Vintage Michigan State

As the game went on Saturday night and the cold front came through throwing waves of wind and rain in our faces, my dad and I wondered when it would happen. Which quarter would be Michigan St.'s bad quarter, or had it already passed? You have to understand, in recent years, Michigan St. is known for playing 45 minutes of great football. Unfortunately, the other 15 are not very good, full of mental breakdowns, mistakes, turnovers, etc. After State jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the 1st quarter, would the 2nd quarter be the one? Nope, an INT for a TD helped State keep a 31-14 halftime edge. How about the 3rd quarter? Negative. In the monsoon, State appeared to be the mentally tougher team, running the ball down Notre Dame's throat to lead 37-21. At the beginning of the 4th quarter, State started down the field again, playing power Big 10 football.

Then it began. Multiple holding penalties took State out of scoring position and gave the ball back to ND. Several plays later, Jeff Samardzija was running into the end zone after catching a Brady Quinn pass to make it 37-27 . Then, Drew Stanton fumbled (uh oh). Quinn to Rhema McKnight, 37-33 State. On the ensuing kickoff, Demond Williams took a knee at his 12 yard line because the hands team, not the normal kick return team was in the game. Williams could've gotten another 5-10 yards on his own, but instead he put his team in a big hole. On 3rd and short, State actually tried to throw the ball. But Stanton threw into a crowded middle, got picked off by Terrell Lambert, and you know the rest. Notre Dame 40, Michigan St. 37. After a loss like this, Michigan St. is known for going in the tank the rest of the year. Will it happen again? Maybe not next week vs. Illinois, but back to back games with Michigan and Ohio St. loom which will be a challenge.

Notre Dame is set up to be 10-1 going to USC to end the year. Purdue will score some points but won't stop ND. UCLA could be interesting and Navy has played the Irish tough recently, but if the Irish are anything but 10-1, it will be a disappointment, especially considering 5 of the next 7 are in South Bend. ND needs to get the running game going to help Brady Quinn. Quinn is back in the Heisman race after throwing 5 TD passes Sat. night, but Troy Smith is my front runner.

Some other notes from our Saturday night in East Lansing:

• 3rd largest crowd in stadium history, 80,000+. Magic Johnson was there with other notable basketball alumni.
• I knew the open container rules were lax, but I had to get used to people walking around with open cans and bottles a mile away from the stadium. What a tailgating scene though, very fun atmosphere.
• Yes, when the weather got bad in the 3rd quarter it was tough. But we were prepared, with only my shoes taking on water. It was a little eerie with the portable lights and the goalposts blowing back and forth. Thankfully, no lightning.
• We parked in a field and when trying to depart after the game, we got stuck for a few minutes and I got covered in mud pushing the van out of it.
• Included with the game program was a program from the 1966 "Game of the Century". Which makes me wonder, how many "Game of the Centuries" were there? Wasn't the 1971 Nebraska-Oklahoma game a "Game of the Century"? I'm sure there were others too.
• It was fun and not so fun sitting in the Notre Dame section. It was great being around the spirit and tradition, but I can't believe how wild it got after the comeback was complete. I mean, it was only Michigan St. (sorry State). Now USC, Michigan, Ohio St., someone like that I could understand. But Michigan St???? Michigan St. doesn't have that good of a program. Notre Dame should beat State 8 times out of 10 at least. Plus getting hit with 2 elbows in the back of the head without a word of acknowledgement left a little sour taste in my mouth. But in the end, a good experience.

Now some other sports notes:

• Miami: 0-4. I knew it could be rough, but 0-4 is still surprising. UC and the Battle for the Bell loom this week. The Hawks are about a touchdown underdog and deservedly so after UC played OSU and Va. Tech pretty tough the last couple of weeks. Whichever team's offensive line plays better will win the game because both aren't very good.
• Da Bears: 3-0. First win at the HankyDome since 2001 and nice to see Rex Grossman bounce back from a bad throw to throw the game winner. That's one thing about Grossman, he's a gunner and he never loses confidence, which can be good and bad. Now if the running game can get going, all will be well.
• If Ohio St. gets by Iowa, I can't see them losing until possibly to Michigan to end the year. Iowa will test that OSU secondary with their talented receivers and the experienced QB Drew Tate. If the Bucks can keep getting pressure with just their front 4, that will help things. What an environment Kinnick Stadium will be Sat. night. I hope OSU/Michigan will be a battle of undefeateds, when's the last time that happened?
• Not shedding a tear that Free Shoes U. and The U are out of the national title picture. Larry Coker won with Butch Davis's players. The U lacks the offensive playmakers that they had in the past. Bobby Bowden needs to retire, he's not getting the recruits he normally goes. FSU, with all that talent, should not have trouble running the ball.
• The Ryder Cup, yuck. Captain Lehman did all the right things. Too bad he couldn't get out there and make some putts. It's getting to be a broken record, the Euros on and around the greens, holeing shot after shot. You can analyze it all you want, but they simply outplayed us, period. If I had to make one change, I would make the US Ryder Cup venues PGA Tour venues so there actually was a true home course advantage. Oakland Hills, Valhalla, Whistling Straits, and Medinah are all great venues, but they only host a major every 6-7 years. Meanwhile, The Belfry and the K Club host Euro tour events every year. Venues that come to mind: Pebble Beach, Torrey Pines, Riviera, Sawgrass, Cog Hill, Bay Hill among others. I know it would take a minor miracle to make this happen, but how about Augusta??? Last Euro to win there: Olazabal in 1999. No matter how poorly Tiger and Phil are playing, they put together good tournaments at Augusta. So what if the flowers aren't in bloom, we need to win this thing.
• The Tigers are in the playoffs for the first time since 1987. Not a bad first sports year here in Detroit. Super Bowl, NCAA Tournament, Pistons won a couple of rounds, and the Tigers are the feel good story of baseball.
• Contender season finale, I like Steve Forbes tonight. He will take Grady Brewer seriously and will defeat him. His punches will do more damage and I think he'll wear Brewer out. What a great 2nd season, kudos to ESPN for putting on a good show.

Speaking of The Contender season finale, it's on now. G'night.