Pat Narduzzi's success as a defensive coordinator for the Michigan State Spartans was so renowned that his head coaching search didn't stop at just Colorado State and Pittsburgh.
Dantonio, whose team is coming off of an explosive victory over Baylor, the co-Big 12 conference champions, on New Year's Eve in Arlington, Texas, will be back at the site of his fourth straight bowl win today in front of the camera.
Mark Snyder was officially introduced by Mark Dantonio on Sunday as the newest defensive assistant coaching hire for next season.
It's a moment that always brings fans to their feet and make the position players happy: when an offensive lineman scores a touchdown. It happened in the Cotton Bowl, as LaQuan McGowan caught a touchdown in the third quarter to give Baylor a 41-21 lead in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.
It looked like MSU was going to get run out of the building. Trailing 34-14 and then 41-21 after giving up countless deep passing touchdowns of over 45 yards, but a surprise onside kick changed the momentum and gave MSU their first Cotton Bowl championship. A blocked field goal incited the winning drive, and MSU won maybe the most improbable Cotton Bowl in a long time.
When two teams average 48 and 43 points per game, a shootout in the first half shouldn't come as much of a surprise. There were almost as many touchdowns as punts in the first half, and when the dust settled Baylor went into the locker room leading 24-14.
The weather report was grim outside of the domed AT&T Stadium. A cold, wet 34 degrees that had tailgaters thinking of East Lansing instead of North Texas. This still didn't stop tailgaters from heading to the lots for another session of burgers, beers and football.
When head coach Mark Dantonio and the Spartans started the season, Arlington, Texas was where they wanted to be.
New Year's Day at AT&T Stadium will be reserved for the football players, but New Year's eve saw a different battle take place in North Texas. For the first time ever, the two marching bands competed in a battle of the bands at Klyde Warren Park in downtown Dallas.
It was Trae Waynes who helped Michigan State avoid an historic upset at home back in october against Nebraska when he intercepted Tommy Armstrong’s pass with 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter to come away with a 27-22 victory.
After it appeared to be a virtual lock that No. 8 MSU (10-2 overall) was heading to South Beach for New Year’s Day, the selection committee threw a curveball as now the Spartans can set their sights on the lone star state this holiday season. MSU will take on No.
MSU finished the season 10-2 and most likely will play in one of the New Year’s Day six non-playoff bowl games. That’s a pretty successful season and something Spartan fans should be pleased with in the end. However, MSU gets only a B+ grade simply because the Spartans didn’t live up to the high expectations.
With the regular season over, MSU football now turns its attention to bowl game season. Here's a breakdown of the bowl games MSU could potentially play in on New Years or New Years Eve.
Although MSU's College Football Playoff dreams may have ended with their Nov. 8 loss to Ohio State, the Spartans (10-2 overall, 7-1 Big Ten) remain very interested in the College Football Playoff rankings. The top 10 teams in the rankings are in the running for one of the selection committee's non-playoff bowl games, also referred to as the "New Year's six" bowl games.
On Monday evening, the Big Ten announced its regular season award winners and all league teams, and as many would expect No. 7 MSU had its share of winners and representatives.
It wasn’t pretty in the first half, but eventually No. 7 MSU pulled away Saturday, topping Penn State, 34-10, from Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.
Although the Spartans have the week off, they took home a few honors Monday with nine players being selected to All-Big Ten teams. This included a couple of individual awards. Senior wide receiver Tony Lippett won the Richter-Howard Big Ten Receiver of the Year award and senior free safety Kurtis Drummond won the Tatum-Woodson Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year award.
No. 7 MSU entered the week already eliminated from the Big Ten race, but in the minds of players and coaches there was still a lot on the table to play for.
MSU football has moved up three spots to No. 7 in the latest AP Poll after knocking off Penn State, 34-10, on Saturday from Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pa.
No. 10 MSU (10-2 overall, 7-1 Big Ten) survived a slow offensive start that turned into a late resurgence to beat Penn State (6-6 overall, 2-6 Big Ten) 34-10.