“Little Brother,” Michigan State 29, Michigan 6 #MSU #Sparty #CFB

Several Spartans celebrate with the Paul Bunyan Trophy after yesterday’s home win over rival Michigan, 29-6.

While I got some joy out of beating my younger brother 24-4 in a one-on-one game of basketball, it didn’t give me the joy that I feel whenever Michigan State beats Michigan on the football field. Ever since I was a child, the belief was that Michigan had the superior football team, and it was mostly true. Besides that damn fight song of theirs, Michigan’s football program is elite, just off of reputation alone. And when the Wolverines weren’t seemingly relying on their reputation, they were actually doing some winning. They had a Heisman winner in the early 90s, a Heisman winner in the late 90s who led them to a national title, were a top-10 team for the first half of the 2000s and rebuilt themselves in the late 2000s into the solid program they are today, even one that won the Sugar Bowl over Virginia Tech in 2012.

Yesterday was a joyous one, as the Michigan State Spartans dominated their “big brother,” the Michigan Wolverines, at Spartan Stadium, 29-6. This game was for the Paul Bunyan Trophy, something the Spartans have gone home with after 5 of the last 6 games. Ignoring the usual pregame trash talk, this was a matchup that Spartan HC Mark Dantonio had his boys clearly amped up for, especially on the defensive side.

It is a bit difficult to say whether or not Sparty’s defense is the best in the land, but yesterday, DC Pat Narduzzi’s unit made a very strong argument for their case. Michigan’s offense came into the rivalry game averaging almost 50 points and 500 yards of total offense over their last three games. On the season, they had averaged a shade over 42 points and 446 yards of total offense per game. In addition to scoring a measly six points against MSU, Michigan’s O was held to a pathetic 168 yards of total offense, 2.8 yards per play, 2-13 on third downs, punted eight times, was sacked seven times, tackled for loss 11 times, fumbled three times, was intercepted once and ran for the lowest amount of rushing yards in school history: minus-48 yards, surpassing the dubious mark the 1962 team set against Minnesota. MSU linebackers Denicos Allen and Ed Davis combined for 4.5 sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss. DE Shilique Calhoun was a one-man gang, notching 2.5 sacks and 3 tackles for loss. That, my friends, is dominance.

Early on, it looked as if the Wolverines wouldn’t have too much of an issue moving the ball. On their first drive, starting at their 17, QB Devin Gardner (14-27, 210 YDS, INT) hooked up with WR Jeremy Gallon (5 REC, 67 YDS) three times for 57 yards before the Wolverines had to settle for a 49-yard field goal. That first drive was their best of the entire game and things only got worse from that point on.

When Michigan RB Fitzergald Toussaint (8 CAR, 20 YDS, one pregame insert of foot into mouth) wasn’t getting bottled up at the line of scrimmage, Gardner was running for his life. He was sacked five times in the first half and hurried probably twice as much. The Michigan offensive line was manhandled all game and we even got to see the great tackle, Taylor Lewan…commit several petty acts after the whistle had blown. Left on an island against the Michigan receivers, the Sparty secondary answered the call repeatedly, settling down after a shaky first drive and neutralizing any potential threat thereafter. All-everything CB Darqueze Dennard intercepted his third pass of the season, this one coming with Michigan in the red zone and trying to rally late.

Offensively, Sparty was good enough to not screw things up. Connor Cook (18-33, 252 YDS, TD, INT) missed a few open receivers, but made enough plays, overall. He also ran for a 1-yard TD that was the effective dagger in Michigan’s hearts, putting MSU ahead, 22-6 with 10:31 left to play. RB Jeremy Langford (26 CAR, 120 YDS, TD) continued his hot stretch, running for 100+ yards for the fourth straight week. He also has scored six times in that stretch, including a late 40-yard TD scamper late in yesterday’s ballgame that was the epitome of icing on the cake. There were a few drops from the receivers and tight ends, but nothing that cost MSU, obviously. WR Bennie Fowler (6 REC, 75 YDS, TD) and Tony Lippett (5 REC, 62 YDS) led the way, and even FB Trevon Pendleton (2 REC, 62 YDS) had a good receiving day, including a 49-yard reception on the Spartans’ first offensive play from scrimmage.

Sparty just about mauled Michigan in 2011, the last time these two teams played in East Lansing. Not only did Narduzzi’s guys absolutely embarrass former Michigan QB Denard Robinson and his teammates, but they exerted the kind of physicality that inspires most, and enrages some (who support the maize and blue, mostly). Yesterday had to have been worse for the Wolverines, because this time around, there weren’t a handful of personal foul penalties called against the Spartans. MSU simply beat the hell out of Michigan, from start to finish. DOMINANCE.

This win wasn’t a great win because I feel like I, or any of the Michigan State football players and fans/students have something to prove to anyone affiliated with Michigan. It was great because Michigan State and Michigan are true rivals, and that mentality spills over into the student and even citizen populations of East Lansing an Ann Arbor, respectively. We’re still behind in the series, by far, but feel things are changing for the better. That 29-6 show of command was a big first step. Now, Michigan isn’t this bad, offensively. Yesterday, they just ran into a buzz saw. A very physical, determined, aggressive buzz saw. Little brother. Heh.

Next.

MSU will now have a week off before traveling to Lincoln, Nebraska to face the Nebraska Cornhuskers (6-2, 3-1 Big 10 Legends). Nebraska beat Northwestern in Lincoln yesterday, 27-24, on a Hail Mary TD pass as time expired. Nebraska QB Taylor Martinez has appeared in only 4 games this season because of a foot injury, his last against Minnesota two Saturdays ago, a 34-23 loss in which he also suffered a hip pointer. He’s questionable for this Saturday’s game at Michigan, and the team will have to once again rely on leading rusher Ameer Abdullah, one of the Big 10’s best running backs. MSU-Nebraska will be big for the standings in the Big 10 Legends Division, as Nebraska sits 1.5 games behind Sparty. We should all have a better idea of what MSU will be up against after the Nebraska-Michigan game, however. Until then… Go Green. Go White.

“Homecoming”: Michigan State 42, Illinois 3; 9th #CFB weekend takeaways #MSU #Sparty

MSU QB Connor Cook fumbles the ball into the end zone near the end of the first quarter of yesterday’s road 42-3 win over Illinois. It would be one of only a few mistakes Cook would make all day. Bradley Gleeb – AP

Generally, FBS schools from BCS conferences schedule a “cupcake” (if they can) for their homecoming football game. I still don’t quite get the concept of homecoming, because it’s not like athletic teams spend all but one game of the season on the road, but I just know that it’s a time in which students are supposed to show a disgusting amount of school spirit and the home team is supposed to kick ass.

The University of Illinois Fightin’ Illini (3-4, 0-3 Big 10) scheduled Michigan State Spartans (7-1, 4-0 Big 10) for this year’s homecoming game, and one could argue that a team of Sparty’s caliber would find that insulting. Of course, that argument would be wrong because MSU isn’t Alabama or a team that has even been to a BCS bowl in the last 25 years, but you can be sure that MSU head coach Mark Dantonio wanted his guys to give the Illini fans absolutely nothing to cheer about on homecoming.

For about the first 15 minutes of yesterday’s ballgame, it seemed as if Illinois would be able to do just enough to hang around until the end of the matchup, and then use their underdog powers to steal a victory from MSU. An Illinois field goal with less than 10 minutes left in the first quarter put Illinois ahead 3-0, but that would be all the scoring from the home team we’d see yesterday.

Before Sparty actually got on the board, QB Connor Cook (15-16, 208 YDS, 3 TD) gave away a great chance of scoring when he fumbled into the end zone on a keeper play. Illinois took over at their 20 and seemed to gain a bit of “momentum.” The play was especially frustrating because it was RB Jeremy Langford (22 CAR, 104 YDS, 2 TD) who singlehandedly got the Spartans from their 44 to the Illinois 7 by running the ball powerfully and effectively. Suddenly, with a great chance to score inside the 10, the Spartans offense decided to get cute and Cook lost 7 points on the drive, potentially.

After a 1-yard TD run by Langford in the beginning of the second quarter, it was all Sparty on both sides of the ball. Illinois opened with a 12-play, 53-yard drive that ended with those 3 points, but ran 22 plays for 75 yards the rest of the game. With the Illini getting nothing from their run game (21 CAR, 25 YDS total), the onus fell on QB Nathan Scheelhaase (13-21, 103 YDS, INT) to move his team down the field and it’s safe to say that he failed. The Illini pass for nearly 288 yards per game and average 477 yards of total offense under new offensive coordinator Bill Cubit, but did next to nothing against a hungry Sparty D. On a key early fourth down attempt, the Spartan D stifled Illinois with only one yard to make the first down, and that was the end of that chapter for the Illini offense.

While it took a bit for the offense to get going, once it did, the unit put up arguably its best performance of the season. Cook set a school record for single-game completion percentage (minimum 10 attempts) before leaving early in the fourth quarter. In four Big 10 games, Cook has put up a line of 75-116, 827 YDS, 7 TD and 2 INT…all wins. Granted, the wins have come over Iowa, Indiana, Purdue and Illinois, but it’s good to see Cook seemingly get better as the season progresses. Langford was one of three running backs to rush for at least 70 yards against the Illini and 10 different Spartans caught a pass. Sparty picked up a whopping 29 first downs, was 14-16 on third down and possessed the ball for nearly two-thirds of the game, 39:06, compared to the Illini’s 20:54 time of possession. The offense tallied 477 yards of total offense, with 269 of them coming on the ground.

This was exactly the kind of performance and win that Sparty needed before it begins a rough four-game stretch at home against Michigan, followed by two road games against Nebraska and Northwestern and then wrapping it up at home against Minnesota. Just weeks ago, it was only supposed to be a tough three games before the regular season finale at home against Minnesota, but the Gophers have beaten Northwestern and Nebraska in consecutive weeks and have clearly forgotten that they’re not supposed to do those kinds of things.

Currently, MSU leads the Legends division by a game and a half over in-state rival, Michigan. I’m not yet sure of the math, but I do believe that a MSU win over Michigan along with Nebraska losing to Northwestern and Iowa losing to Wisconsin would essentially wrap up the division for the Spartans. Michigan’s offense is better than MSU’s and if Sparty can’t contain Wolverines QB Devin Gardner, it could be a long afternoon for the Sparty defensive unit. However, Michigan’s defense is clearly the weak link and Cook and Co. must find a way to take advantage. Michigan has had an off week after last Saturday’s offensive showdown with Indiana that ended with Michigan winning, 63-47. I’m pretty sure Sparty would love to hang 47 on Michigan, albeit coming in a victory. Hell, MSU may not even score 23 on Saturday, even in East Lansing, but I still expect them to grind out a victory in what could be one of the uglier MSU-Michigan games in recent memory. Go Green. Go White.

• Never trust Northwestern football. The good people of Chicago want a college football team to support so bad, that they’ve taken their hopes and dreams to Evanston, IL. Illinois, in Champaign, is further away, and let’s face it, they stink. The Northern Illinois Huskies may have the best collegiate football team in the state, but they play in the woeful MAC and put up a clunker in last year’s Sugar Bowl. Southern, Eastern and Western Illinois have football teams? Oh. Notre Dame doesn’t, and shouldn’t count, people. So, that basically leaves Northwestern, the elite academic institution that just so happens to have an athletics program. The football team had a great 95-96 two-year run, appearing in the Rose Bowl, then Citrus Bowl. Since, the program has been up and down. Lately, there’s been this notion, however, that NU is ready for the spotlight. They fooled people last year after starting 5-0, although those wins came against Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Boston College, South Dakota and Indiana. This year was about the same, with NU once again fooling folks after beating Cal, Syracuse, Western Michigan and Maine to begin the season. But then it came time for them to deal with Ohio St. at home and the spotlight wasn’t kind to them as they lost, 40-30. The following week, NU went to Camp Randall Stadium and got housed by Wisconsin, 35-6. A 20-17 home loss to Minnesota and 17-10 overtime road loss to Iowa later, and this Wildcats team has suddenly gone from trendy pick to reach the Rose Bowl to fighting for their bowl lives heading into Week 10. Maybe NU fans won’t allow a good start over bad teams to fool them next year. Maybe.
• Jameis Winston for Heisman. The Florida State redshirt freshman QB is the man on one of the nation’s top teams and the Seminoles are currently undefeated and a top-3 team in the AP, coaches and BCS poll. Winston has completed a hair over 71% of his passes, has thrown for 20 TDs against just 3 INT, averages 12 yards per attempt and leads the entire country in passing efficiency. Yesterday’s 49-17 win over Maryland marked the seventh consecutive time that FSU has scored at least 41 points and sets up a showdown between the Seminoles and seventh-ranked, undefeated, in-state rival Miami Hurricanes in what could be a preview of the ACC title game. Obviously, when it comes to Heisman candidates, there are a few. Oregon QB Marcus Mariota and Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel easily come to mind. But Mariota benefits from a very innovative offensive scheme while some just don’t want to see Manziel take home the hardware for the second year in a row. If FSU beats Miami, especially in convincing fashion, they have a schedule (save for the finale against Florida) that could enable Winston to win and put up video game numbers at the same time. A redshirt freshman (who is also an outfielder and pitcher for the baseball team, by the freakin’ way) tearing it up for a program that has returned to prominence? That’s a Heisman story.
• Notre Dame vs Air Force. Zzzzzzzz…