The greatest drive in Michigan State football history

Connor Cook had just pissed away a beautiful 28-3 lead over scUM by dropping the ball instead of handing it to Jeremy Langford.  Thirty seconds later, Michigan scored its first, and only, touchdown vs MSU since 2011.

And, then came the greatest drive in Spartan football history.  I still have tears in my eyes. 

With the Michigan State Spartans at midfield, and up 28-11 with 3 minutes left... well, the Doctor's M.O. is to just kneel down in victory formation and play another day. Right?  Game over?  But not Saturday, not against the little shits from Michigan.  As Coach D nearly stated after the game, time to "Shove it up their ASS!" (he said "We wanted to shove it," but we all know what he meant).  

More diplomatically: we are going to run the ball, and if you don't like it, stop us.  Victory Formation be damned.  The Spartan Stadium crowd, still nearly 70,000 strong, roared in approval.  I mean, IT ROARED.   

AND, the last drive of the game went like this:

H 1-10 M48  33-Langford rush for no gain to the MICH48
H 2-10 M48  33-Langford rush for 8 yards to the MICH40
H 3-2  M40  33-Langford rush for 3 yards to the MICH37
H 1-10 M37  33-Langford rush for 27 yards to the MICH10
H 1-G  M10  33-Langford rush for 2 yards to the MICH8
H 2-G  M08  33-Langford rush for 3 yards to the MICH5
H 3-G  M05  33-Langford rush for 5 yards to the MICH0
TOUCHDOWN, clock 00:28. 4-Geiger, Michael kick attempt good.

After the game, coach D said: "I can only be diplomatic for so long..." in the best, most appropriate, rant from Dantonio of his career.

Let me help you out coach: SHOVE IT DOWN THEIR THROAT.   Too bad Mike Hart wasn't playing on Saturday, because he likely would have left the game broken inside and out, broken like the dribble of a football program he left behind thanks to his "Little Brother" disrespect back in 2006.  

If Michigan State makes it to the national playoff, this likely will be the drive to which the Spartan Nation will point as far as being definitive in our persona.  The bastards from Ann Arbor have shown little respect, far beyond stupidity, for Michigan State football.  In all honesty, this goes way back to MSU's entry to the Big Ten, in 1949 when Michigan was the only school to vote against MSU joining the conference. Yes, Mike Hart was one of the best things to ever happen to Michigan State football. Yes, pride does come before the fall.  Fast forward to today: As smart as they think they are, the Wolverines lack common sense. 

I hate Michigan athletics.  And, I LOVED that last drive.  Brady Hoke, for all the Spartan Nation loves his terrible coaching, has now lost my complete respect - apologizing for his team's lack of integrity is worse than allowing them to behave so poorly in the first place.  It's just pathetic.

Never thought BTN's Gerry DiNardo would have such prophetic words: "Michigan is a drama program."  How sad, how true.

Below you will find the beautiful statistics from the game.  No matter how eye-opening, what you see below still doesn't paint the picture of how bad we kicked Michigan's ass.  Can we play them again tomorrow?  Please?

                                   MICH      MSU
FIRST DOWNS...................       13       22
NET YARDS RUSHING.............       61      219
  Average Per Rush............      2.3      4.8
NET YARDS PASSING.............      125      227
  Completions-Attempts-Int....  15-31-2  12-22-0
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS...........      186      446
  Average Gain Per Play.......      3.3      6.6
Possession Time...............    26:14    33:46

Spartans back to work for Fall: About the Offense

OK, the ES is BACK! It’s been a long, beautiful summer… ES spending some time in South Haven and in Sarasota, Florida. But, ready for football!

And the Big Green Machine is in motion, today (Aug 2) being the first day Spartans report for camp.

What’s the #1 question? Will it be Andrew Maxwell or Connor Cook.. or the blue chipper, Damion Terry (6-3, 220-lbs, Erie PA). Maxwell has experience starting every game for MSU last year, is an East-West quarterback, is a minimalist without taking risks – and lacked a good receiving corps last year. Cook was the backup in '12, takes risks, and is a play-maker, and could develop into a potential game-changer. Terry is raw at 18 years old, but comes in rated as one of the best prospects in the nation. Dantonio is standing by Maxwell and his commitment to the program… but his bland performance in the Spring game demonstrates his weaknesses – the guy just has not improved. Even though Maxwell may be a better practice player, Cook certainly demonstrates the leadership and moxie necessary to lead a Big Ten team: Exhibit A is Cook’s last minute performance in the bowl victory over TCU.
 
The ES’s boldest prediction? By time MSU faces a real opponent in Notre Dame, a halftime goose-egg on the scoreboard will lead to Cook being installed as the eventual starter for Big Ten season. 

While the offensive line play should be very very good this fall, other concerns on offense are rather obvious: can there be any significant improvement by the receivers to just catch balls? The pathetic play of this corps last year hampered Maxwell’s development and certainly cost the Spartans a few games. Big Green lacks any experienced tight-ends (like Dion Sims) to bail out Maxwell like last year – the WRs need to make plays… or just catch the damn ball. If Maxwell ever decides to go North-South, look for Aaron Burbridge, Bennie Fowler, Keith Mumphrey, and DeAnthoy Arnett to be the playmakers. Cook is a deep-throwing QB, so these will be his targets. But, at RB, MSU will have its biggest drop since Lorenzo White was replaced by… Blake Ezor.

If you look at our RB corps, there really is only one stand out….

20 Nick Hill RB 5-8 198 JR Chelsea, Mich. - Chelsea
24 Gerald Holmes RB 6-0 212 FR Flint, Mich. - Carman-Ainsworth
33 Jeremy Langford RB 6-0 206 JR Wayne, Mich. - John Glenn
12 R.J. Shelton RB 5-11 204 FR Beaver Dam, Wis. - Beaver Dam
32 Nick Tompkins RB 5-9 185 RS FR Snellville, Ga. - Brookwood
44 Corry Brown RB/DB 5-11 170 FR Three Rivers, Mich. - Three Rivers
30 Riley Bullough RB/LB 6-2 230 RS FR Traverse City, Mich. - St. Francis
22 Delton Williams RB/LB 6-1 220 FR Erie, Pa. - Cathedral Prep

That would be Riley Bullough, who bulled through the defense for an incredible Spring Game performance. And, he’s supposed to be a linebacker. Nick Hill has moves and speed, but the ES joins the Spartan Nation being concerned about the loss of Le’Veon Bell toward the Spartan running game.

For the type of game that Dantonio calls, a balanced offense give the Spartans the best chance… Over the weekend, the ES will get to the defense and the overall Spartan game plan.

Michigan State vs Purdue predictions; Spartan running game

Spartan fans... Some early predictions on Michigan State vs Purdue so far: ESPN/Adam Rittenberg (MSU 27-26); CFN/Scout (MSU 38-30); Sports Network (Purdue 31-24); SpartyMSU (MSU 31-24). ES will have his preview out by early Friday morning.

Interesting to see Ed Baker, Ashton Leggett, and Larry Caper in the projected lineup. The ES isn't entirely sold on Leggett yet, his oustanding performance vs Western Michigan was against... well, WMU. Baker and Caper have experience against the Big Boys. But, Purdue is giving up 170 yards per game in Big Ten play, good for 8th-best in the conference. So, there should be room enough for all three to run.

Biggest Dissapointment: DBs; Biggest Concern? Running game

The biggest disappointment on Saturday vs. Central Michgian? The play of the Spartan defensive secondary, being smoked left, right, and up the middle (CMU's LeFevour went 34-of-47, a blistering 73% completion rate, for 352 yards). D-coord Pat Narduzzi effectively tied their hands by playing a base defense... The ES kept yelling, "where the hell is the bump-and-run?" and, "where are the blitzes???" If this team has such damn good talent in the defensive backfield, why play scared? Where the hell is the aggressiveness? Tackle, hit, and get after the Goddam Irish on Saturday; the Spartan DBs better not be waiting, or they'll just get run over. Downright embarrassing.

The biggest concern? The Spartan running game. Let's start with the play of the Spartan offensive line. My God, they looked uninspired and couldn't run block as well as my grandma. They looked better in pass blocking, but not by much. John Stipek looked confused half the time replacing Joel Nitchman (sprained knee) at center. You wonder how much of an impact that had on the line - we NEED Nitchman back. At RB, at least Caulton Ray hit the holes going forward and had a few yards. Larry Caper needs to ditch the "I wanna look like Barry Sanders" dance moves and run forward and hit the holes or the Irish will break his ankles and eat him alive. Listen, ND gave up 190 yards rushing to the Yellow Bellies of Ann Arbor, so there IS room to run. But, MSU better find it.

Spartans... Touchdown Jesus is waiting for you. You want some, or you want to just give up? Here is the best opportunity to RUIN the Irish pride. What do you do when a rabid dog is in a corner? You grab it by the neck and stomp on it. Ruin their day, their season, their football tradition. I want it. Do you? Go out and do it. It will be sweet redemption and put the Spartan Nation back on track. 1-2 is unacceptable. Go get it done.