12:40 We're not at Ryan Field, but we will share our thoughts on today's MSU-Northwestern game and right now things are not going well for the #7, 7-0 Spartans as they trail the Wildcats 7-0 and should be trailing therm by more. Looking to go ahead 14-0, NU had a 1st and goal at the MSU one when Johnny Adams recovered a fumble for the Spartans.
Injuries are affecting the Spartans early.
Darqueze Dennard, replacing Chris.L. Rucker at corner and the guy who made a huge play in the Illinois game last week by causing and then recovering an Illini fumble in the Red Zone, left the game briefly after a head to head collision, but he's back in there now. (Rucker, senior 3-year Letterman, is missing his second straight game today after being arrested for drunk driving after the Michigan game. I suspect he will never play another down of football for MSU.)
Tackle D.J. Young got hurt early and is out of the lineup, and Keshawn Martin, MSU's great return man, is also apparently hurt.
Northwestern kicks a field goal and the Spartans trail 10-0, on the road.
Twice failing on 3rd-and-1, MSU is 0-3 in third-down conversions overall (NU is 5-7) as Kirk Cousins hits Keith Nichol to convert 3rd and 7. A moment later the two cannot hook up on 3rd and 8 so its a 38-yard field goal try by Dan Conroy that's...wide right. Wide right? Conroy had been 14-for-14 in field goal attempts--one away from tying Brett Swenson's MSU record of 15 in a row. MSU is still down 10-0.
Northwestern continues to push the MSU defense all over the field. They've got it first and goal at the one, again. QB Dan Persa crashes over for his second one-yard TD run of the day and State is down 17-0 with 6:07 left in the half. MSU has been outgained in this one, 234-99.
With Martin out, Le'Veon Bell is returning kicks. So far, MSU has had to return quite a few.
MSU goes 68-yards in 8 plays to make it 17-7. Cousins to Mark Dell for 7 yards is the scoring play
with 2:49 left in a nearly disastrous first half for the Spartans.
That's how it ends, MSU down 10 at the break. Spartan Coach Mark Dantonio--back on the sidelines after missing two games due to a heart attack (he must be pretty tough to only miss 2 games after a heart attack) says to a reporter as he walks off: "We'll bounce back."
1:56 The second half is underway and MSU, after forcing a 3-and-out by NU to begin the half, has the ball and they go right down the field and they score! Bennie Fowler--I've never heard of him--runs it in on a 13-yard end-around. Fowler is the freshman playing in the slot today in place of Keshawn Martin. Like Martin, it's apparent he can run the ball. For MSU: a 3-play, 48-yard drive and it only took 1:20. The second half is barely 3 minutes old and the Spartans are back in it, trailing NU 14.
It's three-and-out again for the Wildcats as Jonathan Strayhorn sacks Persa. MSU starts at their own 42 with 10:01 left in the third. A well-deserved commercial break ensues.
There's a big wind blowing at Ryan Field today. MSU has it at their back in the 3rd, it will be tougher for State in the 4th. The Spartans get one first down on their second possession of the half but elect for some reason to run the ball out of a wildcat formation with Nichol--the MSU QB last year--picking up just a couple on 3rd-9. Hard to understand the play call, unless it had worked, of course. 8:10 left in the 3rd as NU takes over at their own 20.
Jerel Worthy, the defensive tackle is hurt and has to come out. NU promptly picks up their second first down of the drive and they out to their own 43. Worthy may be back soon. He got poked in the eye. Persa looked like he was going to be sacked, but he escapes and picks up 10 and a first. Then Mike Trumpy runs 18 to the MSU 28. Persa hits a couple of 9 yard passes and its goal-to-go for the Wildcats. This is MSU-killing NU drive into the wind. Persa finishes it with his third rushing TD of the day. He was flushed from the pocket and scrambled in from the 6. It was a 15-play, 80-yard drive. It was into the wind. It took 5:22 off the clock. It put MSU down 10, again. There's 2:50 left in the third and MSU trails 24-14.
2:27 The 3rd quarter ends with MSU driving, 1st-and-ten just on the NU side of midfield. They trail by ten, 24-14, and their entire season depends on whether they can come back or not in the final 15 minutes. Win, and they will be one of only 5 (or fewer) 8-0 teams in the country. Lose, and they are just another 1-loss team in the Big Ten. This is the whole season, right here.
2:31 This is the second straight game in which the Spartans haven't been able to run. Prior to the Illinois game, they were averaging 225 rush yards a game. They ran for 93 last week. They have 84 so far today. MSU's drive stalls and the Spartans have to go for it on 4th and 6 from the NU 35--because of the wind they can't try a 42-yard field goal. To make matters worse, State has to use a timeout with the play clock running down. Boy, you hate to do that when you are ten points down in the 4th quarter. You really might need it later, right? After the timeout, the Spartans decide to punt. If they'd have gone for it and not made it, NU would have had the ball near their own thirty so you have to wonder. IT'S A FAKE!!! IT WORKS AGAIN. It's a pass from Aaron Bates pass to that guy I never heard of, Bennie Fowler for 21 yards to the NU 15. On the very next play, Cousins hits Dell for the 13-yard TD that makes it a 3-point game again. You can say what you want, but MSU has to be the most dramatic team in college football. Dell has 2 TD catches today. It's 24-21, NU.
The Wildcats are unfazed. They drive all the way to the MSU 13, but Persa is sacked a couple of times and NU has to go for the field goal. Stefan Demos hits it from 41 and now its 27-21 with just a little less than 10 minutes to play.
2:50 All the Spartans have to do is drive 80-yards down the field and score a touchdown. They go three and out. 8:38 to go as the Spartans punt. If MSU ever needed a defensive stop, it would be now. The wind results in a 22-yard punt. NW starts from midfield. They go three-and-out. The Spartans got that stop. And still over 7 minutes to go. MSU starts at their own 12 after the punt.
Its Homecoming today at Northwestern and former coach Ara Parseghian, 80, is being honored. He went on to a legendary career at Notre Dame of course and was the coach of the Irish when they met MSU in the "Game of the Century" back in 1966. We mention this because that year, '66, was the last time MSU was 7-0 as they are this year. Ara went for the tie in that biggest of all games at Spartan Stadium when the Irish had the ball late in a 10-10 tie. He couldn't do that today, although he could have played for overtime. No ties in college football anymore.
3:00 Stare has driven from their own 12 to the NU 30 and its 4th and 1. Here's the game. Pass underneath to the tight end Charlie Gant--the guy who caught the pass on the fake field goal against the Irish. It's a 4th-down conversion and now Baker catches a pass for a dozen and its first-and-goal, MSU at the 9. Approaching 2 minutes to go AND MSU SCORES. IT'S A DEFELCTED PASS AND BJ CUNNINGHAM COMES DOWN WITH IT IN THE END ZONE. THE GAME IS TIED PENDING THE POINT. THE REVIEW SAYS ITS A TD!!! It was an 11-play, 88-yard drive in 5:18. MSU leads 28-27 with 2:00 left.
3:07 NU had the ball at the 33, but a personal foul on the 'Cats moves them back to the 18. MSU helps though by jumping offside. 1st and 20 for NU. The Wildcats call a timeout facing 3rd and 12 with 1:36 left. (Just between you and me, I cannot believe MSU is leading this football game.They trailed 17-0. On the road.) An incomplete pass by Persa makes it 4th and 12. Here's the ballgame. Incomplete again. The wind has hurt Persa--he overthrew three recievers in a row. MSU gets it back on downs with 1:26 left. NU has 2 timeouts. MSU at the NU 31. NU uses their last TO with 1:14 left. On third and short, Edwin Baker bulls through everybody for a 25-yard touchdown to make it 35-27 after Conway hits the point-after. What a run! The announcers say this may help NU because it is still a one-score game (State leading by 8 so a TD+2-point conversion ties it) with 1:07 to go but we'll see. NU starts at their own 32 with 1:02 to go and no timeouts. Now and Eric Gordon inteception with 0:44 on the clock and somehow, State is going to win this game. How about that. MSU, 8-0 overall! 4-0 in conference and still leading the Big Ten all by themselves. What a win. What a comeback. What a season.
Dantonio, interviewed on the field, said the fake punt that was the key play today is called "mousetrap". "Take the cheese," in his words. The Spartans did. Again. They outscored NU 21-3 in the 4th quarter to pull it out. Wow. Wow, and bring on the Iowa Hawkeyes next week.
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