It's NEVER easy being Green (Nebraska 28, Michigan State 24)

One would think that after being a Spartan fan for 35+ years, I'd be used to gut-wrenching losses, but I gotta tell you they never get easier, and in the pantheon of brutally painful losses, this one against Nebraska was a doozy.

A few posts ago, I wrote that all the emotion had essentially been beaten out of me throughout this season--well, as you probably could guess, that was not entirely true. I was up and down an emotional roller coaster throughout this game and was left speechless by the result--so ins short, I had plenty of emotion to give in this game.

Before I start going off on the officials for the absolutely horrendous pass interference call that gave Nebraska first-and-goal and, for all intents and purposes, the win--let me say that there was plenty of terrible officiating that went both ways.  Michigan State also had plenty of opportunities to ice the game, but were never able to make THE big play to accomplish that goal. That's been the story of this football season.

There were so many opportunities for the Spartans to put the final nail in the Huskers' coffin: the inability to pick up a first down on the final possession (just like in the Michigan game), the Johnny Adams penalty on the shoulda coulda been touchdown interception. (If you ask me, that play was the turning point in the game. MSU would have had all the momentum and a 17-point lead if that touchdown counts. Instead, the ball ends up on the MSU 10(ish) yard line and the Spartans only keep the ball for less than a couple minutes. Just a KILLER turnaround.

(I have gone back and viewed Johnny Adams' alleged penalty and it is, at best, a questionable call. More than the phantom pass interference, this call was the one that was the turning point in the game).

To tell you the truth, after that interception touchdown was called back, I had a sense of impending doom. Rip me all you want, but it probably comes with the territory of being a Spartan football fan. The game felt like the 2009 Iowa game: a game in which the Spartans, for the most part, played a very good game but just could not make THE DEFINING play to seal the deal. All throughout that '09 Iowa game, I had a feeling that it would not end well, and I had the same feeling today.

Well, enough about this for now. Maybe I'll write more about this later. All I really know at this point is that Obama better win on Tuesday or this will be one brutal Fall.

Can the Spartans finally beat Nebraska?

Michigan State has never beaten Nebraska in football. In fact, the Spartans have never come within two touchdowns of beating the Huskers. In the teams' six previous contests dating all the way back to 1914, MSU has been outscored 205-37, Even if the 1995 and 1996 humiliations are removed (50-10 and 55-14 losses at the hands of some great Tom Osborne-coached teams) the Spartans have been outscored 100-13. The Harlem Globetrotters and Washington Generals have a closer all-time head-to-head record than MSU and Nebraska. (Okay, that is a bit of an overstatement--but at least the Washington Generals have one win over the Globetrotters).

Now that I've established how one-sided this series has been, isn't it finally time for MSU to get a win? This streak can't last forever, and the Spartans will want to make amends for one of their worst performances of the 2011 season, a 24-3 loss to Nebraska in Lincoln.

I hope that the Nebraska fans don't invade Spartan Stadium en masse. I hope that MSU's defense can continue what they did last week against Wisconsin's run game and shut down the Huskers' high-powered offense. But most importantly, I hope that MSU's offense can expand upon the good things it did last week down the stretch against Wisconsin--at least do enough to outscore Nebraska. I'd be happy with a 10-7 or 14-13 type of win.

(I am watching the Michigan/Minnesota game while writing this and Michigan's offense looked absolutely woeful in its first possession of the game. Devin Gardner is playing in place of Denard Robinson and all I have to say is "ouch, not pretty.").

I will not make any predictions regarding the MSU/Nebraska game, since my predictions are never accurate, but I will of course be rooting mightily for a Spartan win.

MSU/Wisconsin replay on Big Ten Network

I'm taking a break from the Detroit Tigers game and watching the Big Ten Network's replay of the MSU/Wisconsin game.

Something I forgot to mention in my previous post is that the Spartans' wide receivers have quietly improved, with Keith Mumphery and Tony Lippett in particular having some huge catches in the game-tying drive.

William Gholston had a good game and what a great hit on Montee Ball in the first play of overtime. Wisconsin's offense became anemic when Stave left the game.

Great catch by Bennie Fowler to win the game. After the rough year he has had, he deserved it.

Now I am enjoying watching the befuddled look on Bret Bielema's face after the Spartans won the game in overtime, similar to the look he had after the Rocket game last year. Also amusing are the shocked and dazed looks on the Wisconsin fans' faces.

Now I have switched back to the Tiger game to see that Buster "Peach Fuzz" Posey hit a home run to give the Giants a 3-2 lead. I need to remember the warm feeling of the MSU game to ward off possible depression from the Tigers woeful World Series performance.

Spartan stunner (Michigan State 16, Wisconsin 13)

It's about time the stars aligned in Michigan State's favor, and they did yesterday in Madison. It was an unexpected victory, and an ugly victory (have there been any other kind victories for MSU this season?), but a great victory all the same. It just may have been a season-salvaging victory.

After a litany of three-and-outs, the Spartans saved their best offensive drive of the season for when it mattered the most. it was a masterful 12 play, 75 yard touchdown drive that began with 6:06 left in the game and lasted 4:58. The Spartans tied the game and then won in overtime.

What's particularly mind-boggling about this game-tying possession is how inept the Spartans had been on their previous five possessions of the first half, in which they ran a grand total of 17 plays for 56 yards.  But maybe, just maybe, finally making big plays to win a game is the confidence builder this team needs going forward as they face Nebraska, Northwestern, and Minnesota to close the regular season.

Once again, the Spartans' defense was outstanding. They held Wisconsin to only 190 total yards and a minuscule 19 yards rushing. It's a safe bet that MSU's defense will keep them in ever game throughout the rest of the season.

***

Well, if I seemed like a downer in my last post, I apologize. I really didn't see this coming, but what a pleasant surprise.  After what the MSU football team has been through, they deserved it. I thought MSU could keep it a close game, as they have kept every game close this season, but I thought winning in Madison might be asking too much. I was trying to be a realist, not a pessimist. Who, besides perhaps the MSU players themselves, saw the defense dominating Wisconsin in this manner? What MSU fan predicted the offense finally doing just enough to get a victory in a hostile environment in which the Badgers had won 21 consecutive home games? The answer is probably not many.

***

The leaves are piling up in my yard, so I alternated between raking outside while listening to MSU announcers George Blaha and Jim Miller on the radio, to occasionally coming back inside to watch the game on television. I found that my relatively blase attitude toward the game was helpful, keeping me emotionally balanced through the entire afternoon. I'll have to see if this holds true next Saturday when the Spartans play Nebraska.

For now, I'll enjoy this unexpected MSU win over the Badgers. Outside of Michigan, there are few other teams I enjoy bearing more than Wisconsin.