While Pittsburgh will come to Spartan Stadium looking to avenge last year’s loss to MSU, the Spartans are looking to get a little retribution of their own for head coach Mark Dantonio. In Dantonio’s three years as Cincinnati’s head coach, he never beat its Big East opponent Pittsburgh — losing 33-15 in 2006 and 38-20 the year before.
It may not have been as statistically sexy as the blowout win last week, but MSU took a crash course in adversity on their way to defeating Bowling Green, 28-17, on Saturday. “The thing that impressed me about our football team is that we did handle adversity,” head coach Mark Dantonio said. “We didn’t just go in there and all of a sudden quit playing and hang our heads. We kept coming back and someone kept making a play.”
With an 0-2 start, no bowl wins since the 2002 Outback Bowl and a never-ending underground movement for his removal, Michigan football head coach Lloyd Carr is likely done after this season as King of the Rodents.
If the MSU pass rush needed a slogan, it might be, “What a difference a year makes.” The Spartans recorded 16 sacks in 2006 – just two more than last-place Indiana in the Big Ten. On Saturday, though, MSU collected seven sacks to bring its season total to 12 in two games.
Spartan football tasted adversity for the first time this season, but they just chewed it up and spit it right back out, defeating Bowling Green 28-17 on Saturday. “The thing that impressed me about our football team is that we did handle adversity,” head coach Mark Dantonio said. “We didn’t just go in there and all of a sudden quit playing and hang our heads. We kept coming back and someone kept making a play.”
Head coach Mark Dantonio has been saying all along that football is a game of inches, and after several upsets last Saturday, his claim was validated.
Last season, all it took was a 30-yard run by then-junior running back Jehuu Caulcrick to put the Spartans ahead of No. 12-ranked Notre Dame, 37-21, with just less than six minutes remaining in the third quarter. MSU was in control of the game.
By halftime of the Michigan football game against Appalachian State on Saturday, two tailgaters who had been listening on the radio in East Lansing had a pressing request for custom clothing store Spartan Corner, 103 E. Grand River Ave.
Two members of the Thornhill legacy will walk onto Spartan Stadium’s field Saturday, and a third will be there in spirit.
MSU fans were introduced to a terrific concept last Saturday called schadenfreude. And, really, we have yet to let that go.
The NFL season officially kicks off tonight with the defending Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts taking on the 2006 Cinderella New Orleans Saints, and the answer to “Are you ready for some football?” is probably a sarcastic “duh” for many fans. As you countdown to tonight’s kickoff here are some predictions for the 2007 season.
Senior running back Jehuu Caulcrick’s appreciation for his offensive line goes beyond mere words after Saturday’s 55-18 win over Alabama-Birmingham.
Senior running back Jehuu Caulcrick carried the Spartan offense in the first half against Alabama-Birmingham, but he also took the Blazer defense for a ride.
It might be said that MSU was anxious to start its new season and new football life. The score in Saturday’s game certainly reflected that.
Sports editor Eric Fish details the decision to change “Sidelines” to “The Game.”
If you’re reading this column, chances are you watched Spartan football last year. If you watched Spartan football last year, don’t be surprised to hear me say: The offensive line is the key to this football team and no, you don’t need to panic.