As the MSU football team nears the end of a disappointing regular season, the Spartans head into their final game against Minnesota on Saturday looking for a win and a bowl game berth to boost them into next season.
The Maryland Board of Regents voted unanimously to accept an invitation to join the Big Ten Conference and leave the Atlantic Coast Conference beginning in the 2014-15 academic year, according to the Big Ten Network.
As MSU fans filed out of Spartan Stadium for the final time this year, it was with the same, stale taste in their mouth.
For the past two months, the Spartans (5-6 overall, 2-5 Big Ten) have seen game after game slip through their fingers.
As Mark Dantonio stood at the podium, forced to address another close loss, one word was repeated more than the rest: mistakes.
With only two games in the regular season, the MSU football team looked one last time to turn their season around, facing Northwestern at home for what would be the final game at Spartan Stadium for a group of 13 seniors.
For the first time since 2006, the MSU football team (5-6 overall, 3-5 Big Ten) has gone without a home conference win, falling to Northwestern (8-3, 4-3) 23-20 on Senior Day at Spartan Stadium.
In a low-scoring affair, the MSU football team (5-5 overall, 2-4 Big Ten) enters the locker room at halftime trailing visiting Northwestern (7-3, 3-3) 6-5 on Senior Day.
It’s going to take Chris Norman a little longer than usual to suit up Saturday.
The last time the Spartans faced Northwestern, they were playing for sole possession of the title of 2011 Big Ten Legends Division champions. MSU knocked off the Wildcats 31-17 in Evanston, Ill., ensuring the Legends Division would not be shared en route to the Spartans’ appearance in the inaugural Big Ten championship game. A year later, the scene is being set a little differently.
Even when Kurtis Drummond barely saw the field as a redshirt freshman a year ago, the safety was a playmaker. In limited playing time, he grabbed two interceptions, forced a fumble and showed an instinctive nose for the football.
Mark Dantonio said he and his football team should use last week’s bye to take some time away from the game of football, to step back and refocus on the task at hand. And the sixth-year head coach did — to an extent.
For Le’Veon Bell, there is no doubt. The Spartans will make a bowl game, and he won’t be convinced otherwise. As the MSU football team (5-5 overall, 2-4 Big Ten) prepares for its home finale against Northwestern (7-3, 3-3) on Saturday (noon, ESPN2), it will look to extend its bowl streak to six consecutive seasons.
Senior offensive tackle Fou Fonoti announced Sunday night he would return for the 2013 season, according to a press release by the MSU athletics department.
It was an instantly telling indictment. After leading the entire afternoon against Iowa on Oct. 13, the MSU football team (5-5 overall, 2-4 Big Ten) had lost the lead, was headed to overtime and had now lost the coin toss. With all of the momentum favoring the Hawkeyes, MSU head coach Mark Dantonio made what would normally be a surprising decision. He elected to play the overtime period in the end zone away from the student section because the Spartans needed as much support as possible and looking at a section about a quarter full didn’t inspire intimidation.
Andrew Maxwell did something unusual before his weekly press conference. He woke up and made his way approximately two hours north to open the polls at 6:45 a.m. at Adams Elementary School, 1005 Adams Drive, in Midland, Mich.
Darqueze Dennard played the game of his life Saturday. The junior cornerback finished with two interceptions, four tackles, one called-back touchdown and one controversial pass interference penalty.
Allow me to set the scene. Junior cornerback Darqueze Dennard had just made a miraculous play to keep the ball out of the hands of Nebraska wideout Kenny Bell, forcing the No. 21 Cornhuskers to try a 37-yard field goal to send the game into overtime. Spartan Stadium erupted as the ball fell to earth, but hushed just seconds later, as a yellow piece of laundry did too.
It happened again. For the fourth time this year, the MSU football team (5-5 overall, 2-4 Big Ten) had its heart ripped out in the game’s final minute, with the latest gut-wrenching loss coming at the hands of No. 21 Nebraska (7-2, 4-1). The Cornhuskers stunned the Spartans 28-24 after junior quarterback Taylor Martinez found sophomore receiver Jamal Turner for a 5-yard touchdown pass with six seconds remaining.