Processing the New Year's Day Miracle

I've had a few days now to process what transpired on January 1, though I am still impatiently waiting for either ESPN or BTN to replay MSU's miraculous Cotton Bowl comeback victory.

Where to start?

It's incredible to consider that the two teams playing for the national championship, Ohio State and Oregon, are the only two teams that beat Michigan State in 2014.

I'm happy for the Big Ten Conference. For at least this year, the conference has acquitted itself well in the bowl season and shaken the critics off its back. New Year's Day was especially sweet with Wisconsin defeating Auburn in overtime, Michigan State shocking Baylor, and Ohio State playing a great second half and soundly defeating Alabama.

Another wonderful aspect of those victories, and in particular MSU's win? The Jim "The Messiah" Harbaugh love-fest was knocked off the front pages for the first time in weeks, and people were reminded that football is still played at Michigan State.

Mark Dantonio and Michigan State also made a statement that this program isn't going anywhere. This was a huge win over a Baylor team that for weeks had complained that it belonged in the college football playoff, and is a legitimate top 5 team. The Bears have the best vertical passing game I've seen in I don't know how long (at least since the Spartans played Oregon earlier in the season--and as everyone knows, the Ducks are now playing for a national championship).

It was a win in a hostile environment that was, for all intents and purposes, a Baylor home game. Perhaps the fashion in which MSU won wasn't pretty, but the Spartans took advantage of every opportunity that Baylor threw its way in the fourth quarter. That's all one can ask a team to do. For as poorly as MSU played in the first three quarters (actually, the first quarter wasn't bad--the 2nd and 3rd were ugly), they figured it out when it mattered the most, and Pat Narduzzi decided to "unleash the hounds" in the final quarter. Probably feeling desperation and acknowledging that the defensive scheme of the first three quarters was a failure, Nardawg had the defense blitz on practically every play in the fourth quarter and it paid off.

So now I must eventually find the time to go out and find some Cotton Bowl merch. I tend to wait until a bowl game has been played and the result known before I spend any money on clothing or other paraphernalia. The one exception was last year when I bought two Rose Bowl shirts: one before January 1 and another after January 1.

One thing I know for certain: when the Cotton Bowl dvd/blu-ray combo pack is released (and I've already seen listings for it) I will be one of the first people to snag a copy. I will add it to my MSU sports dvd collection which now includes: the 1966 MSU/ND football game, the MSU basketball documentary that BTN produced five years ago, the 1979 NCAA basketball championship, the 2000 NCAA basketball championship, and last year's Rose Bowl. (Sorry to get all "Rain Man" on you there. Sometimes I can't help myself).

Well, I'm signing off for now. I'll be back later, whether you like it or not, with more musings.

I can't believe what I just saw

I'm almost speechless...I can't believe what I just saw. I realize I'm stealing that line from Jack Buck's call of former Spartan Kirk Gibson's walk off homer in game one of the '88 World Series, but it keep going in my head and seems apropos.

 

I can't believe what I just saw.

 

MSU, seemingly unable to stop Baylor's high-charged, sling-it-all-over-the-field offense, improbably and amazingly scored 21 unanswered points in the 4th quarter to complete the most amazing Spartan football comeback win I've ever witnessed.

 

(Yes, I know about the 2006 Northwestern comeback, but that doesn't belong in the discussion with this game against a national top five team playing in its own Texas backyard).

 

My hands have finally stopped shaking. My heart has stopped pounding at about 120 beats a minute. It will still take hours for my adrenaline to reach normal levels and for me to process this amazing 42-41 MSU win over Baylor.

Catching up with Spartan (and Big Ten) football

I've been unintentionally silent for the last week. Since I last wrote in here, a lot has happened in the Big Ten.

 

Ohio State parlayed its 59-0 blowout of Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game into a spot in the four team national championship playoff. The Buckeyes will play Alabama and, in this case, I'd love for the Big Ten to knock the SEC down a few pegs, so I'll be rooting for the Bucks.

 

Gary Andersen is out as Wisconsin coach and it's hard to make any sense of it. Was the fallout from the Ohio State shellacking so embarrassing that perhaps the Godfather (aka Barry Alvarez) gave Andersen an "offer he couldn't refuse"? Or was it simply that Andersen was homesick for the west coast? I don't know if the truth will ever be known.

 

Last, but certainly not least, the Spartans take on the jilted Baylor Bears in the (corporate name) Cotton Bowl. I have no idea what to expect from Baylor, a team that can certainly light up the scoreboard. Will Baylor come out angry about being left out of the playoff and take out its anger on MSU? Or will Baylor be flat and disinterested?

 

These are the same questions I asked four years ago when MSU was about to tangle with Alabama in the Capitol One Bowl. In a game that I have tried hard to forget ever took place, the Tide rolled all over the Spartans, 49-7...and it could have been worse. All questions about whether Alabama would be motivated were emphatically answered.

 

The 2014 MSU team is more talented and has more big game experience than the 2010 team, so I'd be shocked if there was a repeat of the Alabama massacre, but the Spartans should go into this game expecting a focused and hungry Baylor team--one that is determined to prove it belonged in the playoff.