Thursday, January 15, 2026

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Sports

FOOTBALL

Heisman hopeful Smith shines

Many questions are up for debate in college football, but there's one truth that is nearly indisputable: Regardless of where he's playing or whom he's playing against, Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith is always the coolest guy on the field. Smith proved himself unflappable in early-season road games against Texas and Iowa.

SPORTS

Monday musings

Sandy Sullivan, a candidate in the Wisconsin secretary of state election, has drawn attention for a self-published memoir that details her sexual exploits with Green Bay Packers' players in the 1960s. In a stunning twist, Gov.

BASKETBALL

Izzo, McCallie off to spooky start

Instead of his classy suits and ties or MSU warm-ups, Tom Izzo went for a darker, more gruesome look Friday night. With slicked-back hair, white makeup and a long red-lined cape, the MSU men's basketball head coach was ready to suck some blood as a vampire at the MSU men's and women's basketball teams' annual midnight madness kickoff event. Playing off the "Fright Night" theme, students and community members came out in costume to meet the teams and see them scrimmage.

FOOTBALL

MSU might not win again this season

Confidence. It can make all the difference in the world in football, and MSU is no exception. The team always seems to need only one big play — be it a long pass, a broken tackle, a fumble recovery or a vicious hit — to get the wheels turning. But the team has had such a horrendous stretch of games that every last bit of confidence has disappeared, and you have to wonder if the players can get it back this season.

SPORTS

Spartans fall to Iowa, still winless in conference play

The struggles of the MSU field hockey team continued Saturday as the Spartans failed to capitalize on numerous opportunities in a 2-1 double-overtime loss to Iowa at the MSU Field Hockey Complex. MSU dropped to 4-10 on the season and has yet to pick up a Big Ten win in four tries. "We need to find what it takes for us to win," sophomore forward Gwen Riley said.

FOOTBALL

Sea of red

Despite being more than 250 miles from home, Ohio State's football team almost had home-field advantage Saturday at Spartan Stadium. Fans clothed in scarlet and gray dominated the stadium's north end and dotted virtually every other section. "They're the No.

SPORTS

Pawlak's late goal salvages weekend split

With losses in five of its last seven games, the MSU women's soccer team knew Sunday's game against Iowa was as close to a must-win as you can get at this point of the regular season, especially considering the Spartans' 3-0 loss to Illinois on Friday.

FOOTBALL

MSU squanders opportunities

If MSU had scripted the beginning of Saturday's game against Ohio State, it probably couldn't have turned out any better than what actually happened. After forcing the Buckeyes to start at the 20-yard line, the Spartans defense caused a turnover, giving the offense the ball deep in Ohio State territory. On MSU's first offensive play, junior running back Jehuu Caulcrick caught a screen pass and rumbled just short of the goal line.

ICE HOCKEY

Comley confident in top lines, but uncertain past that

If there's one thing MSU head coach Rick Comley likes about his No. 4 Spartans this early in the season, it's the strength of his best players. The top two forward lines — juniors Jim McKenzie, Chris Mueller and Bryan Lerg, and the sophomore trio of Tim Kennedy, Tim Crowder and Justin Abdelkader — have already proven themselves. But sometimes, the most difficult job a coach has is rounding out those third and fourth lines to get the most out of everyone. "The top part of our team is pretty darn good," Comley said.

ICE HOCKEY

Icers begin regular season this weekend

It's the moment the No. 4 MSU hockey team has been waiting for ever since it was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament by Maine last spring. Starting Friday, the Spartans will embark on a new season and attempt to get to the Frozen Four — a goal they felt they were talented enough to achieve last season.

SPORTS

Struggling Spartans look for momentum

This season hasn't gone the way MSU field hockey head coach Rolf van de Kerkhof had imagined. With a 4-9-0 record going into Saturday's noon game against Iowa, MSU's only hope of making the NCAA Tournament will come by winning the Big Ten Tournament. In reality, that renders the final five games of the regular season almost meaningless except for building confidence. "We'd like to get a couple of wins, and we will get a couple of wins, especially if we continue to develop the way we are right now," van de Kerkhof said.

BASKETBALL

Izzo: 'It's going to be a working man's year'

After nine consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, success for the MSU men's basketball team has become, as head coach Tom Izzo said, "expected more than it is appreciated." So with Maurice Ager, Paul Davis and Shannon Brown — who combined for almost 70 percent of MSU's scoring last season — gone to the NBA, even Izzo can't blame those who project the Spartans to have a down year by their own standards. But that's all right with him — he's had plenty of success playing the underdog. "When you're constantly picked to win, it's not as much fun for anybody," Izzo said Tuesday at Media Day.