Sites Holmquist trys, and often fails, to go no more than a couple of days without visiting (some of which Holmquist regularly swipes links from without attribution)
After three possessions Michigan State had a 17-0 lead over Minnesota at the Metrodome in Minneapolis today. It was 34-17 at halftime after Deandra Cobb of Michigan State returned a kickoff the length of the field and the defense picked up a Minnesota fumble that allowed Dave Rayner to kick a 50 yard field goal to end the half.
All those points came in handy because even though Michigan State would lead by as many as 20 points in the second half, the Spartans ended up winning by only 6, 44-38.
The offense and special teams deserve the bulk of the credit for the win, both for the points they scored and the fact that they didn’t make any mistakes –Michigan State didn’t turn the ball over and the “hands team” successfully fielded two onsides kicks in the game’s final minutes. The defense gave up a lot of points and yards –although they did hold Minnesota to about half as many rushing yards as the Golden Gophers normally get. (I love the idea of a team being the “Gophers,” by the way. So much more whimsical and less problematic than most nicknames.)
Still a victory is a victory and a victory over a good team is a victory over a good team, and MSU is now 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the Big Ten. They have next week off and then seven days later play Michigan in East Lansing. Michigan beat Illinois 56-14 in Ann Arbor today to go to 6-1 and 3-1. They play Purdue next week in Ann Arbor. Purdue is only Big Ten team besides Michigan State that undefeated in conference play at 6-1 and 3-0. They prevailed on the road today, 26-23 over Wisconsin.
