The good news: MSU scored the first and last touchdowns of the game.
The bad news: Northwestern scored seven touchdowns in between.
The Wildcats, after allowing a three-play touchdown drive to start the game, showed they should be taken for real in the Big Ten race as they sprinted past the Spartans in a 49-14 blowout Saturday at Spartan Stadium.
"They had a lot of answers for what we were trying to do," MSU head coach John L. Smith said. "We didn't have any answers for what they were doing."
If the first minutes were any indication of how the game would go, many MSU fans could've left the stadium happy. The Spartans (4-3 overall, 1-3 Big Ten) roared down the field in just three plays, capped by an 18-yard touchdown from junior quarterback Drew Stanton to junior wide receiver Kerry Reed.
But after that, the wheels fell off the MSU bus.
Junior kicker John Goss missed his first of two field goals on the day that would've given the Spartans a 10-0 lead.
Smith appeared fed up with the kicking game afterwards.
"That guy kicking it, missed it," he said. "I don't know anymore than that."
MSU failed to capitalize on a Northwestern fumble inside the red zone, shanked a punt and Northwestern (5-2, 3-1) promptly went six plays into the end zone on a quarterback keeper by Brett Basanez.
"We started off hot, we scored in three plays, the defense comes in, gets a three-and-out, the defense forces a turnover after we don't really do anything on our next drive and I thought it was going to be a good day," senior offensive guard Gordon Niebylski said. "It didn't turn out like that. We just fell apart."
The Spartans moved the ball with ease on their next drive, eating up over six minutes on the clock in 16 plays, but yet another mistake cost them as Stanton was intercepted in the end zone.
Six plays later, it was 14-7 Northwestern.
As MSU drove again, Stanton, on third down inside the 10-yard line, ran up the middle on a draw, but the ball was poked out by Northwestern's Kevin Mims and returned 86 yards for a touchdown.
"It wasn't Drew's best day," Smith said. "He'll bounce back. He'll learn from today's effort and he'll get better."
Another promising drive was stopped when Stanton was intercepted at the 2-yard line and another on Goss' second missed field goal, a 37-yard attempt.
At the half, the Wildcats led 21-7. When play resumed many bundled up students were nowhere to be found, hitting the exits after a disappointing first half.
At the end of three quarters, the Wildcats had doubled their advantage to 42-7.
After Stanton's third interception at the 2-yard line, Northwestern put on the finishing touches as Basanez picked up his fourth touchdown of the day, a 21-yard strike to wide receiver Mark Philmore.
"I just didn't execute the plays that were there to be made," Stanton said. "It just comes down to me not making the plays."
Sophomore running back Jehuu Caulcrick scored on a 1-yard touchdown run late in the game, but the story was who kicked the extra point: freshman Matt Haughey.
Smith indicated after the game that Haughey is the new first-string kicker.
It got so bad that when redshirt freshman quarterback Brian Hoyer entered the game in the fourth quarter, a sarcastic cheer rung out over the crowd.
By that time, though, most of the 74,636 in attendance had emptied out in disgust.
"This was another game that was important for us to win and we didn't come out and execute and the score showed that," senior cornerback Ashton Watson said.
The bright spots of the day for MSU were freshman running back Javon Ringer, who ran for 104 yards on 18 carries, and senior safety Eric Smith, who recorded 13 tackles.
The Spartans now have to regroup after their third straight loss and must win two out of their next four games to become bowl eligible.
"I'm shocked," Smith said. "This is as bad a tailkicking as we've experienced."
Matt Bishop can be reached at bishop20@msu.edu.
