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Sports | Football

FOOTBALL

Run This State

Dillon Davis
November 3, 2013

During Saturday’s game against Michigan, MSU paid tribute to Percy Snow. One of the most talented linebackers in program history, and the leader of MSU’s 1987 Gang Green defense, Snow became notorious for his nose for the backfield, earning him the Butkus and Lombardi awards, a Rose Bowl victory and eventually, a spot in the College Football Hall of Fame. Few were more feared; few were more integral to their team’s success. Yet, a greater honor to one of college football’s hardest-hitting linebackers came in the game with the Wolverines, as the No. 18 Spartans physically punished Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner all afternoon, totaling seven sacks and holding U-M to -48 yardsCL rushing in a 29-6 win at Spartan Stadium.

FOOTBALL

A few seconds was difference in win

Dillon Davis
November 2, 2013

The difference between Connor Cook and Devin Gardner is a few seconds. Count slowly or it’ll pass you by. It’s the blink of an eye, a flash. Nothing more and nothing less than a brief moment in time.

FOOTBALL

Too Easy

Stephen Brooks
November 2, 2013

It was dirty. It was sloppy. And unlike the last time MSU and Michigan clashed in East Lansing, that only described the playing surface at Spartan Stadium. Between the lines, the on-field action was brutal and hard-hitting, similar in that regard to MSU’s dominant defensive performance of 2011 that was marred by some dirty play on both sides. The Spartans (8-1 overall, 5-0 Big Ten) outmatched the Wolverines physically, bullying their way to a 29-6 win – MSU’s fifth victory in the rivalry’s last six meetings.

FOOTBALL

Spartans lead rival U-M 13-6 at halftime

Stephen Brooks
November 2, 2013

Each team settled for field goals on their opening drives before failing to capitalize on multiple opportunities to take over the game, resulting in a 13-6 lead for MSU against rival Michigan at halftime. Sophomore quarterback Connor Cook’s accuracy was shaky until the last drive, when he took the Spartans 75 yards in 10 plays, capped with an impressive 14-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Bennie Fowler in the back corner of the end zone.

FOOTBALL

U-M fanbase refuses to move forward

Stephen Brooks
October 31, 2013

Let’s begin with a stroll down memory lane. That’s not too much to ask for a university and fanbase obsessed with the past, right? In fact, many of you never left. I understand most of you have simply gone along with the elitist, holier-than-thou rhetoric you’ve heard from Michigan fans and supporters all your life. The sense of superiority and arrogance has been passed along for generations. For those of you that picked it up from a real alumnus instead of in the Wal-Mart clearance section, good for you! That’s a rare feat. Slide those blue-and-yellow tinted glasses off and take a look at the real world, where quarterbacks don’t wear No. 98 and people don’t act like they reinvented the wheel for playing night games. Like the females in Ann Arbor, the past isn’t as glamorous when you take a longer look.

FOOTBALL

School rivalry feels different to outsider

Everett Cook
October 31, 2013

One of my earliest interactions with Michigan State started with a female Spartan screaming at me to suck a part of her body that she categorically cannot possess. This was during my sophomore year two years ago during the “touch” football game The Michigan Daily and The State News play every Friday before the real football players battle on Saturday. I grew up in California not knowing a thing about Michigan State or why there is such animosity (for MSU fans reading this, that means “bad blood” ) between these two schools. I’m not like a lot of my classmates, the ones that grew up with or knowing Spartan fans, or the ones who applied to both schools, just in case they don’t get into Michigan. Everything I know about Michigan State comes from personal experience — there were no preconceived ideas or stereotypes that come with growing up in this area.

FOOTBALL

Dantonio, players share personal past with rivalry

Dillon Davis
October 29, 2013

For nearly two decades, head coach Mark Dantonio has been surrounded by the Michigan rivalry — and he rarely backs down from the opportunity to talk about it. Whether it’s during his time at Ohio State, his coordinator days under head coach Nick Saban at MSU or his more than seven years as the head coach of the Spartans, Dantonio acknowledges the rivalry with the Wolverines is a part of who he, and by extension, his family have become.

FOOTBALL

Win bolsters Big Ten chances

Dillon Davis
October 27, 2013

CHAMPAIGN, ILL. — Standing at the podium in a dank, hole-in-the-wall press room, complete with dingy ceiling tiles, florescent lights and a drooping Big Ten Network backdrop and buried in the depths of Illinois’ Memorial Stadium, head coach Mark Dantonio knew what his team had done.

FOOTBALL

Dantonio, Spartans hitting road

Stephen Brooks
October 24, 2013

Bill Cubit was winless against MSU in three tries during his eight-year tenure as the head coach of Western Michigan. Since being fired at the end of last year in Kalamazoo, Cubit was hired by second-year Illinois head coach Tim Beckman to man the controls of his offense.

FOOTBALL

Column: Perception vs. reality with MSU football

Dillon Davis
October 24, 2013

When it comes to measuring the MSU football team, there’s a growing distinction between perception and reality. Early season offensive demons reemerged last week as the Spartans (6-1 overall, 3-0 Big Ten) slinked away with a 14-0 victory against Big Ten bottom-dweller Purdue. Sophomore Connor Cook appeared more like a drunkard throwing darts than a Division I quarterback, seemingly regressing from a stellar stretch he had against Iowa and Indiana.

FOOTBALL

Thomas remaining positive after slow start to MSU career

Dillon Davis
October 23, 2013

Death, taxes and answering questions about Lawrence “LT” Thomas. At this point, those are the certainties in the life of head coach Mark Dantonio. After answering at least one question about the sophomore defensive end almost weekly since the season began, it’s become a practice as steady and consistent as clockwork for Dantonio. Since Thomas suffered an undisclosed injury during summer workouts, there’s been an insatiable thirst to know the status of the former five-star prospect from Detroit.

FOOTBALL

Dantonio talks Illinois, injury

Stephen Brooks
October 22, 2013

With MSU past the halfway point of its season, head coach Mark Dantonio’s message Tuesday wasn’t unlike the one he delivered the previous week. After his team practiced poorly leading up to it and struggled to put away Purdue in a sloppy 14-0 win, Dantonio again emphasized testing his players’ ability to handle success as well as the increasingly difficult nature of the schedule as the season wears on. Despite their solid record, the Legends Division-leading Spartans (6-1 overall, 3-0 Big Ten) sit just outside the top-25 polls as they travel to Illinois (3-3, 0-2) for a 3:30 p.m.

FOOTBALL

Column: Spartans need to beware of relapse

Stephen Brooks
October 20, 2013

The Spartans played with fire Saturday and emerged unscathed. If the worst team in the Big Ten wasn’t on the opposing sideline, though, there’s no guarantee they wouldn’t have been burned. MSU (6-1 overall, 3-0 Big Ten) dodged an embarrassing and likely dream-killing loss in its uninspiring 14-0 victory against lowly Purdue (1-6, 0-3).