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.
For redshirt freshman tight end Paul Lang, his first touchdown in a green and white uniform couldn’t have been scripted any better.
The No. 23 Michigan football team (5-2 overall, 3-0 Big Ten) used a 20-yard completion from senior quarterback Denard Robinson to junior receiver Drew Dileo to set up a game-winning 38-yard field goal by junior kicker Brendan Gibbons to stun the Spartans (4-4, 1-3) 12-10 in Ann Arbor.
Head coach Mark Dantonio is fond of reminding us football is a game of inches. MSU’s three most recent losses — against No. 8 Ohio State, Iowa and now Michigan — have come by less than six total points.
A 20-yard pass by senior quarterback Denard Robinson to junior receiver Drew Dileo set up a 38-yard game winning field goal to help the University of Michigan football team (5-2 overall, 3-0 Big Ten) avoid an upset, knocking off MSU (4-4, 1-3) 12-10 for the Wolverines’ first victory over MSU in five years.
It was a first half defined by defense with explosive plays in limited supply, as the No. 23 University of Michigan football team (4-2 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) headed into the locker room leading the Spartans (4-3, 1-2) 6-0 at halftime.
It started with a radio interview after being named the MSU football head coach in 2006, and after being asked about a University of Michigan loss to Appalachian State, he responded with: “Should we have a moment of silence?” It continued with an ultimatum to his team at the news conference before his first game as a head coach against the Wolverines, publicly challenging the Spartans, “How long will you bow to Michigan?” It was followed by a stern reply to former U-M running back Mike Hart’s now infamous “little brother,” comment by angrily replying, “Pride comes before the fall.” And it was reignited in an ESPN.com interview in April, when he responded to a question about U-M’s surge in recruiting by saying, “We’ve beat Michigan the last four years, so where’s the threat?” In his six years at the helm, Mark Dantonio has made one thing abundantly clear: He doesn’t like U-M, and he’s not shy about saying so. But as the Spartans (4-3 overall, 1-2 Big Ten) approach a potential historic milestone for the program — a record fifth consecutive victory over archrival U-M (4-2, 2-0) on Saturday (3:30 p.m., Big Ten Network) — Dantonio’s tone unexpectedly has shifted, undergoing a noticeable change to one of admiration and respect. “I have a great deal of respect for Brady Hoke,” Dantonio said of the U-M head coach at his weekly press conference Tuesday.
You might not remember the last time Michigan beat MSU in football, which is understandable. Back then, you probably had more important things on your mind, such as remembering the right order of dance moves to “Crank That (Soulja Boy).”