Quarterback Kirk Cousins tosses the ball to Larry Caper for the perfect pitch and catch play to win the game against the Fighting Irish with seconds to spare. The crowd goes wild as Cousins overthrows, and Caper misses the ball in Notre Dame’s endzone. On the next play, McCarthy intercepts the ball to win the game 33-30 for Notre Dame. With Michigan State’s loss to CMU on October 12, leaving them with a 1-2 non-conference record, fans are disappointed and even, surprised.
The one thing Spartans always have going are the high hopes for the season, so we get in there and don’t produce enough energy for our expectations. Is this turmoil something Michigan State has always had troubles with? Or has our ability (or lack thereof) to execute late in the game been a product of recent times?
In 1998, the Spartans were 1-2 going into Big Ten play after losing to Oregon and Colorado State. They came back winning against Central Michigan, Indiana, Northwestern, Ohio State and Illinois.
Kicker Paul Edinger completed a record 22 field goals, which Brett Swenson tied in 2008. Sedrick Irvin rushed for a total of 1167 yards and Bill Burke ranked third in pass attempts in Spartan history with 358.
SO what does this mean for the Spartans? Hell, it’s still preseason. No newspaper, coach or player can perfectly predict the outcome of this season, and there is still a Big Ten championship up for grabs.
But one has to wonder what Pat Narduzzi is doing to his defensive line that was highly acclaimed before Montana State. With Linebacker Greg Jones heading the pack, the team is capable of defensive glory in the Big Ten this year. Jones was named Big Ten Preseason Defensive Player, and once he gets into the groove, the team will follow.
The same goes to say for Co-Captain Kirk Cousins. Once Dantonio (hopefully) ditches the rotating quarterback system, Cousins will develop a groove with Baker, Caper and Ray, the trifecta of talented Freshmen runningbacks. Despite the hard loss against ND and CMU, his stats are impressive, and worth the starter position.
As Dantonio noted at Tuesday’s press conference, “Young people are resilient.” Taking the positives in stride, Michigan State now has the opportunity to prove their strengths on the road against Wisconsin, just in time to bring back another win against the University of Michigan on October 3.
Spartan fans, don’t lose hope. As long as Sparty’s head stays on, we will approach the rest of our season with the greatest poise, strength and toughness to scare away the opponents. History is said to repeat itself, and in this case, that’s in favor of our Spartan Nation.
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