As the month of October comes to a close for the MSU football team, it means more than just turning a page on a calendar. With only three games left in the season, the Spartans (5-4 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) are in the final stretch of the 2012 season, fighting for a chance to extend their season with a sixth win that would make them bowl eligible.
They were never going to be in the ring at the same time, but the heavyweight bout for rushing supremacy between the Big Ten’s top two running backs was expected to go the distance.
The relationship of Andrew Maxwell and Bennie Fowler isn’t one of some quarterback and any receiver.
“I’d rather win than be perfect.” MSU football head coach Mark Dantonio’s words hung in the air, lingering for a minute.
For Bennie Fowler, it couldn’t have been more perfect. It had been a tumultuous season for the junior wide receiver. After entering the season as MSU’s number-one target, Fowler was unseated from the starting lineup three weeks ago, benched in favor of freshman wideout Aaron Burbridge after registering too many dropped passes in the first five games of the season.
When Andrew Maxwell took the field with just over six minutes remaining and Wisconsin leading 10-3, the feeling of déjà vu was unmistakable.
The last time MSU beat Wisconsin on the final play of a regular season game, then-sophomore defensive end William Gholston found himself on the outside looking in as his teammates celebrated a 37-31 victory over the Badgers in East Lansing.
The MSU football team stole a win at Camp Randall Stadium, topping the Badgers 16-13 in overtime on a 12-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Bennie Fowler.
Once again, missed opportunities haunt the Spartans (4-4 overall, 1-3 Big Ten) as they enter the locker room at halftime trailing Wisconsin (6-2, 3-1), 7-3.
MSU’s conduct and sportsmanship was yet again the topic of discussion by MSU’s undergraduate student government Thursday night.
Two-thirds of the way through a season filled with adversity, the MSU football team finds itself staring another challenge in the face this weekend. The Spartans (4-4 overall, 1-3 Big Ten) travel to Madison, Wis., to face the Wisconsin Badgers (6-2, 3-1) in Camp Randall Stadium at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Since Le’Veon Bell stepped onto MSU’s campus three years ago, he’s only ever known one thing: winning. The running back is part of a junior class that was a part of MSU’s only back-to-back 11-win seasons in the program history, yet in the past six weeks, the MSU football team (4-4 overall, 1-3 Big Ten) almost has lost as many games as the team had in the previous two years combined, something Bell said has been difficult to deal with.
There isn’t a trophy, or a name for it. It isn’t rooted in history, nor has it been named one of college football’s premier matchups. However, over the past few years a new rivalry has taken shape between the MSU football team (4-4 overall, 1-3 Big Ten) and Wisconsin (6-2, 3-1).
When the Spartans’ defense harassed opponents to an 11-win season, a bowl victory and an appearance in the inaugural Big Ten championship game last season, two areas made the group especially potent: sacks and forcing turnovers.
After missing most of the Indiana game and all of the Iowa game, junior tight end Dion Sims returned to the field last week against Michigan, but wasn’t able to fulfill his normal role.
At his weekly press conference Tuesday afternoon, MSU football head coach Mark Dantonio made it clear any criticisms directed at offensive coordinator Dan Roushar might as well be directed at him as well.
After losing to No. 20 Michigan (5-2 overall, 3-0 Big Ten) 12-10 on Saturday, the MSU football team (4-4, 1-3) has gone from a team fighting for a Big Ten championship to one hoping for an invitation to a bowl game. The Spartans will need wins in two of their final four games to reach postseason play.
Following the Spartans’ (4-4 overall, 1-3 Big Ten) heartbreaking 12-10 loss to the No. 20 Wolverines at Michigan Stadium Saturday, Mark Dantonio made an observation.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. After back-to-back 11-win seasons, this was supposed to be the time the MSU football team (4-4 overall, 1-3 Big Ten) broke through a crumbling Big Ten to reach the Rose Bowl for the first time in 25 years.
During the week before the Spartans take on the Wolverines, the Spartan Marching Band protects the symbol and pride of MSU’s campus, the Sparty statue, from vandals in a tradition known as Sparty Watch.