Head coach Mark Dantonio, center, talks with an assistant, senior safety Marcus Hyde and sophomore corner back Johnny Adams during a timeout Saturday during the game against Northwestern at Ryan Field in Evanston, Ill. For the first time since his heart attack last month, Dantonio was on the sidelines the entire game, coaching the Spartans in their 35-27 win against the Wildcats.
Evanston, Ill. — Mark Dantonio doesn’t want to hear about it anymore.
Not buying the notion his team was bound to have a typical letdown loss after a 7-0 start to the season, Dantonio said he had an idea this MSU team was different than the teams of recent history back in February.
By coming back from a 17-point first-half deficit and making big plays down the stretch to beat Northwestern (5-2 overall, 1-2 Big Ten), 35-27, Saturday at Ryan Field in Evanston, Ill., the No. 8 Spartans (8-0, 4-0) continued to prove Dantonio might be right.
“I am tired of hearing about same old Spartans,” Dantonio said. “If we would have came up here and laid an egg, I’m sure people would have labeled us that. I think this is another step forward in the program, and I hope people recognize that.”
Early in the game, it looked as though MSU was on its way to a letdown loss. The Spartans found themselves down 17-7 at halftime after being outgained 265 yards to 180 yards in the first half.
“We came in at halftime and just basically talked about, if you want to win big, if you want to win championships, if you want to go 8-0, you have to do it the hard way at some point,” Dantonio said.
“Nothing is going to be easy.”
Taking Dantonio’s halftime words to heart, the Spartans wasted no time responding.
After receiving the opening kickoff of the second half, the Northwestern offense was forced into a three-and-out by an energetic Spartans’ defense. Northwestern’s Brandon Williams’ ensuing punt failed to reach midfield, giving the Spartans good starting field position.
Three plays later, redshirt freshman receiver Bennie Fowler took a reverse handoff 22 yards for a score, pulling MSU to within 3 at 17-14 just four minutes into the half.
“I cannot say enough about our football team and responding the way they did,” Dantonio said. “The momentum was (with Northwestern), they had the lead, but we came back the second half and played.”
The Wildcats had their own response, though.
After being forced into another punt on the next drive, Northwestern stopped MSU and made the Spartans give the ball back.
Quarterback Dan Persa then took the Wildcats’ offense 80 yards in 15 plays, finally scoring on a six-yard run to give Northwestern a 24-14 lead with about three minutes left in the third quarter.
Persa led the Wildcats through the air, going 15-for-20 with 152 yards, and gave the Spartans fits all day as a runner out of the backfield with 46 yards and three scores.
“There were times we would have secondary contain, thought we had him and he would just go back door,” MSU senior linebacker Eric Gordon said. “He is an incredible player.”
However, Gordon and the defense came up big the rest of the way, holding Northwestern to one field goal and sacking Persa three times in the final quarter.
“I feel like the whole second half, we were just focused every series,” Gordon said. “Even if it didn’t look like it when they got a touchdown, I just feel like the intensity was there.”
And while the defense held the Wildcats in check, the offense came through in the clutch.
Junior quarterback Kirk Cousins led the attack, throwing for two second half touchdowns. The first one came one play after Dantonio called second fake special teams play of the season — a fake punt named “Mouse Trap.”
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Following a timeout and intentional delay of game penalty, it appeared senior punter Aaron Bates was going to pin Northwestern deep in its own territory. Instead, Bates found Fowler for a 21-yard gain and a first down.
The fake punt set up a 15-yard touchdown pass from Cousins to senior receiver Mark Dell the next play to bring the Spartans to within three points early in the fourth quarter.
MSU would punt on its next drive following a Northwestern field goal before the defense gave Cousins and the offense the ball back with 7:18 to play, down six.
Cousins proceeded to march the Spartans 88 yards in 11 plays, completing 7-of-8 passes on the final drive for a touchdown.
The scoring play came on a nine-yard completion to Cunningham, who made a juggling, highlight-reel catch in the back of the endzone.
“That was an exciting play, really big adrenaline rush,” Cunningham said. “I just knew I had to make a play for my quarterback, and that’s what I did.”
The touchdown gave MSU its first lead of the game at 28-27 with two minutes to play, and it would prove to be all the Spartans would need. Sophomore Edwin Baker added another touchdown for safe measure, though, after a defensive stop by the Spartans, and Gordon sealed the win by intercepting Persa with 44 seconds left.
“We really came together at the end,” Gordon said. “We weren’t going to have anything but a victory.”
Gordon recorded six tackles and a sack to go along with his interception, while sophomore defense end Tyler Hoover and senior linebacker Greg Jones each had nine tackles. Hoover also added two sacks.
Offensively, Cousins made up for a rushing attack that totaled just 105 yards by throwing for 331 yards and three touchdowns.
Cunningham and Dell were Cousins’ top targets, catching eight passes for 113 yards and a touchdown and nine passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns, respectively.
The win moves MSU to 8-0 for the first time since 1966 and keeps the Spartans in control of their own destiny with a trip to Iowa for a 3:30 game against the Hawkeyes looming ahead next Saturday.
And with the first Big Ten Championship in 20 years being a real possibility for MSU, Cousins said he and the Spartans hope to continue to do what they did Saturday and win no matter what it takes.
“I think that great teams in special seasons find ways to win, and we found a way,” Cousins said. “I don’t know how, I just know we ended with more points on the scoreboard.”
