The Michigan State football team left East Lansing and arrived in San Antonio on Sunday to begin its preparations for the January 2 stint against Texas Tech in the Alamo Bowl (ESPN, 9 pm). If you are in the Lone Star State, head on over to San Antonio and give a high-five to Mark Dantonio and the Big Green. As of noon, they are smack-dab in the middle of a 2 1/2- hour workout.

Great articles in today's Freep and M-Live stating the obvious: if MSU is to win, the Spartans need to control the line of scrimmage. In particular, the Spartan offensive line needs to create a sustained running game, with long drives to give its defense a rest and a chance.

• SPARTAN LINKS
• Spartan headquarters is the Marriott Riverwalk.
• Spartan football practice is at Alamo Heights High School.
• Need an immediate Spartan gridder fix? MSU Football twitter updates here.

• TTU LINKS
• Disrupt the Red Raiders' practice at University of the Incarnate Word (yes, you read that correctly).
• Texas Tech blog: www.doubletnation.com

• MATCHUPS of MSU-TTU via the Double T Nation:
• Special Teams: KR Eric Davis vs KR Keshawn Martin. "[Martin is] still averaging 30.35 yards per return. This is going to be an intriguing storyline as the Red Raiders rank 2nd in the Big 12 in return yardage allowed, only 19.34 per return. That's close to a ten yard difference from what MSU is averaging and what the Red Raiders are allowing."
• Defense: SS Cody Dvis vs. QB Kirk Cousins. "When we look back at the results of this game, it wouldn't surprise me in the least to think that how these two lines play [TTU OL and MSU DL] will decide the game.
• Offense: RB Baron Batch vs. LB Greg Jones. "I don't know if the Texas Tech coaching staff is in a bit of a quandary in that the Michigan St. pass defense is obviously vulnerable, but the Texas Tech offense has had much more success when they run the ball."

Here are Texas Tech's statistics:

Category	National Rank	Actual	National Leader	Actual	Conf Rank	Big 12 Conference Leader	Actual
Rushing Offense	115	81.08	Nevada	362.25	12	Oklahoma St.	191.75
Passing Offense	2	380.67	Houston	450.00	1	Texas Tech	380.67
Total Offense	7	461.75	Houston	581.23	2	Texas A&M	465.33
Scoring Offense	9	36.67	Boise St.	44.15	2	Texas	40.69
Rushing Defense	37	125.00	Texas	62.15	7	Texas	62.15
Pass Efficiency Defense	34	116.43	Alabama	88.81	5	Nebraska	90.54
Total Defense	46	348.75	TCU	233.25	6	Texas	251.08
Scoring Defense	T-35	21.75	Alabama	11.00	4	Nebraska	11.23
Net Punting	73	34.98	Georgia	42.84	7	Oklahoma	40.86
Punt Returns	T-49	9.79	LSU	18.64	7	Oklahoma	16.72
Kickoff Returns	17	24.48	TCU	30.62	3	Texas	27.38
Turnover Margin	T-94	-.50	Rutgers	1.54	11	Texas	.92
Pass Defense	73	223.75	Air Force	148.67	5	Oklahoma	184.92
Passing Efficiency	26	142.67	Cincinnati	166.19	2	Texas	143.70
Sacks	2	3.25	Pittsburgh	3.67	1	Texas Tech	3.25
Tackles For Loss	30	6.58	Middle Tenn.	8.83	4	Texas	8.08
Sacks Allowed	91	2.50	Boise St.	.38	9	Oklahoma St.	.83