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Sports | Football

FOOTBALL

Other MSU trying for upset bid in E.L.

All Spartans remember where they were when they found out Michigan lost to Appalachian State in 2007. Only a handful of Football Championship Subdivision teams have ever beaten a Football Bowl Subdivision team, let alone on their home turf.

FOOTBALL

Detroit bowl game changes sponsor

Are you ready for some “Pizza! Pizza!”? Officials for the Midwest’s only postseason college football bowl game are announcing Tuesday that Little Caesars Pizza will be the title sponsor for the former Motor City Bowl.

FOOTBALL

Second half: Tail end of schedule challenging

Five of MSU’s final six opponents went to a bowl game and four of them won at least nine games. But this season, the schedule actually sets up pretty favorably for the Spartans. Four of the final six games are at home and the two road games typically aren’t at hostile environments.

FOOTBALL

MSU football begins fall camp, Dantonio returns to basic skills

At the beginning of the MSU football team’s fall camp, everybody wears a name tag — even Mark Dantonio. With a “Coach Dantonio” written on tape across his stomach, Dantonio kicked off his third season as MSU head coach with the team’s first practice Monday and noted not much has changed from his first two fall camps in East Lansing.

FOOTBALL

Ringer reflects on career so far

NFL rookies around the country have been working on their game, and Tennessee Titans running back Javon Ringer is no different. The former MSU workhorse, Ringer was selected in the fifth round by the Titans in April’s NFL Draft. The State News caught up with Ringer during Titans-organized team activities to ask him about adjusting to the NFL, his time at MSU and being a professional football player.

FOOTBALL

Spartans voice their choice on student section T-shirt designs

There’s no place for Democrats or Republicans with an important vote facing MSU students — it’s time to decide the 2009 football student section T-shirt. Voting for the upcoming season’s student section T-shirt can be done at http://www.msuspartans.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/062209aaa.html, and the voting period ends July 17.

FOOTBALL

MSU football signs contracts to play Alabama, West Virginia

The MSU Athletics Department announced Monday it signed contracts for home-and-home MSU football series with Alabama and West Virginia within the next 10 years. MSU will play West Virginia in Morgantown, W. Va., on Sept. 13, 2014, and against the Mountaineers at home on Sept. 19, 2015. The Spartans will meet Alabama for the first time in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Sept. 3, 2016. The two teams will play in East Lansing on Sept. 2, 2017.

FOOTBALL

4 MSU football players reach deals with NFL teams

Four Spartan football players that weren’t selected in last weekend’s NFL Draft have signed with teams as of Monday, and a fifth has a tryout with a pro team. Quarterback Brian Hoyer, safety Otis Wiley, defensive end Brandon Long and defensive tackle Justin Kershaw all have signed with teams. Right tackle Jesse Miller also earned a May 7 tryout with the New York Giants.

FOOTBALL

Quarterback race heats up

Dear coach Dantonio, Look, coach. I know you’re a loyal person and that you still might be sour with me about the recruiting fiasco. But coach (and anyone else who might be reading), you must understand the reason I retracted my original commitment to MSU almost three years ago.