site acting as a connector.  For fans the advantage is Stubhub requires buyers to use a credit card.  Also sellers are not paid until buyers get into the game, which helps to reduce the risk of counterfeit.

However counterfeiting is still a major concern for the University of Michigan’s athletic department.  On Monday they made a public plea that fans check any tickets that weren’t purchased directly from the athletic department.  There is a foil marker embedded into university issued tickets to help prevent replication.

In the metro Detroit area as well as websites, tickets for the game are a very hot item.  On Craigslist there are dozen of sells who are offering singles, pairs and grouping that have parking availability.

Scalping is prohibited by Michigan law.  It’s a misdemeanor to sell ticket for over their face value.  It comes with a $100 fine and jail time for as many as 90 days.

A public relations woman from Warren, who asked to remain anonymous, said she and her husband sold their tickets over face value on Craigslist in order to help pay down debt.  Recently their dog had to have surgery that cost $10,000.  Her husband is a fan of University of Michigan and she is a Michigan State University fan.

They didn’t really want to sell their tickets but it came down to fundamentally a business decision.  She says they plan on tailgating outside the stadium, then watch the game from Ann Arbor.

Seatgeek.com and fanssnap.com are two other places to buy tickets.  These sites gather tickets that are offered via different online brokers.