Liveblogging Illinois (at) Michigan State

0:00  State wins it 26-6 after trailing 6-3 at halftime.  The reporter next to me was really pulling the Illini to drive down the field to score as he had a bet that Illinois would lose by no more than two scores.  He and Illinois almost pulled it off.  They had a first and goal at the Spartan 6 in the waning seconds but a Spartan sack put and end to that.  Now Spartan fans everywhere will be pulling for Wisconsin tonight.  They host Ohio State--the only other Big Ten unbeaten.  The MSU Band is on the field for their postgame show and this one is in the books.  And it's not even 3:30 yet.  Love an early start.  Happy Homecoming, Spartans everywhere!

2:35  NEWS FLASH:  The Michigan State Spartans are going to be 7-0 for the first time since 1966.  Larry Caper just ran it in from 15 to make it 26-6, meaning MSU has scored 23 unanswered points here in the second half.  The Spartans--four rush yards in the first half, have 65 in the second.  The total of 69 is still way below their average of 225 yards a game coming in, but on this day it is going to be enough.  We can sit back and enjoy the view now, and we'd better.  State doesn't play another home game until November 6, and the fall colors will be long gone by then. 

7:41  Scheelhaase just threw interception #3, Trenton Robinson gets his second pick in as many weeks, and with the Spartans up 19-6 following Conroy's latest field goal (sorry, I was so overjoyed about not being wrong anymore I neglected to mention the score) this ballgame looks to be in the bag.

11:33 (4th)  Ha.  I wasn't wrong about Conroy, I was just early.  He just kicked another field goal, his 4th of the day, and now he's 13-for-13 in field goal attempts to begin his MSU career.  The previous record, because I know you want to know is....uh, I don't know.  I can't find it in the MSU Football Media Guide or the MSU Game Notes or anywhere.  I'll ask around if you want me to.
 
0:11  A correction.  I got lost in Dan Conroy.  They just announced he is 12-for-12 in field goals to start his career, not 13-for-13.  It's still a team record, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.  The 3rd quarter is over.  MSU had 8 first downs in the 3rd quarter, Illini had 2.  The tide is turning here in East Lansing.  MSU scored all 13 of the points that were scored in the third, and so, the score after 3 quarters:  Michigan State 16, Illinois 6.

3:20  After the fumble, the MSU offense asserts itself. They drive from their own 17 to the Illinois 16 running and passing (plus a facemask call against the Illini helped), and its Red Zone Time for the Spartans.  Nichols is just barely out of bounds on a catch that would have made it 1st and goal--if his shoes were about a size smaller, that is, and after review the catch is ruled not a catch.  Conroy comes in and does it again, his 3rd field goal of the day, 32 yards, and it completes the 10-play, 68-yard drive which puts MSU up 16-6.  And yes, we will mention that Conroy is now 13-for-13 and that's a new MSU team record.  The drive ate 4:35 of clock and we are under 2 minutes in the 3rd quarter.

6:32  Scheelhaase, whose long completion until now had been 12 yards, hits a long one, 39 yards to A.J. Jenkins to the MSU 20, but Jenkins fumbles when hit by Darqueze Dennard and Dennard recovers at his own 17.  The play stands after further review and instead of being deep in MSU territory, the Illini are on defense.  Another Illini turnover, their 3rd of the day and the kind that loses ballgames. 

8:26  MSU (finally) hits a big play.  It's Cousins throwing a deep ball over the middle and B.J. Cunningham is all kind of wide open and its a 48-yard TD pass to put MSU up 13-6.  State goes 77 yards in 4 plays on the drive--exactly the number of yards the offense amassed in the entire first half in 23 plays.

13:30 (3rd)  The Illini, having deferred, get the ball to start the second half.  Did we mention MSU had a grand total of 4 rush yards in the first half.  And 43 yards in penalties.  It's amazing State is only down 3.  And now Scheelhaase does it again.  He throws his second interception of the afternoon and Johnny Adams returns 31 yards to the Illini 16.  But State loses a yard rushing on first down (now they have 3 rush yards in the game) before a pair of incomplete passes makes it 4th and field goal time.  It's Dan Conroy from 34-yards and it's good and Conroy is 12-for-12 to start his MSU career (again, a new team record) and the game is tied 6-6.  MSU's scoring drive: 4 plays, -1 yard(s).  We believe this to be the shortest scoring drive in the history of football.

Halftime Note to End All Halftime Notes:  MSU, 3rd in the Big Ten and 14th Nationally with 225 rushing yards/game this season, had 4 (four) rushing yards in the first half against Illinois.  F-O-U-R. 

0:04 The Illini surprised us all by running from the 15 on 1st down, both losing a yard and running the clock down to 0:08 in the process.  Dimke then came on to kick his second field goal of the half, this one from 33, and the Illini re-take the lead 6-3.  The half ends on the ensuing kickoff.  We said this would be a tough game for State, and halfway through, that is just what it is.  Illinois 6, Michigan State 3 and it's time to enjoy the Spartan Marching Band!

1:33 The Illini have converted a couple 3rd downs and they have it just on the MSU side of the 50 when Leshoure comes up short on 3rd and 10, he gained only three, and things like just fine until Keshawn Martin--the hero of the Wisconsin game with his 74-yard punt return TD--fumbles the ball and Illinois is 1st and 10 at the MSU 15 with 0:37 left.  It looked for sure that the Spartans would be no worse than tied at the half.  Now...

8:00  Cousins hits Mark Dell (Farmington Hills Harrison) for 20 and then 21 yards, the first two "Chunk Plays" of the Day for MSU.  "Chunk Play" is the new in-vogue term in college football.  It refers to any play that gains at least 20 yards.  MSU settles for a 37 yard Dan Conroy field goal to tie the game 3-3 with 6:47 left in the half.  Conroy has hit his first 11 field goal attempts for MSU, breaking, er, extending his own team record.

10:31 Now the Illini take a dumb penalty.  Late hit (on the offense? Really?  How do you even do that?) and it's 4th and 29.  State goes from their own 38 after the punt--still down only 3. Somehow.

14:06 Throw in the 40 yards MSU had in penalties in the 1st and the Illini outgained them 124-29, but Illini QB Nathan Scheelhaase throws a pick!  It's intercepted by Marcus Hyde and he returns it 30 yards and just like that, the Spartans, though dominated, still trail by only 3.  On 4th and 1 from the Illini 35 MSU goes for it, but Cousins falls down and lost 4 and whatever momentum there may have been from the turnover disappears in 4 plays.  The Illini start at their own 39. 

1:10  The Illini drive from their own 1 to their own 31 and then the Spartans help them out again with their third foolish penalty of the quarter.  It's a facemask on Anthony Rashad White and its 15 yards and the Illini are out to midfield.  And now they are at the Spartan 38.  Leshoure loses a couple and the quarter ends.  Boy, I knew this was going to be a tough game.  The Illini outplayed the Spartans in the first (and outgained them 84-29) and they lead 3-0.

3:52  The Spartans again can't sustain a drive longer than a single 1st down, but Aaron Bates gets a 60-yard punt away and the Illini start from their own 1. Bates currently ranks second in the Big Ten and No. 13 in the NCAA in punting with his 45.2-yard average.

7:59  On third and a lot, MSU is called for defensive holding AND a late hit and the ball--on what appeared to be an incomplete pass--goes from the MSU 43 to the MSU 18.  Mikel Leshoure gets 10 on 1st down, but the Spartans bear down and the Illini settle for a  Derek Dimke field goal from 21yards to lead 3-0 with 6:42 left in the first.  Stopping Leshoure is the key to this game.  In his last 11 games, only one Big Ten running back has more rush yards than Leshoure--the Big Ten Player of the Year last year--John Clay of Wisconsin.

12:30  During an Illini timeout, we have a moment to note that, once again, those East Upper stands are distressingly devoid of bodies.  They can never seem to fill those seats.  It used to drive Joe Falls crazy.  He'd write about it every time on his annual visit to East Lansing.  He'd come to town once a year to rip the Spartans and then not show up until the following year.  An incomplete Illini pass is under review.  State gets the ball if the call on the field stands.  The call is reversed, and the Illini maintain possession: 1st and 10 at the Illinois 44.

15:00 (We will switch now from Time of Day to Time Left in the Quarter) On 3rd and 3, MSU goes empty backfield and with 5 in the pattern, MSU QB Kirk Cousins finds ex-MSU QB Keith Nichol for 9 and a first down but when Cousins is sacked the next time 3rd down comes around, the "drive" is over and the Spartans punt. The Illini start at their own 30.
11:56am:  The Spartans come out of the tunnel.  It used to be that they'd just come out of the tunnel, but now they have to play "Thunderstruck" by whoever it is that does "Thunderstruck" and fire off some sort of fog gun in the tunnel.  If I were in the MSU Marching Band, I'd be steamed.  Why do you need to pipe in music if you have your very own marching band?

I looked through the binoculars and did not see MSU Head Coach Mark Dantonio on the sidelines.  Illinois won the toss, deferred, and MSU will get the ball first and defend the North End Zone--the one to my right and the one to the right of anybody watching on TV--although why anybody would watch on TV when they can read this blog is lost on me.

11:25am:  The scoreboard clock is at 35 minutes and counting down...

When I went to school here, I had 46,000 classmates.  Forty-six thousand!  I just walked around here on this Homecoming Saturday for over an hour and I didn't see a single one of them.  Maybe they are all dead.

I miss being an MSU student, and not just because I miss being 19 (who doesn't, am I right?)  Football was so easy back then.  You'd wake up an hour or so before kick-off--it really didn't matter if the game was at noon or 3:30--put on your Spartan sweatshirt or your Spartan jersey or whatever Spartan-related thing it was that you were going to wear, grab your Spartan hat (we had these really neat MSU beanies and I don't care how it sounds now, they were cool!) and head for Spartan Stadium which was conveniently located less than ten minutes away.  That, and Student football tickets were (and I am not making this up), like, $3.  Three bucks, dudes.  Like I say, you could not beat being an MSU student on so many levels.

9:05am: I told you last week at the Lions game that we like to arrive early—and we have certainly done that today. With a noon kick-off, getting here early on this day meant the sun was just coming up over Spartan Stadium when we arrived on campus. It could not have worked out better. Due to that on-time arrival, I was able to snag my favorite (free) parking space right over there by my old dorm, Mary Mayo Hall.


It’s a beautiful, sunny fall day here at MSU—chilly enough right now that one would do well to wear gloves—but by game time it’s going to be perfect football weather: It is, all in all, a great day to be a Spartan. And it’s Homecoming.

This won't sound football-related, but it is:  I freaked the boys out at the Thursday Men’s breakfast my church puts one when I told them I had been involved in a True Miracle earlier in the week. I mean, people actually put down utensils and stopped eating when I said that.  They naturally wanted details and I was happy to share. I told them that I had witnessed, with mine own eyes, the Detroit Lions win a football game. The groans were loud and the disappointment palpable. I don't know why.  If that's not a miracle then I don't know what is.  In a related note, we continue to hope (and pray) that God has a sense of humor. If not, I am some kind of screwed.

We’re in the Press Box now and your countdown to kickoff reads 2 hours, 47 minutes. The sun continues to rise over the Stadium was we face the east and there is not a soul in the stands save for a few ushers. In a couple of hours more than 70,000 will be in those seats. Right now they are all outside, drinking.

I mentioned earlier this week that I’m worried about this one. Here’s why (in no particular order):

• Illinois ruined Penn State’s Homecoming last Saturday 33-13 and, as mentioned, it’s Homecoming here today. I don’t like omens and this sure sounds like one to me.

• The Illini were down 17-13 to #1 Ohio State two weeks ago 17-13 with under 2 minutes to go before losing 24-13. Illinois held Ohio State to 77 passing yards in that one.

• Last week MSU took on what was, at the time, the 102nd-ranked defense in the FBS (Michigan). Today, the Spartans take on the 20th-ranked defense in the FBS. (No, I still have not determined what “FBS” stands for, but we continue to work on it. Just not very hard.

There’s more, but we’ll get to it a little later. I have some people who are outside drinking that I have to go and say hello to. Like I said, it’s Homecoming in East Lansing!