After five consecutive home games to start the season, the MSU football team will enjoy a bye this weekend. The Spartans (3-2 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) opened Big Ten play with a 39-24 victory over Northwestern on Saturday at Spartan Stadium.
The biggest play of Saturday’s game came from the most unlikely of places, the Spartans’ special teams.With a little more than a minute to play in the third quarter and MSU leading by a score of 20-17, junior wide receiver Ziehl Kavanaght broke the game open with a 88-yard punt return for a touchdown.“When Ziehl ran that ball back the game was close,” junior quarterback Jeff Smoker said.
MSU got back on the winning track Saturday with its 39-24 win against Northwestern. But once again, it was junior wide receiver Charles Rogers who stole the show. The 6-foot-4, 205-pounder only pulled down three receptions for 53 yards - by far his worst outing of the season - but his 21-yard touchdown with 6:10 to play in the first half made history. The tally marked Rogers’ 14th-straight game with a touchdown, breaking the Big Ten record he shared with Michigan’s Desmond Howard (1990-91). It also marked his 13th-straight regular-season game with a touchdown, breaking the NCAA record he shared with Marshall’s Randy Moss (1997), Pacific’s Aaron Turner (1990-91) and Howard. “Just to be among these guys is a great accomplishment for me,” Rogers said.
Statistically, junior wide receiver Charles Rogers had his least productive game of the season. But his presence created openings for teammates in both the running and passing attacks in the Spartans’ 39-24 victory over the Wildcats on Saturday at Spartan Stadium. Head coach Bobby Williams said studying film revealed there would be chances for other players to make plays against Northwestern (2-3 overall, 0-1 Big Ten). “We looked at the last two ball games and people have been really overplaying Charles,” he said.
Spartan junior wide receiver Charles Rogers set the NCAA and Big Ten records with 13 consecutive regular-season games with a touchdown catch today as MSU (3-2 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) toppled Northwestern (2-3, 0-1), 39-24.The 6-4, 205-pounder caught a 21-yard pass from junior quarterback Jeff Smoker with 6:10 left in the second quarter to break the record previously shared by Marshall’s Randy Moss, Michigan’s Desmond Howard and Pacific’s Aaron Turner.On the day, Rogers was held to a mere three catches for 53 yards, ending his MSU-record streak of eight 100-yard games.For more information about this report, see Monday’s edition of The State News.
The Spartans opened up Big Ten play today, drubbing Northwestern 39-24 at Spartan Stadium. MSU (3-2 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) not only snapped a two-game skid, but showed drastic improvement in its running game with 276 yards on the ground.
Despite suffering bruised ribs in MSU’s loss to No. 10 Notre Dame, Charles Rogers plans to play against Northwestern on Saturday. “Even if I’m not 100 percent, I’m still able to go out there and be a decoy,” Rogers said.
Amazing. That’s the only way to describe Charles Rogers.As a team, the Spartans (2-2) fell four points short against then-No.
For the second game in as many weeks the MSU football team faced a double-digit half-time deficit. It has been a re-occurring theme this season.
For the second consecutive week, the Spartans watched the opposing team triumphantly celebrate on their home field. This week it was the last-minute heroics of No.
The luck of the Irish was too much for the Spartans to overcome as Notre Dame’s last-minute heroics polished off MSU, 21-17.Today’s game inside Spartan Stadium was the fourth-consecutive contest, the Spartans (2-2) and Fighting Irish (4-0) put on a show - MSU had won the last five matchups.This time, however, it was Notre Dame that came up with the last big play - a 60-yard completion to Irish wide receiver Arnaz Battle from backup quarterback Pat Dillingham with less than two minutes to play, giving Notre Dame an improbable 21-17 victory.“It was unfortunate we couldn’t sustain what we got going,” MSU head coach Bobby Williams said.
Irish eyes will be looking at East Lansing this weekend for the annual battle between the Spartans and Notre Dame. The Spartans will be looking for their sixth consecutive win in this series.
In their first national television appearance of the season, the Spartans showed they might not be worthy of a high national ranking.Thanks to the 46-22 rout at the hands of an unranked California (3-0) squad on ESPN2, everyone knows how the former No.
The MSU football team faltered early and often Saturday at Spartan Stadium. The Spartans turned the ball over five times, but none were more noticeable than the two first quarter turnovers inside California’s 5-yard line. MSU had its chances to take control of the game before allowing 18 second-quarter points en route to a humiliating 46-22 defeat. Trailing 7-0, the Spartans failed to score on two consecutive drives.
Fifthteenth-ranked MSU suffered its first defeat of the season, a 46-22 loss to California at Spartan Stadium.The Golden Bears capitalized on five Spartan turnovers and sloppy play by MSU’ s special teams.The Spartan offense struggled all day, but the defense looked strong early.
Tyrell Dortch has reason to be frustrated at football. But he’s not. When the MSU secondary lost four players last season, Dortch, a tailback, filled in at cornerback, and it almost crippled him.
Sophomore tight end Eric Knott is proving why he was considered the nation’s No. 1 tight end recruit coming out of Detroit’s Henry Ford High in 1999.In his junior and senior seasons at Henry Ford he caught 72 passes for 1,186 yards and 15 touchdowns.In just two games at his natural position, Knott is already starting to put up similar numbers.Despite not getting the start against Eastern Michigan in the season-opener, Knott pulled down six catches for 69 yards and two touchdowns.
After reviewing a tape from Saturday’s 27-10 win over Rice, one thing was clear to Spartan head coach Bobby Williams. “After looking at the film, we probably should have thrown it to (junior wide receiver) Charles (Rogers) 10 to 15 more times,” he said.
The Rice Owls lost 27-10 on Saturday, but they provided a blueprint for success for the 10 remaining teams on the Spartans’ schedule. With a relentless blitz, Rice confused MSU’s offensive line all day.
In Division I-A college football, there isn’t a lot of room for a 5-foot-8, 175 pounder to be an impact player as a starting quarterback. But Rice head coach Ken Hatfield has made room for Kyle Herm. “You find that champions come in all sizes and shapes,” he said.