It's a shame that such a fantastic and wild game can be overshadowed by the Michigan State coaches going into complete brainlock in overtime. There's no avoiding it, though. Michigan State Coach Mark Dantonio deserves a lot of questioning for this loss.Northwestern had the ball first in the overtime and scored a touchdown to go up 48-41. The Spartans had accumulated 295 total rushing yards (8.9 yards/carry) with Javon Ringer accumulating 185 on just 12 carries. He never saw the ball. In fact, the Spartans passed on 1st and 10, 2nd and 10, 3d and 10 and of course on 4th and 10. They never picked up a yard. Passing on every down? Brian Hoyer had been 16-26 for 186 yards before that. Not horrible, but rather conservative and not exactly where you should want to place the burden of scoring upon.
Otherwise this was a thoroughly entertaining game. Close to 1100 total yards. The Wildcats had only 90 yards on the ground and over 500 throwing. Michigan State was just as entertaining on offense with just under 300 rushing yards.
The Wildcats snapped their 3 game losing streak and Michigan State after two straight squeaker losses begins to assume a familiar sense of fading and implosion. It doesn't seem to matter who is coaching.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-06-2007 @ 4:43PM
criticalfanatic said...
This follows the questionable playcalling at Wisconsin when Dantonio and staff chose to run the ball on three straight plays when moving the ball into Badger territory on the final drive
I'm at a loss.
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10-06-2007 @ 5:31PM
jallotta said...
Both coaches made some really stupid decisions at the end of the game. But Michigan State gave away the game in overtime. Not only did they pass 4 straight plays, but every single one was into the endzone. They didn't even try any safe shorter completions to get a first down.
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10-06-2007 @ 5:31PM
David said...
Dantonio and Narduzzi and Treadwell take the heat two weeks in a row. Who are these guys? Narduzzi D has given up 1,000 yards in 2 games!! Guess Dantoni won't have to worry about losing Narduzzi to a head coaching job anytime soon. Same goes for Treadwell. Treadwell can't call a play when it is mission critical. And Dantonio can't seem to stop the mistakes and stop the return to MSU traditon of folding under pressure. I am exceedingly disappointed.
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10-08-2007 @ 8:18AM
Darryl Hondorp said...
Forget about play calling. The story line is defense-- or the lack thereof. This spartan secondary is very, very soft. You can't expect your offense to score 50 points every week in order win football games. Note also that the Spartan defense has had greater difficulty pressuring opposing QBs now that we've entered the big ten season. Expect more of today's performanc in coming weeks-- the defense simply doesn't have enough playmakers
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10-14-2007 @ 11:03AM
seriusjoe79 said...
They shut down Indiana this week. Dantonio is a good coach and the program is heading in the right direction. The offense has been superb behind the steady play of Hoyer. 5-2 is a good start for this team. 1 more win and we're bowling for dollars.
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