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Michigan State 13, MICHIGAN 31 (final)

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Dispatch

NOTEBOOK
Battered Spartans in need of big win
Beating Wolverines would rescue season
Tuesday, October 03, 2006

ASSOCIATED PRESS



Running back Javon Ringer is out for the season because of a knee injury, but his Michigan State teammates plan to show up, as scheduled, for Saturday?s game at sixth-ranked Michigan.
"The season is not over," defensive lineman and cocaptain Clifton Ryan told reporters yesterday. "I know a lot of you guys want us to cancel the season and pack it in, but we?re going to keep fighting."
That might surprise some people who believe the reeling Spartans (3-2, 0-1 Big Ten) are finished after back-to-back three-point losses at home to Notre Dame and Illinois, including arguably the worst five quarters in program history.
John L. Smith?s team led the Fighting Irish by 16 points with less than nine minutes left on Sept. 23, then allowed 19 unanswered points to lose 40-37. Seven days later, Michigan State was flat for four quarters and flattened 23-20 by the Fighting Illini, who were 26 1 /2-point underdogs.
Despite significant injuries, including bruised ribs for quarterback Drew Stanton, who was described as "probable" for Saturday, Michigan State?s players and coaches said they are excited about the 63-mile trip to Ann Arbor, where the Spartans haven?t won since 1990.
"We?re going to play as hard as we can play, and we?re going to prepare the very best we can prepare, and let?s go!" Smith said. "I think our football team showed some emotion last night, which was good. And I hope that continues."
With the exception of a 49-3 no-show at Michigan Stadium in 2002, their last game under Bobby Williams, the Spartans always have been excited to face the Wolverines (5-0, 2-0). Excited, but seldom successful, as an 8-28 series record since 1970 attests.
Michigan has won the past four games, including a 45-37 triple-overtime classic in 2004 and a 34-31 overtime game last year in Spartan Stadium. But Michigan State needs to do more than keep it close this time. It needs to save a oncepromising season and silence critics, at least until the next week?s visit from No. 1 Ohio State. "We?ve got seven games left, and we?re going to get some things accomplished this season for this program," Ryan said. "We just have to put the past behind us and be the best team we can be."
Click to expand...
 
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Hoyer is a very respectable backup quarterback, possibly a little more talented than Zwick (better arm, anyway). He used to throw to Gonzo, so that's got to count for something. I'm going with State to give their rivals a good game.
 
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Link

Spartans' drama goes on the road

After two home fiascoes, Michigan State heads off to Michigan's Big House

By Rusty Miller

Associated Press

It's a matter of time before the 2006 Michigan State Spartans become a daytime drama, maybe As East Lansing Turns or Days of Spartans' Lives.
Three weeks ago, some thought the Spartans, off to a 3-0 start behind quarterback Drew Stanton, might be a dark horse to win the Big Ten title. Then came consecutive collapses -- both at home -- that have left the coach's job in jeopardy, the program in disarray and green-clad faithful embarrassed.
Oh, and did we mention the Spartans get to play No. 6 Michigan at the Big House on Saturday?
It all began, with a national TV audience as witnesses, on the evening of Sept. 23 against Notre Dame. Coach John L. Smith's team held a 17-point halftime lead and led by 16 going into the fourth quarter. Then the Fighting Irish started clicking and the Spartans staged a colossal collapse to lose 40-37.
Adding to the weird night, Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said in his postgame remarks that he was slapped on the sideline during a second-quarter skirmish between players. A day later, Weis curiously said it might have been one of his own players who slapped him. A day after that, Smith showed reporters a tape of the incident -- which did not show a slap -- and said, ``I'm not going to contend that anybody is lying, but you take a look at the film.''
The soap opera continued last Saturday. Playing against an Illinois team that had lost 24 of its past 25 Big Ten games, Michigan State found a way to lose 23-20 on homecoming.
Fans booed Smith and his team off the field. To add to the problems, top running back Javon Ringer was lost for the year with a right knee injury and Stanton dinged his ribs. He is listed as probable for the Michigan game.
After the Illinois loss, a stunned Smith said, ``I don't have the answers. We can't get them to go hard in practice.''
Smith ended his news conference by slapping his own face.
This week, his players have defended their coach better than they did Notre Dame in the second half, which isn't saying much. For his part, Smith said that he does indeed have the answers.
Stay tuned. It's hard to tell what the Spartans may come up with next.
 
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On any given gameday, any team in the Big Ten can beat any other team in the Big Ten.

Some teams need to be firing on all cylinders, throw some surprises out there, and play mistake-free football, while their opponents are expecting a cake-walk, only to get punched in the mouth (or are still hungover from the night before).

Unless, of course, the one team in Michigan State. Before anything else gets considered in a game like this, we need to remember that Michigan State is Michigan State. And Michigan State does what Michigan State does. Sure - they're capable of big wins. In 2005, they gave a media-created behemoth Notre Dame their first loss of the season. And none of us will ever forget what they did in Columbus in 1998. Can they get a win in Ann Arbor? Absolutely they can.

Will they? Absolutely not. Michigan State, a team which has the ability to play with any team in the country, will do what Michigan State does. Michigan doesn't even need to take the field tomorrow, and they'll come away with a 3-touchdown win.

For the first 15-20 minutes, the game will be relatively close. The SCORE may not be close, but the way the game is being played will be close. Michigan will try to play a real pro-style offense, mixing some runs with some short passes, and they'll move the ball some. End of the first quarter, Michigan will lead 10-7. In the second quarter, Michigan State will start to pull ahead. They may not take much of a lead, but people watching the game will agree that Michigan is lucky to be in the game. When Michigan State gets their 17-10 lead, Lloyd Carr will go back to his predictable (but VERY effective) offense of throwing deep to Braylon Edwards. (I know he isn't there anymore, but Lloyd kept those plays in his playbook from a couple of years ago, and crossed out "Braylon Edwards" and wrote in (with crayon) "Mario Manningham." Two touchdowns later, and the halftime score is 24-20, in favor of Michigan.

Ready for the Michigan State meltdown? Too bad, it won't happen, yet.

The two teams trade a couple of punts to begin the second half. Then Michigan goes back to their deep-passing game, and get the ball inside the red-zone. Since the back of the endzone is Michigan State's best defensive back against Michigan, Michigan decides to settle for a field goal. 27-20. Michigan State drives all the way down to the Michian 2 yard line, looking to tie the score. But a turnover totally bones them, and Michigan gets the ball. Three plays later, and it's 34-20. A quick 3-and-out by Michigan State, and Michigan drives down the field for a Michael Hart touchdown run. 41-20. The referees consider allowing Michigan State an extra 7 players on defense, since no one on Michigan State's team really wants to play, anymore. The Michigan back-ups get the ball a little bit later, and on fourth-and-two, inside the ten-yard-line, Lloyd shows how classy he is, and goes for the touchdown. Final score: Michigan 48 - Michigan State 20.

Meanwhile, ESPN continues to rave about how great Michigan is, and then they each go punch Trev Alberts in the throat, and make Desmond Howard drink their pee.
 
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UM has very little to gain this weekend, and a lot to lose. Without Ringer & Stanton, they have a much safer shot of living up to expectations. They should send the Illinois defenders a thank you card for that one.

MSU still won't stop Hart on the ground... but their issues in the secondary will be harder to exploit without Stanton (whether he's out or not 100%... as he will take big shots from the monsters up front).
Taosman;626683; said:
How good is Michigan's secondary?
Are they banged up?
Click to expand...
Not good...
 
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