Ugly Win Over Badgers Beautiful To Michigan State

After Brett Swenson's 44-yd field goal with 7 seconds remaining sailed through the uprights with ease, Spartan Stadium erupted.  Fans  leaped in the air, screamed at the top of their lungs, and even high-fived complete strangers.  For the first time in years, Michigan State fans have something to be proud of, with the Spartans owning a record of 8-2. 

Flat out, Wisconsin deserved to win this football game.  They out-gained Michigan State 281-25 on the ground.  Both P.J. Hill and John Clay ran for over 100 yards against the MSU defense, and the Badgers held Heisman candidate Javon Ringer to just 54 yards on 21 carries, 88 yards below his season average.  The general rule in college football is that the team with the most rushing yards wins; this game, however, was an exception.

With their prolific running game shut down, Michigan State had to turn to the air, putting the ball in the hands of oft-criticized senior quarterback Brian Hoyer.  Hoyer managed a decent 252 yards through the air with no touchdowns or picks, but completed a measly 43 percent of his passes.  The blame for this, however, can be placed in the hands of the Spartan receiving corps.  Literally.  MSU receivers dropped 7 passes, many of them coming at key times, such as a TD-catch dropped to end the first quarter, limiting the Spartans to a field goal.

Despite their dominance, the Badgers killed themselves with penalties.  They were penalized 12 times for an astounding 121 yards, mostly coming at key points in the game.  Up 11 with 9:19 remaining in the game, Wisconsin was flagged for 5 yards for delay of game, which coach Bret Bielema quickly turned into 20 when he was charged with unsportsmanlike conduct.  The Spartans would take advantage and promptly score to pull within 5.

The following possession for Wisconsin proved short, as they would be held to three-and-out, giving the ball back to Spartan kicker Brett Swenson to kick a 50-yard field goal.  Getting the ball back up 2, Wisconsin focused on their run game, appearing to move the ball to the MSU 4 before a holding call brought it back.  The very next play, a false start bit the Badgers and forced a punt.

A sign of a great quarterback is his ability to construct late game-winning drives, which Hoyer promptly did.  Several defensive pass interference calls and no-calls studded the drive, with Chris Rucker dropping a potential touchdown pass along the Spartan sideline.  Senior Blair White would make up for this mistake, converting on fourth down and getting within distance for the leg of Swenson.

Michigan State, being out of timeouts and the clock running down past 20 seconds, the Spartans rushed the field goal team onto the field, setting up with 15 seconds remaining and plenty of time for Swenson to take his time and make a solid kick.  Bielema, however, controversially called timeout with 7 seconds left, giving the Badgers time should the field goal be good.  And we all know how that turned out.

These Spartans are not the "same old Spartans".  Mark Dantonio has created a program that prides itself on its toughness and doing things the right way.  Previous Michigan State teams would not have won this game, as well as several others earlier this season.  And perhaps the best sign of all for the future of the Michigan State football program is in the benching of normal starting left guard Mike Bacon.  He neglected to wear a tie to pregame, a violation of team rules, however little it may seem.

Only a winning coach of true character who knows how to build a program and sustain it would do such a thing.  And Mark Dantonio is such a coach.