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Heisman watch
Going into the fourth week of the college football season, these six candidates are the frontrunners.
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Word on the street
How did you feel after last year’s football team lost to Notre Dame? The State News asked five students who attended the game.
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Victory & defeat
Four weeks into the 2006 season, the MSU football team imploded. With a 16-point lead at the end of the third quarter, the Spartans thought they had it in the bag, but the rain storm grew stronger, and so did the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame scored 19 unanswered points, beating MSU 40-37. The MSU players and coaches walked off the field soaked in rain and sweat.
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MSU takes categorical edges against slumping Irish
The breakdown: How MSU and Notre Dame match up.
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Prognosticators
Prognosticators predict the outcomes of this weekend’s college football showdowns.
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Spartans still see themselves in underdog role
The Spartans have been here before. They began the 2006 season 3-0. They began the 2005 season 4-0. They finished both of those seasons without a bowl game.
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MSU welcomes first road game
MSU head coach Mark Dantonio has made it known one of the keys this season for his football team is to win the fans back. After the team’s 3-0 start, the Spartans are closer to achieving that goal, and the unified, white-clad student section has loudly voiced its support at Spartan Stadium.
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Saint-Dic scores conference honors
Senior defensive end Jonal Saint-Dic may have earned his nickname “Sackmaster” as a joke early in his MSU football career, but his play this season has been nothing to laugh at. The Big Ten Conference noticed this week when they named Saint-Dic co-defensive player of the week.
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Determined defense
The Spartans know that if they’re going to gamble, they’d better at least try to cover their losses. MSU did exactly that Saturday in its 17-13 victory over Pittsburgh at Spartan Stadium.
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Spartans find ways to battle adversity, win
MSU head coach Mark Dantonio has yet to hold a press conference without using a favorite quote from former MSU head coach George Perles: “They all count one.” Well, Saturday’s 17-13 victory over Pittsburgh should at least count one-and-a-half.
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Toughing it out
Prior to Saturday’s game, MSU was the least penalized team in the Big Ten, but its 125 penalty yards against Pittsburgh accomplished a feat the Spartans had not reached in three seasons.
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Former Spartans vie for positions in new league
Football leagues such as the XFL, NFL Europe and the United States Football League, or USFL, have tried, and ultimately failed to challenge the NFL for football supremacy over the years, but now another league is trying to break onto the football scene with a different objective.
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Distinguished alumnus to gather for conference
During his childhood, Don Coleman learned to respect everyone that he came in contact with, but that respect wasn’t always returned by his opponents.
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Spartans defeat Pittsburgh
The Spartans have said their schedule only gets tougher as the year goes on – Saturday’s 17-13 victory over Pittsburgh was a testament to that statement.
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Adams set to contribute after benching
Senior linebacker Sir Darean Adams started 23 consecutive games for the Spartans, but that streak came to a halt when he took a back seat to redshirt freshman Jon Misch for MSU’s season opener two weeks ago against UAB.
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It's showtime
While junior wide receiver Devin Thomas was busy fielding questions from the media about his four catch, 156-yard performance that included a touchdown last Saturday against Bowling Green, senior defensive end Ervin Baldwin made the receiver who was almost impossible to stop do just that.As Baldwin was exiting the press trailer, he exclaimed “showtime,” referring to Thomas’ nickname. The interjection prompted several questions aimed at the Spartans’ new big play threat.
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Pass rush is defensive weapon
The dead bolt has been cut from the cage, and the dogs of the MSU defense are out hounding opposing quarterbacks this season. Bowling Green quarterback Tyler Sheehan felt the bite last Saturday, getting sacked seven times – giving MSU 12 total sacks in two games. Last season, the Spartans ended with only 16.
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Student overflow causes chaos in stadium sections
When it comes to seating in sections 14 and 15 in the south end zone, it’s a no-holds-barred scamper to find a slab of aluminum to stand on if one of the 13,600 students with tickets decides to arrive too close to game time, or leaves his or her seat during the first half.