Except what a lot of people thought was going to happen didn’t happen.
With their head coach Mark Dantonio once again coaching from the sideline Michigan State rallied to beat Big Ten foe Northwestern 35-27 to go to 8-0 on the season and remain undefeated.
It’s also pretty clear to this point that the Spartan have something special going. No longer can the doubters claim that they haven’t wont a true road game. No longer can anyone say that these are the same old Spartans.
One thing that is also pretty is clear is that this is a second half team.
From the start it didn’t look good at all for State as they blew the first two drives and couldn’t convert on a third and one. Special teams, which are normally right on the money for State struggled. Dan Conroy, sent a field goal wide, Aaron Bates, who normally is a very dependable punter had one go off the side of his foot and Keshawn Martin, a go to receiver and very talented return specialist was injured early in the game. The dominant running game that was steamrolling over Michigan defenders a couple weeks ago was getting stuffed by one of the worst run defenses in the Big Ten.
Then again, these weren’t the same old Spartans.
Some turnovers for Northwestern and a couple of three and outs led to one of those types of plays that Mark Dantonio is really becoming known for.
Starring down the barrell of a fourth and six on the Northwestern 31 a field goal seemed out of question with the strong winds and a punt was very undesirable given the 24-14 hole MSU was in.
Mark Dantonio decided to leave his offense on the field and it appeared that they were going to roll the dice and attempt to get the first down.
Yet, Dantonio called a timeout, took a delay of game and sent out his punting unit. But for Dantonio the pieces were all in place to unleash “mouse trap”.
Lined up for the punt, Bates faked it and threw a 21 yard pass that connected with Bennie Fowler keeping the MSU offense on the field. Northwestern fell into “mouse trap”. Because of this MSU was able to score on the following play.
All Spartans should enjoy this win an continue to be excited for the rest of the season. However, it is vital that MSU starts to play more complete games and not fall behind of let up in the first half. They can ill afford to do this when they play stronger teams.
