About 11 years ago, T.J. Duckett was a confused 18-year-old freshman. Then a bruising tailback for the MSU football team, which was preparing to take on Florida in the 2000 Citrus Bowl, Duckett was with the Spartans in large part because he wanted to play for then-head coach Nick Saban.
When the Spartans and No. 15 Crimson Tide play in the Capital One Bowl, set for 1 p.m. on Jan. 1, 2011, in Orlando, Fla., plenty will be at stake, including conference bragging rights and the chance to ring in their new year with a victory.
A 9-3 overall record, 5-3 conference record and a berth in the Capital One Bowl versus the No. 7 ranked MSU Spartans would be considered a successful season at most programs across the country. Not at Alabama.
The Big Ten will begin bowl season Dec. 28, and, as has been the case in previous seasons, will go in having to earn every ounce of respect it’s going to get.
Jamie Burns has been a Spartan his whole life, going to MSU sporting events since childhood. Burns, now a biosystems engineering freshman, went to every home football game this year and made trips to Ann Arbor University Park, Pa., and Evanston, Ill., to watch games. Now, he and his family have one final destination and one final game in one of the best seasons in MSU football history — Orlando, Fla., for the Capital One Bowl.
The No. 7 MSU football team will spend the holidays in Orlando, Fla., for the third time in four seasons to play against No. 15 Alabama in the Capital One Bowl, MSU announced Sunday.
I know the system is a joke. I know it makes no sense to send an 11-1 Big Ten championship team that’s ranked No. 7 in the country to the Capital One Bowl, the same bowl it played in two years ago when it had a 9-3 record and finished behind Penn State and Ohio State in the conference.
The No. 7 MSU football team will play the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1, MSU announced Sunday night.
No matter where the No. 7 MSU football team winds up — and it’s looking like Orlando, Fla., New Orleans or Miami right now — it will enjoy the warm weather and tradition-rich environment with a highly rated opponent, likely from the SEC, staring it down.
The Nassau County Sports Commission named senior Charlie Gantt the John Mackey Tight End of the Week on Wednesday.
Three months ago, before the college football season had even started, MSU football head coach Mark Dantonio played a game of “repeat after me” with his football team. Back in August, Dantonio would say the words “We will,” and his players followed it up with, “Be champions,” before everyone said the entire phrase together.
Four years after John L. Smith was run out of town and Mark Dantonio was brought into East Lansing as the new head coach, the No. 7 Spartans (11-1 overall, 7-1 Big Ten) have a share in the Big Ten championship for the first time since 1990.
The No. 7 MSU football team has secured a Big Ten championship and taken care of everything within its power. Now the waiting game begins.
As MSU football players dumped containers of green and white confetti on head coach Mark Dantonio at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa., students in East Lansing and at home for Thanksgiving celebrated MSU’s first Big Ten championship since 1990.
With the Big Ten championship on the line, the No. 7 MSU football team knew coming into Saturday’s matchup with Penn State that it had to win in the trenches.
Hundreds of Spartan fans cheered the MSU football team on after they returned home victorious Saturday night at the Big Ten Football Championship Celebration held at Breslin Center.
State College, Pa. — 11-win season? Check. Share of the Big Ten championship? Check. Trip to a BCS bowl game? Not sure.
State College, Pa. — The No. 11 MSU football team held off Penn State, 28-23, to win its seventh Big Ten championship in school history Saturday.
Chat with State News sports reporter Pat Evans as the Spartans look to win a share of their first Big Ten championship since 1990.
The No. 11 MSU football team travels to Happy Valley on Saturday to play Penn State. If the Spartans win, it will be their first share of a Big Ten championship since 1990.