With the MSU hockey team enjoying a bye this week, it seems like an appropriate time to mention Adam Nightingale. After all, Nightingale is in the midst of an entire bye season with the Spartans.
A year ago, Dora Vastag was defeated in the round of 16 by Northwestern’s Marine Piriou at the Omni Hotels/ITA Women’s Tennis Midwest Regional.
Junior defenseman Joe Markusen’s name usually doesn’t spring to mind when listing the offensive threats on the MSU hockey team. But the light-scoring blueliner made a huge play late for the Spartans in Friday’s game against Lake Superior State at Munn Ice Arena. With the score tied 2-2 and the clock winding down in the third period, Markusen corralled a high pass from sophomore defenseman Duncan Keith at the point and fired a long feed to sophomore forward Brock Radunske at the side of the crease. From there, Radunske simply guided the puck into the mostly open net to lift the Spartans to a 3-2 victory with 2.7 seconds left. “I knew he was in the area,” Markusen said of Radunske.
The top left corner of the Spartan backdrop peels behind MSU head coach Bobby Williams, who stood before the media fielding questions in a press conference after Saturday’s loss, serving as a reminder that even the duct tape has given up on the football program here in the land split by the Red Cedar. No spin could distract from the four pieces of gray tape that couldn’t hold on Saturday - neither could a hundred green-and-white gridders. If duct tape can’t keep the Spartan football program together, don’t expect this team to fix itself, as duct tape can fix anything - so my father once told me. My father, a skilled man, never coached this football team. The green-and-white paper folded and so did the program marred by poor play and scandal. “This is the most disappointed I’ve ever been as a coach,” Williams says. Put up or give up. The fans, the alumni and, seemingly, the players have given up on a season of fumbled football - a few team members have at least given up on team rules. They’d throw in the towel if it wasn’t likely to be intercepted. As Saturday night’s glowing lights illuminated a Spartan Stadium tomb, the last of the 75,507 grains of sand slide out of the bleachers before all time had run out. Standing there in the cool crosswinds, only a few fans remain - clad in MSU mittens, winter caps, hooded sweatshirts and Spartan jackets - in section 13, usually dominated by students. The bleachers here are mostly empty, littered with popcorn boxes and hot-dog wrappers. “This year, I think the fans gave up before the football team,” elementary education sophomore Katie Neddermeyer says.
The No. 25 MSU volleyball team played two different kind of matches this weekend, but in the end, they did just what they expected - pick up two victories.
The MSU volleyball team battled it out with Big Ten opponents en route to picking up two victories this weekend. Led by another red-hot performance from redshirt freshman Megan Wallin, the Spartans (14-6 overall, 6-4 Big Ten) defeated Purdue 30-23, 30-23 and 30-19 on Friday. Senior outside hitter Kyla Smith led the charge Saturday, recording 18 kills in the Spartans’ 38-40, 30-22, 30-21, 25-30 and 16-14 five-game marathon win over Illinois. The contest against the Fighting Illini proved to be the highlight of the weekend.
Though this year’s incoming men’s basketball recruits have a difficult road ahead, the sophomore class has made the path a little smoother. Last year’s trio of Chris Hill, Alan Anderson and Kelvin Torbert exploded in their first full-length game this season, scoring 17, 11 and 10 points respectively to lead the Green team to a 78-52 win in the Green-White scrimmage Saturday at Breslin Center. “I really thought we got some good things out of it,” head coach Tom Izzo said.
It was a different quarterback taking the snaps, but the result was the same for MSU. The Spartans (3-5 overall, 1-3 Big Ten) dropped their third consecutive game 42-24 against the Wisconsin Badgers (6-3, 1-3) in front of a national television audience Saturday night. And Saturday’s spotlight was firmly fixed upon sophomore signal caller Damon Dowdell following Thursday’s announcement that junior quarterback Jeff Smoker was indefinitely suspended for violating unspecified team rules. “I thought he came in and stepped up to the challenge,” senior strong safety Thomas Wright said of Dowdell.
The MSU football team practiced differently, had a new quarterback under center, and preached about showing toughness, but nothing changed. In an attempt to separate itself from the Big Ten’s cellar, the Spartans (3-5 overall, 1-3 Big Ten) turned in another dismal performance in a 42-24 loss to Wisconsin at Spartan Stadium on Saturday night.
As six men’s soccer seniors stepped off of Old College Field after a tough 2-1 loss to Wisconsin on Sunday there were no regrets. “To me it was kind of an honor to go out with everybody playing as hard as they could for the seniors,” senior goalkeeper Tyler Robinson said.
These are some foul times in Spartan Country. The stench of the Red Cedar carries to the far reaches of campus, creating the greatest funk since Nick Saban left office.
This year’s Heisman Trophy race has become a strange one.Every time someone is labeled the front-runner he seems to fall on his face that very weekend.
After two weeks of practicing, the MSU men’s basketball team will have a chance to perform in a game situation Saturday at Breslin Center in the team’s Green and White game. It’s the first Green and White game in two years.
When the MSU volleyball team needing someone to step up because of injuries, a 6-foot-3 redshirt freshman middle did just that this past weekend.
When former Spartan star T.J. Duckett declared for the NFL Draft, many knew it would have an impact on the Spartans’ offense. But no one knew how much. With Duckett in the backfield, the Spartans forced most teams to put eight defenders near the line of scrimmage to stop him from running wild, which opened up the passing attack. Last season, Duckett accounted for 77 percent of MSU’s rushing offense and finished third in the Big Ten in rushing. But many seemed to overlook his absence as the season neared.
He’s taken less than 50 snaps this season, but now sophomore quarterback Damon Dowdell has to rise to the challenge of becoming MSU’s new leader. “I’ve got to be a leader for this team Saturday night,” he said in a statement released Thursday by MSU Sports Information.
No. 21 Penn State at No. 4 Ohio StateThe biggest part of this game may be last year’s memories, but mixed in with those are this year’s ramifications.Last year, the Nittany Lions rallied from an 18-point third quarter deficit to stun the Buckeyes 29-27.
The MSU football team enters the eighth game of the season looking to gain some respect and pick up a win after two consecutive blowout losses to conference foes.The Spartans (3-4 overall, 1-2 Big Ten) were pummeled at Spartan Stadium last week in a 28-7 loss to Minnesota and two weeks ago were embarrassed by Iowa 44-16 in Kinnick Stadium.After the games, Golden Gopher (7-1, 3-1) and Hawkeye (7-1, 4-0) players questioned the Spartans’ toughness; and head coach Bobby Williams admitted his team needs to be tougher offensively and defensively in the running game.In last week’s defeat, the Golden Gophers’ running attack racked up 390 yards, while their defense held MSU to 51 yards on the ground.The Spartans face the prospect of losing their fifth game of the season - which would be as many as they had all of last year - and falling two games below .500.MSU has dropped four of its last five games - three of them lopsided defeats - and another loss would put its bowl hopes in serious jeopardy.The Spartans will try to turn things around against Wisconsin at 7:05 p.m.
So far this season there have been two predominant sources for finding where your favorite college football team stacks up in the country, the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Poll and The Associated Press Top 25 Poll.
After jetting from MSU following his sophomore season to taste the NBA’s glory, Marcus Taylor was released by the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday. Taylor was selected by the Timberwolves with the 52nd overall pick in the draft.