Dantonio adopted, to a certain extent, the Iowa/Ferentz template

IOWA CITY — Mark Dantonio was born in El Paso, Texas, and played defensive back at South Carolina in the late 1970s. Those are the outliers on a resume that is midwestern to the bone.

Dantonio's first job as an assistant was at Akron in 1985. He covered Youngstown State, Kansas, Michigan State and Ohio State before landing his first job as a head coach at Cincinnati in 2004. Three years later, he was named Michigan State's head coach.

Dantonio was on Jim Tressel's staff at Ohio State in 2002, when the Buckeyes went 14-0 and won a national title. Of course, they shared the Big Ten title with Iowa, who threw down an 8-0 itself in 2002.

Pesky Iowa, with a stern figurehead in coach Kirk Ferentz, caught Dantonio's eye and kept catching it.

'I think you try to pattern your program after certain programs when you become a head coach,' Dantonio said Sunday. 'You say, 'I want to be like them in some ways.' And, really, when we came to Michigan State after Cincinnati, we sort of patterned ourselves a little bit after Iowa, actually. We wanted to have a fullback, we wanted to have a power football game.'

And so, yes, the Big Ten championship game on Saturday night between No. 4 Iowa (12-0) and No. 5 Michigan State (11-1) will be a vicious pageant of fullbacks, tight ends, a veritable feast of old-man football, where blocking and tackling and, yes, speed are placed in high regard.

This will be sumo polar bears pushing each other around on the same small piece of ice in the Arctic. Also, keeping in mind that blocking and tackling will be the base of every advantage gained in this game, you will see the speedy, athletic play that every team needs to reach what essentially is a play-in game for the College Football Playoff final four.

'I'd lump Wisconsin into the conversation, too,' Ferentz said. 'We're not identical, but I think there are some parallels in the ways we do things. Some people might not think that's the best way to do things, but all three programs have had their share of success doing that.'

That success has translated directly into Big Ten title game appearances. The Spartans claimed their third title game appearance (2011, 2013) with a 55-16 victory over Penn State. Wisconsin also has made three appearances (2011-12, 2014). This is Iowa's first.

Ferentz went down the list of why the 'old man' football works.

'They've played outstanding defense since Mark got there, that's his background,' Ferentz said. 'They're a very physical team defensively, they're tough to run and throw against. That's been a cornerstone of their program. They're a physical football team offensively. They run the ball very, very well and they throw it very well right now with Connor Cook at quarterback.

'In theory, that's what we're trying to do, too. We've always felt like defense is an important thing and we try to be a team that can be balanced offensively, as well.'

Ferentz and Dantonio have faced off seven times since 2007. There have been two double-overtime games (34-27 Iowa in '07 and 19-16 Iowa in '12). Four of the seven games have been decided by a touchdown or less with an average score of 21-17.3.

Against Iowa in 2013, Michigan State found the quarterback who would unlock everything and lead the Spartans to a Big Ten championship victory, a Rose Bowl and a win at Ohio State and now another Big Ten title game appearance. Cook led the Spartans to a 26-14 victory at Kinnick and now has a 33-4 record as MSU's starter.

Iowa found its QB this season, with junior C.J. Beathard unlocking its offense and leading it to almost perfect balance (203.7 rushing yards per game and 200.6 passing yards per game).

'He looks consistent, looks like a playmaker,' Dantonio said. 'He throws the ball very consistently and makes great decisions. Looks like he's got great leadership skills, great game manager.'

These teams have belly-bucked to ugly and/or beautiful results, with Iowa's 2012 19-16 double-overtime victory serving as perhaps the argument for or against 'old man' football.

This weekend, Iowa-Michigan State is for a spot in the College Football Playoff. Michigan State has been here and Dantonio believes B1G title game experience will be a plus for his team.

Iowa can counter that if it can turn national scorn for the program into some sort of emotional fuel. It's sort of how corn and ethanol work, to bring this full Iowa circle.

'I don't listen too much to what's going on outside, but from what I can tell, there's still not a lot of [respect] there,' Ferentz said. 'That's fine. All we're trying to do is play. We're trying to win every game in front of us. Our team has done a nice job of that. They've stayed focused on the immediate challenge ahead of us. That's one of the reasons we've had a good season.'

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com