The fall has come
By Matt Bishop (Last updated: 10/05/09 7:32pm)More than four hours after the game ended Saturday afternoon, the Spartan Stadium scoreboard still lit up the night sky.
Matt Bishop
Spartans 26, Michigan 20.
With one incredible Larry Caper touchdown run, a season on the brink was saved and a rivalry officially became competitive again.
Indeed, pride comes before the fall.
Mark Dantonio uttered those now-famous words days after losing to U-M in 2007, a crushing loss during which the Spartans surrendered a 10-point lead in the final seven minutes and extended U-M’s series winning streak to six.
Since, the same old Spartans have been nowhere to be found against the Wolverines.
Saturday, MSU showed the fire, intensity and will to win that was missing in losses to Central Michigan and Wisconsin. And the Spartans clearly were more driven and motivated than the Wolverines, who played like they thought they could walk into Spartan Stadium and win without a fight.
Simply put, the Spartans wanted it more. And they set the tone before the game even started.
Junior safety Roderick Jenrette and a U-M player bumped into each other in the north end zone as Jenrette ran onto the field. The two exchanged words, foreshadowing what was to come — the Spartans punching the Wolverines right in the mouth.
MSU controlled the action at the line of scrimmage, rushing for 197 yards, including 75 from sophomore quarterback Kirk Cousins, as he threw his body all over the field in a gutsy effort.
Cousins helped engineer a tone-setting first quarter drive that spanned 17 plays, 80 yards and more than 10 minutes. Officially, the drive went down as 80 yards, but because of four penalties (some of which I found to be illegitimate), MSU gained 130 yards of total offense during the possession. The drive was a sign of things to come, as MSU nearly doubled the Wolverines in time of possession, allowing the defense to remain well-rested.
Helped by the offense dominating the clock, the defense, which has been less than stellar this season, held U-M to 28 yards on the ground, 212.2 yards below its season average. Even after struggling in the final minutes as U-M frantically scrambled to tie the game, the defense redeemed itself in overtime as senior safety Danny Fortener and junior cornerback Chris L. Rucker combined to intercept U-M quarterback Tate Forcier in the end zone, allowing the Spartans to simply kick a field goal if need be to win the game.
Instead, Caper, a freshman from Battle Creek, broke through the Wolverines defense, escaped two tackles and ran into the end zone, giving MSU a season-saving 26-20 win.
With the win, the Spartans definitively have set a new tone for the rivalry — one of potential MSU dominance — under Dantonio by playing with unmatched focus and intensity.
To U-M head coach Rich Rodriguez, playing MSU is just another game on the schedule. To Dantonio, his staff and players, this game means everything.
The play of both teams Saturday reflected this and probably will continue to do so in the future.
More importantly for the immediate future, the Spartans showed major signs of life heading into games with hapless Illinois and Northwestern and a third straight trip to a bowl game doesn’t appear to be as out of sight as it did this time last week.
While the season marches on, there’s nothing wrong in taking a little more time to bask in the light of a 26-20 victory.
_Matt Bishop is a State News football reporter. He can be reached at bishop20@msu.edu
Originally Published: 10/04/09 11:09pm
student
10/04/09 11:20pmGreat article.
alumnus
10/04/09 11:26pmGreat game. Let’s see more of the same effort next week, and again next year against Michigan.
Mike
10/04/09 11:46pmI’m sorry Matt, but you have proven time and time again that you are a terrible writer. This article is almost as poorly written and redundant as your Wolverine satire earlier in the week.
Can’t State News find somebody who can write? This guy is a joke!
Josh
10/04/09 11:55pmThis was a good game and a good article! Thank you Spartans, Coach D and staff, and State News!
Go Green!
Go White!
Go Spartans!
Big Blue!
10/05/09 1:29amAs a UM fan, again I have no problem congratulating you on a hard fought win. But let me give you some perspective. When you win a game 26 – 20 it silly to say you pounced us in the mouth. Let’s be clear, this could have been another heart break loss so I would temper that kind of talk. Caper made a great play to seal the win but don’t forget that this oppourtunity came after a gutty performance by UM to get this game to overtime led by a freshman QB in his first road game which he came close to winning.
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Mike
10/05/09 2:19amBig Blue – if you are going to write on the State News website and tear apart an article, please spell check and look over your comment so you don’t look like a complete idiot! Second, you want to bring up the overall record, that’s great, it really is…you weren’t alive for 80% of them, and even more so, Rich Rod is now 0-2 against an in-state rival!! Yes, State is a rival whether U of M fans want to believe it, you can’t just simply say that these two teams are only rivals when you win.
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Tim
10/05/09 6:59amClose one that could have gone their way. The three stooges on the MSU coaching staff: Moe (MD), Larry (Treadwell), Curly (Narduzzi) nearly cost the kids this game. It has been said before that this group is really over their collective heads. Saturday they prooved it. Lucky that Forcier was gassed or this game would be one of the many that UofM has snatched away from other teams.
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Andy
10/05/09 9:53amThe saddest part is there was absolutely no Sunday morning coverage of this game on ESPN… had Michigan won, it would have dominated coverage “Wolverines destroy Spartans!” or some such nonsense.
As usual, no love for MSU from the “mainstream” sports media. Same happens every year with basketball.
Section 16
10/05/09 10:11amWell, here is some news from off the field: Two UM fans escorted out by police and they looked like they were on drugs. Did any other UM fans get escorted out and did you see what they did wrong?
MSU High
10/05/09 10:22ami suppose i should know this, but is MSU a 4 year accredited university or a continuing high school educational institution?
Scoreboard photo?
10/05/09 10:32amSpeaking of the scoreboard lighting up the night sky, where’s the photo of it?
student
10/05/09 11:12amMSU High,
I am sorry that your hate for MSU has come to the point of making that comment.
I will not lower myself to such standards that are certainly equivalent to those of a high school student.
MSU and its fans hope that you find help soon because you need it.
We hope you get better.
Sincerely,
Spartan Nation
Rob
10/05/09 11:31amIs it just me or is everybody from UM obsessing on Tate Forcier’s wonderfulness in the last 4 minutes of the game while forgetting his total ineptitude (thanks mostly to the Spartan defense) in the first 56 minutes of the game?
Rachel
10/05/09 11:43amGreat game State! As a UM fan, I was sad to see my wolverines loose, but what an exciting game! You guys looked great out there. Can’t wait until next year! GO BLUE!
Mark
10/05/09 12:02pmRob- totally agree. This amazing quarterback….right! The kid showed great athleticism in the final minutes while a tired MSU defense was on its heels. But as an overall quarterback, not great.
AK
10/05/09 12:02pmYour reporting of facts are so biased and absolutely terrible.
I am a state fan, but seriously it was just a good game, no one was “punched in the face” and it was simply strong play by each team.
State news should really get someone unbiased to write the news because if his is how he writes his articles he will never in his life become an real journalist.
HAM
10/05/09 12:06pmWow, it seems like comments on both sides neither go to their school OR can spell-check their articles.
Good job kids.
KJ Green
10/05/09 12:37pmQuote from big mouth UM football player after UM win in 2007:
“Sometimes it’s just like when you’re playing your little brother in basketball,” Hart said. “You let him get a lead and let him get excited, but then you take it back from him.”
While we didn’t let them get the lead, they sure got excited. Who’s the little brother now?
PS. How’s that NFL career going Hart? (2008: 5 games, 27 yards; 2009: 1 game, 0 yards). Looks like you are the little brother on the Colts.
One Shining Sparty
10/05/09 12:54pmA win over those weasels is a WIN!!! Hey
U of M fans,see you at Breslin in March for the Big Ten Title celebration!
'99 Alum
10/05/09 1:11pmOK, I hate to rain on the parade here, but can we please get a hold of ourselves before we look foolish. There is nothing more I love in this world than sending those arrogant f***ers from AA packing, but let’s be honest with ourselves here…were it not for some gutsy D play coupled with a Freshmen QB on the goaline, and a strong run by what we all hope is another in a long line of punishing Spartan RBs, we would be hearing Same ol’ Spartans yet again.
Let me take you back…LA Tech, ND (at least twice), U-M (can’t count how many) and most recently CMU – all games we controlled up until the about the Fourth Quarter, where we decided to sit on our asses and hand the game to our opponent.
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Spartalum
10/05/09 4:28pmGreat post by ‘99 Alum
...The Fall has not come yet. It has only been two years in a row, and only the seventh win since 1990. We were 7-2-1 from 1960-69. I am as happy as the next Spartan about the win, but how many of you saw that last drive end in a UM TD and thought, “Oh God. They have momentum, they have just moved the football 92 yards and are going for 2.
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Bill
10/05/09 6:30pmSo the State news seems to think “The fall has come” for Michigan football. Now I like beating Michigan just as much as any other die-hard Spartan fan but this has got to be one of the biggest overstatements I’ve heard in a while. (2 wins in a row since 1967 = fall of Michigan football? I think not) Come up with a better headline/article next time please.
10/05/09 7:32pmAs a reminder Coach D has set the first bar of accomplishment and that is a Big Ten championship. If it does not come this year, it’s on the event horizon.
2 years in a row doesn’t necessarily matter, if we can go 5, that sounds quite good! However, 2 in a row is an awesome accomplishment!
state fan
10/05/09 8:38pmyeah pride does come before the fall, but lets not let that happen to ourselves here. we won two games in a row, but in both games we let Michigan come back. We always let people come back. If our secondary sucks as bad next year we may as well forfeit the game. I think RichRod is more or less a thug, but he is a good tactician and if we don’t improve our D he will be dropping bombs on us once all the pieces are in place.