Spartans finish off Penn State, claim Big Ten Championship

You’ve no doubt read all about the Michigan State Spartans Big Ten Championship clinching victory over Penn State in Happy Valley on Saturday.

I’ve been unable to give you my thoughts because my computer’s hard drive decided it was done. But I’m back and I’ve got some thoughts for you. I watched the game in my living room with my boys, my father-in-law and my brother-in-law. I said to myself before the game started that championships should not be easy to earn and these are the types of games that you need to win if you want to take home the hardware. You should win where you hadn’t won before. You should beat teams that have always beaten you. However, in my head I had a feeling that this game was going to be like the Wisconsin game and the Michigan game… we’d be in control the whole time.

Speaking of the maize and blue, we kept one eye on the Michigan Wolverines, asking/pleading/even rooting for their help – of course, we all know that they took their recent football ineptitude to a whole ‘nother level on Saturday by disappointing the entire state of Michigan, not just their fan base. But enough about them, lets talk about us. The MSU-PSU game can be summarized quite succinctly by head coach Mark Dantonio:

“I think we had a very workman-like attitude. We ran the ball effectively. We passed the ball when we needed to. We came up with trick plays. I thought (offensive coordinator) Coach Treadwell called a great game as did (defensive coordinator) Coach Narduzzi. We got off the field. They made a couple plays against us which made it interesting, but things happen. They have a good football team. They have great players here who make plays. I thought we played very fundamentally sound for the most part. I thought we were in charge for pretty much the whole football game. I thought we played very, very well until the end of the game. We could’ve ended it easily at 28-10, but we’ll take it.”

When it was over, MSU claimed its first victory at Beaver Stadium since a 23-0 victory in 1965, snapping an eight-game losing streak, and won its first game in State College since Joe Paterno took over as Penn State’s head coach. And I’ll say it – not only did we handle Penn State on the road… we owned this game. We scored a touchdown in each of the 4 quarters and held the Nittany Lions to 3 points thru 3 quarters. We were up 28-10 with 6 minutes to go in the game. It was a great team victory, with a focus and attention to detail that champions have (except for one brain-dead moment by Trenton Robinson and one lost fumble by Edwin Baker).

The Baker fumble came as we were trying to put the game away. And it was disappointing. But nothing made me more upset than when Robinson tried to run the interception out of the end zone. Of course, the players (Brian Linthicum specifically) picked up Robinson after his mistake and the coaching staff didn’t throw him under the bus – but I can’t not comment about Robinson’s mental error. I’ve said it before when Baker didn’t take a knee before the goal line in Evanston, and Gordon tried returning the game-ending interception against Northwestern, and Neely started running with the ball after the interception to end the Purdue game – great players know how to go against their instincts and do what it takes to win the game. Take a knee. Fall down. Turn around and throw the ball out of bounds. I don’t care what you do… just stop running with it. Bad things happen when you take completely unnecessary risks.

There, rant complete.

The rest of the game was filled with positives. We got out of the gates fast and started off with a great first drive, capped by an Edwin Baker TD run (he ran 7 times for 40 yards on the first drive and ended up with 118 yards on the day – and that was a great sight to see).

Just as the Nittany Lions were pushing back to tie the game on their first drive – going 65 yards on 8 plays – the defense stiffened and held them to a field goal. That was huge. It gave a lot of confidence to the defense AND to the offense. In fact, it was the last time Penn State would score until a couple minutes into the 4th quarter. JoePa’s team punted the ball the next 6 times they got it. Before they were forced to kick it away, their next 6 drives amassed the following: 34 yards on 9 plays, 16 yards on 5 plays, 48 yards on 10 plays, 26 yards on 4 plays, -3 yards on 3 plays and -3 yards on 3 plays again.

As the defense was in control for the first 3 quarters, the offense was methodical. An 8-play, 80-yard touchdown drive in the 2nd quarter ended with a Cousins to Cunningham 8-yard TD pass.

The next 3 MSU possessions were punts but the last possession of the 3rd quarter and the first possession of the 4th quarter resulted in passing touchdowns. The 3rd quarter TD drive covered 52 yards on 6 plays (Cousins was 5/5 with one Baker 4-yard run added in), took 3:07 off the clock and finished with a 24-yard TD pass from Cousins to Cunningham, their second connection of the day.

The 4th quarter TD drive covered 68 yards on 9 plays, taking up 5:27 of game time, and finished on a nifty trick play where Keith Nichol rolled right and threw to Charlie Gantt in the back of the end zone). The trick plays involving Nichol actually worked today (Nichol caught a 13-yard pass from Keshawn Martin on the same drive)… that was nice to see.

And there we were – up 28-10, ready to celebrate. All we had to do was keep from giving up 3 scores. Of course, as Spartan fans know… from here it got ugly. And frustrating. Matthew McGloin went 4 for 8 on the next drive, hooking up with Justin Brown for a huge 45-yard gain. Evan Royster finished the TD drive with 2 rushes for 14 yards and a rushing TD. The missed two-point conversion left the score 28-16.

MSU got the ball back with 5:51 left, still up 2 scores, knowing it’s only job was to run out the clock. And Baker and Cousins were getting the job done. Until 3rd & 6 from the 42-yard line, just after PSU had called a timeout with 2:10 to go. Baker gained enough yardage on the next play for the first down – which would have iced the game and ran out the clock in an impressive fashion. Instead, a fumble was forced by Nathan Stupar and recovered by Kevion Latham at mid-field. We were still ok – a defensive stop was all we needed… and we finally got it in the end zone on the interception. Sighs of relief quickly changed to worried glances and then to unbelieving stares at the TV screen as Spartan fans across the country screamed at Robinson (just like teammate Eric Gordon did) – GO DOWN! He didn’t and PSU got the ball back. Of course, the next play was the touchdown… there was no doubt that was going to happen. And my mind went immediately to the CMU game of 2009, hoping upon hope that history would not repeat itself in the form of a recovered onsides kick.

The extreme frustration turned to extreme celebration when Brian Linthicum took matters into his own hands (literally) and attacked the bouncing onsides kick, falling on it at the 36-yard line. 2 victory formations later and we were officially BIG TEN CHAMPIONS. In fact, we were the only champions at the time. The Wolverines were still “playing” the Buckeyes and we sat atop the standings as champions for a good 10 minutes before Ohio State caught us. As the clock ticked down to all zeroes, a couple players gathered behind Coach Dantonio with a big bucket of what appeared to be ice-cold liquid. However, when your coach has a heart attack mid-season, traditions tend to change a little bit. The Spartans ended the day by dumping a Gatorade bucket full of green and white confetti on their coach. His reaction was one of gratitude, saying “I couldn’t have handled water today” with a gigantic smile. Here’s to hoping that Dantonio feels strong enough after our bowl game win in warm weather, that he’ll be able to take the liquid celebration this time.

More coverage: Click here to see how the Spartans “built a championship when no one was looking” including pictures of Cousins and Dell practicing in a local church gym while Dell was suspended.

Notes:

• Coach Dantonio was recognized Monday night as the Big Ten Coach of the Year. And it was well deserved – he made crucial decisions week after week this year, getting the Spartans into this championship-clinching position. Not only did he take calculated risks with his special teams trick plays, he showed that he has built a program, not just a team. His coaching staff and his players held the ship upright and kept it moving forward while he was on injured-reserve from a heart attack following the Notre Dame win. Dantonio missed victories over FCS foe Northern Colorado and Big Ten Champion Wisconsin. He stayed away from the sidelines in wins over Michigan and Illinois while coaching from the press box.

• Something that I was very glad to hear: Dantonio mentioned to the media Monday morning that they had a team meeting after the PSU victory where he stressed the importance of their actions. He said “the price of greatness is responsibility.” I’m pretty sure Chris L Rucker was listening intently at this 7am team meeting. Of course, the fact that we didn’t hear of any arrests or misbehavior since the celebration isn’t news. But the absence of those stories does a Spartan’s heart good.

• Speaking of misbehavior – who would have thought that one year after the Rather Hall incident, Coach Dantonio not only would keep this team together, but would motivate them to even greater levels that haven’t been seen around these parts for decades. That Coach of the Year award was well deserved and, in my opinion, was earned as much in December, January and February as it was in September, October and November.

• After taking back the U G L Y Land-Grant Trophy from Pennsylvania State University, the Spartans Showcase will be holding all its possible trophies for awhile: the Land Grant (PSU), the Megaphone (Notre Dame), the Paul Bunyan (Michigan), the Brass Spittoon (Indiana), and, of course, the BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY!

• Coach Dantonio is the fifth Spartan coach to win a Big Ten title (Biggie Munn in 1953; Duffy Daugherty in 1965 and 1966; Darryl Rogers in 1978; George Perles in 1987 and 1990).

• Dantonio’s four-year record at MSU is 33-18…the 33 wins are the most by any Spartan coach in his first four seasons.

• Under Dantonio, the Spartans are 9-3 in games played in November. In the four seasons prior to his arrival, Michigan State went just 2-11. The Spartans went 3-0 this November (vs. Minnesota, Purdue and Penn State), posting its first perfect November since 1999 (vs. Ohio State, Northwestern and Penn State).

• Kirk Cousins completed 17-of-22 passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns…he now has 20 touchdowns this season, which ties for fourth most in a Spartan season…his 41 career TDs are sixth most in MSU history.

• Keith Nichol threw a 13-yard TD pass to Charlie Gantt in the fourth quarter, Nichol’s first TD pass since throwing a 71-yard TD to Keshawn Martin in last year’s Penn State game…it marked Nichol’s 8th career passing TD.

• Michigan State’s tight ends combined for eight catches for 80 yards…Gantt had 4 for 38 yards and a TD, while Brian Linthicum had 4 for 42 yards.

• B.J. Cunningham caught two TD passes in a single game for the 1st time in his career… he had a 8-yard TD reception in the second quarter and a 24-yard score in the third quarter.

• MSU held Penn State to 84 yards rushing, marking the fifth time this season the Spartan defense has held their opponent under 100 yards rushing (Western Michigan, Florida Atlantic, Notre Dame, Minnesota, Penn State).

• MSU was 3-of-3 scoring in the red zone. For the season, the Spartans are 39-of-43 scoring in the red zone this season, good for 91%.

• MSU held a 34:03-25:57 advantage in time of possession. MSU is 8-0 this season and 23-3 under Dantonio when leading in time of possession.