Spartans Beat Purdue

Another Trifecta Weekend… Two in a row.. Spartans WIN, Wolverines and Notre Dame both lose….  

Spartans win.. beating Purdue  in a very close game..

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
-----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
Michigan State......  7 10  6 17  - 40
Purdue.............. 10 10  7 10  - 37

What I saw:   Watching from the Barcalounger.. Spartans  are clearly a different team than they were 3 years ago.. They continued to battle.. working as a team. No relenting in the late quarters.. Reacting, playing and celebrating as a unified group, a Family..   Its refreshing to watch it, as well as tag along as a die hard Fan…  The program is going forward, coalescing into the most unified group, Best  I have seen in 20 years..  They won in all phases of today’s game…  Great Saturday T.V.  

Just after I cracked my first beer and about 10 seconds into the game, Chris Rucker picks up a Bolden fumble and took it in for a TD.. I knew it was going to be a good day for the Spartans… not an easy day.. but a good one.. This set the tone..

Outstanding was the Green and White defense.  They were on the field for  40:39, the Purdue “D” was only out there for 19:21…. These guys held Purdue in check.. It’s the D that won the game today.. yes, there was some very impressive ”O” stats.. but  the MSU “O” was only out there for 19:21….

Two thirds of the game.. the Spartan “D” had to fend off a Hot Purdue squad….  Stop after stop..  Blocked FG.. They did their job.

Special teams.. Check out the return stats.. Keshawn Martin did it again… 166 for 5 returns, including and 85 yarder for Martin and a 43 yarder for A.J.   Keshawn is FAST. It was like he put it in another gear.. very impressive.

                  Punts   Kickoffs  Intercept
All Returns     No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg
---------------------------------------------
Jimmerson, A.J.  0   0  0  2  63 43  0   0  0
Martin, Keshawn  0   0  0  5 166 85  0   0  0
Totals...        0   0  0  7 229 85  0   0  0

Brett –DNBTU- Swenson hit two 52 yrd field goals.. STUD ! This kid has been M-O-N-E-Y for the last 3 years…

Field goal attempts
----------------------------------------
Swenson, Brett  2nd 01:49  28 yds - Good
Swenson, Brett  3rd 13:24  52 yds - Good
Swenson, Brett  3rd 01:06  52 yds - Good
Swenson, Brett  4th 01:51  21 yds - Good

Cousins was Hot today… . Concerns me a little to see him hobble a little after his last drive…

Passing         Cmp-Att-Int Yds TD Long Sack
--------------------------------------------
Cousins, Kirk     11-25-0   208  3   73    0
Totals...         11-25-0   208  3   73    0

The RB Back situation: even with 2 leaving the school, still they have a keen stable of talented players:
Rushing         No Gain Loss  Net TD Lg  Avg
--------------------------------------------
Martin, Keshawn  3   70    0   70  0 45 23.3
Baker, Edwin     7   40    0   40  0 21  5.7
Caper, Larry     8   36    0   36  0 12  4.5
Leggett, Ashton  3    9    0    9  0  4  3.0


The Ground game was more ineffect today then the air... But, some phenominal catches...

Receiving        No.  Yds   TD Long
-----------------------------------
Cunningham, B.     3   92    1   73
White, Blair       3   18    1    9

                                    MSU      PUR

FIRST DOWNS...................       12       28
  Rushing.....................        6       10
  Passing.....................        5       17
  Penalty.....................        1        1
NET YARDS RUSHING.............      154      151
  Rushing Attempts............       24       37
  Average Per Rush............      6.4      4.1
  Rushing Touchdowns..........        0        2
  Yards Gained Rushing........      158      179
  Yards Lost Rushing..........        4       28
NET YARDS PASSING.............      208      373
  Completions-Attempts-Int....  11-25-0  39-55-0
  Passing Touchdowns..........        3        2
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS...........      362      524
  Total offense plays.........       49       92
  Average Gain Per Play.......      7.4      5.7
Fumbles: Number-Lost..........      1-1      2-1
Penalties: Number-Yards.......     6-35     5-50
KICKOFFS-YARDS................    9-557    8-517
  Average Yards Per Kickoff...     61.9     64.6
  Net Yards Per Kickoff.......     46.9     36.0
  Touchbacks..................        4        0
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD.    0-0-0   2-19-0
  Average Per Return..........      0.0      9.5
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD  7-229-0   4-55-0
  Average Per Return..........     32.7     13.8
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD..    0-0-0    0-0-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD.   1-11-1   1-19-0
Miscellaneous Yards...........       13        0
Possession Time...............    19:21    40:39
Third-Down Conversions........  2 of 10 14 of 22
Fourth-Down Conversions.......   0 of 0   0 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      4-4      4-4
Sacks By: Number-Yards........     1-13      0-0
PAT Kicks.....................      4-4      4-4
Field Goals...................      4-4      3-5

Great Game….   Go Green !!!

Sparty On.. Beat JoPa !!!