What an incredible night at Michigan Stadium. On Friday, I was watching old highlights of top moments in the Paul Bunyan rivalry, whether it was Desmond's dropped 2 point conversion in 1990, TJ Duckett scoring at the last second in 2001, Michigan's 3OT win in 2005, Michigan's 17 point comeback in 2007 (Little Brother game), or any of the recent victories by the Spartans, just to pump myself up even more for the trip to Ann Arbor Saturday. Little did I know that I was going to witness perhaps the best finish to any game in the rivalry, and one of the best finishing plays in college football history. For those who did not see the game, the game was a very typical MSU/UM game with the teams trying to grind out yards on the ground, but neither team could quite do that successfully (Michigan led with 62 yards).
The Wolverines took advantage of poor MSU special teams play, including a failed fake punt, shanked punts, and poor kick/punt coverage to keep themselves in front all game long. When Connor Cook's pass fell incomplete with just about 2 minutes left, the stadium went into absolute pandemonium, because everyone thought they had finally gotten the win that put them back into relevancy. All they needed was one first down to put the Spartans away.
Facing a fourth and 2, the Wolverines elected to call a timeout and sent the punting unit out there. When the Spartans had 11 guys on the line, all gunning to block the punt, Blake O'Neill simply had to get the punt off and they would win.
One thought for an improvement on Jim Harbaugh's side, why didn't he move the gunners in and give the punter more blockers? They didn't need to go down the ball or cover a returner because with nobody out there it was going to be game over.
However, the Spartans rushed through the line and as O'Neill muffed the punt, Jalen Watts-Jackson fielded the ball and took it 37 yards for the win. Now I don't believe in the ESPN FPI (it is very inaccurate) but they had MSU's win probability at 0.2% before that play, and the Spartans had not lead for a single second in this game, but as the guy two rows below me said "all that matters is the top line of the stat sheet" MSU 27 UM 23.
The reaction in Michigan Stadium was stunning. There was no announcement by the PA that MSU scored a touchdown. No replay shown on the jumbotron. Everyone just sat there in disbelief or grabbed their stuff and left silently. Well, except the Spartan fans. After having our band drowned out by the stadium music all day, and being very vastly outnumbered, Spartan Nation went crazy and to be completely honest I had no idea how to handle myself. There was a 70 year old woman sitting next to me. She was a State fan, the only one in my section, and she immediately started hugging me and we were screaming and yelling. Clapping along to the fight song, watching Paul Bunyan getting carried around by the Spartan players in a dead silent Michigan Stadium was such a great feeling.
The only downside to yesterday is that Jalen Watts-Jackson, the hero and new Spartan Legend, was injured and will have to undergo surgery and miss the rest of the season. A prayer goes out to him that the surgery goes well, and he can play again healthy next year.
Final Quick Thoughts
1) I absolutely loved the throw to Pendleton. Playing in the wishbone my whole life, I love when they reward the fullback and to see the big fella rumble for 74 yards was great.
2) Jabril Peppers is a freak athlete. He makes a few mistakes in coverage, but his athleticism gives him a chance on every play, and his potential threat offensively and in the special teams game may be a scary development over the next few years.
3) To my section usher who threw a hot dog wrapper at me, I am glad you really do your job to make sure that the fans enjoy the game, I really enjoyed that while celebrating the victory. Classless.
4) The call helped MSU, but I think the targeting rule is ludicrous. As my friend at Michigan Nick Grygiel put it, "it's like communism, great in theory but terrible when put into action." The rule has a great purpose, but after losing Chris Frey last year, Bullough against AFA and they lost Bolden this year, it just takes the best players out of the game too often.
5) This win shows the strength of MSU as a program because despite all of the injuries, and setbacks, we have pushed through and gotten to 7-0 and are still control our ultimate destiny and have a chance to achieve our goals of a Big Ten championship, and the trip to the CFP. The Spartans just cannot afford a setback due to emotional hangover against IU next week.
Look for an update on the Terrible Ten and other things this week, GO GREEN.
Look for an update on the Terrible Ten and other things this week, GO GREEN.
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