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.
Slow and steady might win some races, but the Spartans will have to up the tempo if they wish to get upcoming games under their belt as wins.
After weeks of leading the MSU volleyball team with her potent offensive skills, junior outside hitter Lauren Wicinski finally gets recognition by being named the Big Ten Player of the Week.
The MSU men’s soccer team (7-7-1) swept the Big Ten weekly honors, nabbing the Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week awards.
The MSU men’s hockey team (1-2-1) walked into the locker room after the second period Friday night with a glaring 2-0 score in the opponent’s favor on the scoreboard. Niagara had the lead against the Spartans, its second coming off an accidental own goal by an MSU defenseman. Coming off two consecutive losses to Minnesota the weekend prior, the Spartans didn’t want to relive that defeat, so they did something about it.
For redshirt freshman tight end Paul Lang, his first touchdown in a green and white uniform couldn’t have been scripted any better.
The MSU volleyball team displayed its top performance of the season against Michigan last week, but on Saturday, the players’ efforts weren’t enough, as they fell to Ohio State in four sets (26-24, 22-25, 23-25, 22-25).
This weekend served as a rollercoaster of emotions for the field hockey team, as it went 1-1 in two close games against Northwestern and Central Michigan.
For the past four years, the home team has won in the MSU-Wisconsin men’s soccer matchup. Sunday afternoon, MSU (7-7-1 overall, 2-2-0 Big Ten) extended that streak to five years, beating Wisconsin (5-7-3, 1-3-0) at DeMartin Stadium at Old College Field, 2-0.
The MSU women’s soccer team’s (8-8-2, 2-7-1 Big Ten) winless streak now stands at six, as it lost to No. 4 Penn State 5-1 in University Park, Pa., Friday night and Ohio State 3-1 in Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday.4
Another late game rally by the MSU men’s hockey team (1-2-1) picked it up a tie against Niagara, 3-3.
Junior outside hitter Lauren Wicinski had quite a day for the MSU volleyball team, but it wasn’t enough to beat Ohio State.
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.
They had battled, scrapped and overcame penalties for 40 minutes, yet as they headed out for the third period, the MSU hockey team was staring at a 2-0 deficit and the reality of an unhappy home opener.
It wasn’t easy, but the MSU hockey team (1-2) used a three goal third period to rally from a 2-0 deficit to get its first win of the season, knocking off Niagara (1-2) 3-2 Friday night.
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).”
Barely visible at the base of one of the display cases in Schembechler Hall is a sentence etched in small black lettering on the white backdrop: “The Paul Bunyan Trophy is temporarily located in East Lansing but will return next year.”