Things get twisted when the Cats play SpartyIt occurred to me last night as I set my sights on packing the family up for this weekend's game in Spartyville, that the Northwestern-Michigan State series may be the most entertaining we've had in the last 17 years. There have been Haily Mary passes and last second FGs made (2001), last second FGs "missed" (1992) that weren't really missed, FGs that were blocked to win a game (1997) fights that escalated into the stands (1993), a couple of road blowout wins in favor of the Cats and of course the greatest, or as I see it, worst comeback in the history of the sport.
Let's dive in...
1991 NU 16 MSU 13 - East Lansing
Mark Benson plays out of his mind and scores the game-winner as the Cats shock Michigan State only 2 years after suffering a 76-10 loss in their previous visit to East Lansing.
1992 MSU 27 NU 26 - Evanston
I vividly remember this Halloween game in Barnett's rookie season at NU. I was sitting in the student section and as Valensizi's game-winning kick sailed way above the left goal post, we started charging the field to - you got it - lake the posts. I stopped dead in my tracks as the refs looked at each other, kept looking and almost in a game of chicken, one finally gave the "no good" sign. We were crushed. Obviously we had no angle on the kick, but some RTVF student had been rolling tape on the game under the goal post and in the days of the primitive spot shadow it was impossible to tell if it was good or not. I remember saying that a winning program gets that call - and we were not at that time.
1993 MSU 31 NU 29 - East Lansing
The Cats lose yet another close one, but this time it got ugly. I don't remember what happened but I specifically remember Dave Eanet sounding frightened as NU players went into the stands and were swinging punches. Thank God there was no TV or You Tube in the day or this one could've been our Ron Artest moment.
1997 NU 19 ( #15 )MSU 17 - Evanston
The Cats pull off the "upset" over the 15th ranked and previoulsy unbeaten Spartans with a last second blocked FG. My favorite quote was then coach Nick Saban when he was speculating on his team's mentality - "I don't think our players were guilty of overlooking Northwestern because we didn't come out flat". The fact that we were back-to-back Big Ten champs and still getting the "overlooked" treatment is laughable.
2000 NU 37 (#18) MSU 17 - East Lansing
Damien Anderson and the high octane Zak Kustok-led offense put the beatdown on Sparty in East Lansing over 18th ranked Michigan State. This win came a week after our Big Ten opener at Wisconsin which we won 47-44 and moved the Cats to 4-1 on the season and was a statement game en route to our third Big Ten title since 1995.
2001 (#16) NU 27 (#23) MSU 26 - Evanston
This ESPN Instant Classic ranks as LTP's #14 Alltime Best NU game. In addition to being the first game my future wife attended with me, it is a Cardiac Cat classic. Kustok and Schweigardt executed the same Victory Right formation from the famous Minnesota game to setup a game-winning FG by David Wasilewski. All of this after MSU returned a punt for a TD, NU responded with a 4-minute TD drive and MSU responded with a kickoff return for a touchdown all in the last 4:42 of the game. For the complete near panic attack down memory lane click here.
2005 NU49 MSU 14 - East Lansing
Yet another beatdown, this time with Basanez leading a surgical precision attack. I remember Tom Izzo being an apologist during his in-game interview and also the cheap shot from Drew Stanton on his helmet-to-knee tackle on Brendan Smith's INT return. It's plays like this that make me loathe the Green Machine.
2007 MSU 41 NU 38 - Evanston
Ugggh. An unfortunate milestone of Dark Age proportion in which the Cats blew a 38-3 3rd quarter lead. CJ Bacher's first start had him looking like a Heisman candidate before Nick Roach went out with an injured leg and the wheels came off like never before.
So sorry to end on a downer, but overall you can see why I'm pretty psyched to freeload off my pal and attend my first ever game at Spartan Stadium. Something tells me this game will be added to the list.
11 comments:
I appreciate the importance and emphasis on this series. Not only as a pitovtal point in the season for the cats, but also in pointing out the history and rivalry between NU and Michigan State. I can't help remembering Gary Barnetts describe the edgy relationship between the two schools and how he felt MSU played after the whistle. I have really not been impressed with Michigan State this year and hopefully NU will take advantage of a young quarterback and a new coaching staff - True Love is sacrifice
This is now THE most important game of the season. Win on the road against MSU, and we're 3-3 with probably winnable games left against Minnesota, Indiana, and Eastern Michigan. And then there are 3 games that we very well could win: Purdue, Iowa, and Illinois.
If the Wildcats play out the season the way they played that first half against Michigan...well, we might have a decent season. I think the guys know they can do it now - they just need to bring it. And there's no better place to do that than against MSU, and exact some revenge for last season.
I don't have a good feeling about this one. Mostly because the Spartans are playing like a confident team. The Cats may match up well with them, but I think the Sparty confidence will result in a workmanlike 30-10 victory. For some reason, these Cats can't seem to put an entire game together against a quality opponent.
I doubt Bacher will be terribly rattled coming off the 4th Quarter debacle, but MSU has some major players on their pass rush. They will be licking their chops. It looks like Sutton will be out again (perhaps the season), so we'll be without our biggest weapon (again).
The odds were not in the Cats favor this season, and the injuries have not helped. Here's to hoping the players stay focused and finish strong.
"Cats may match up well". Uh, not really.
MSU has outgained, outscored, and out-defensed NW. NW has a meh running game, 81st in the country. CJ Bacher has thrown 4 TDs and 7 INTs, and has been sacked 16 times.
MSU has 23 sacks and 7 INTs. Maybe NW will hand off 55 times?
"Win on the road against MSU"...uh, no, sorry. Ne gahn happen.
MSU 35, NW 14.
Look what a 4-1 record does to a fan's confidence. (see above)
As opposed to what a 2-3 record does for a fan's irrationality.
BTW, steve, my argument isn't really with you -- I agree with your assessment of MSU as a confident team / workmanlike 30-10 victory. My argument is more with chaddogg's assessment of what constitutes a "winnable" game for NW.
NW capable of going 7-0 for the rest of the year???? bwahahaha.
Ahhhh...the joys of Spartyville entering our turf. This IS the game of the year for the Cats. I said it before the season started and haven't wavered. Of course, we thought we'd be 3-2 entering this one.
The most positive sign for hope I saw was the old Michigan State rearing its ugly personal foul head at critical junctures in the WI game.
I'm hoping our spread can annoy them enough to raise the ire and penalty totals to tilt things in our favor.
Biggest concern is the lack of takeaways for the Cats. We win that battle and we have a legitimate shot. I have no reason for optimisim other than the intangible "feel" that makes me know this series doesn't intimidate me as much as many others. The mystique of the powerful Spartan program is gone - despite the fact I really like Dantonio.
First of all, I must say I really enjoy Lake the Posts. Extremely well written and much better than any Spartan blog I have found to date. I'ts been added to my "daily reads" pile along with Mgoblog and SMQ.
I can understand how MSU is not as intimidating to you as in years past, and the Sparty program frankly deserves it. Four years of manic depressive coaches blowing huge leads and losing winnable games will wipe out any chance of benefit of the doubt.
However, Dantonio is already imprinting his personality onto the team this year -- hence the workmanlike / even emotional keel that replaced Johnelle's emotional roller coaster.
I think NW has two big concerns for this game: turnovers (MSU is +4; NW, -5) and sacks (MSU 23 sacks; NW 16 allowed). If NW reverses both of these -- and sucessfully throws the ball enough to score points despite being on the short end of the Time of Possession -- NW has a chance. You know MSU will grind it out; run, run, run some more, run Ringer; that doesn't work, run Caulcrick. Hoyer will throw short passes to the center and insides of the field to keep the clock running. Did I mention run? Lather, rinse, repeat.
How about injuries? Any key injuries to NW? Haven't paid much attention.
Thanks for the great blog!
Injuries are our achilles heel - actually high ankle sprain. Let's see...the 2005 Big Ten Freshman of The Year, RB Tyrell Sutton has played all of 5 quarters and looks like he may be done even for the year. Our star WR, Andrew Brewer was out before the year started, we just lost our starting lineman Joel Belding and two starting LBs are down. Other than that we're in great shape!
Agreed on the turnovers...but we have reason for optimism on the run after last week's performance against Hart. I'd argue we shut him down (as much as 103 yards is shut down) more than anyone in the last two seasons. He had 30 yards at the half and if not for a 23 yard run at the end of the game he wouldn't have sniffed a 3 ypc average.
The key to our game is very simple. Will the Omar Conteh (read 3rd string RB turned playmaker last week) from last week show up or the one against OSU. He is thunder and lightning in one guy. Gave our gang a lot to be optimistic about.
Also, if Bacher can lead his receivers on the over the middle screen passes, we're in good shape.
Dantonio has made MSU likeable for me...argggghhhhh.
Interesting points made by everyone. MSU does look like a competitive team, and as we all know it doesn't matter how you win, what matters is the "W" in the proper column. With that being said, is very conceivable to see that each team could, and i stress could have atleast one extra victory under there belt. As easy as it maybe to say that other big ten programs have better "talent" the bottom line is that everyone in this conference, or in Division 1 football has talent, you don't need to look any further than the roster pages on the teams websites and check out everyone's credentials. However I think Michigan State has played very well this year, and I find myself rooting for them in many cases because they have always been a legitimate threat in any sport they play. But in the course of history they seem to play second, third, or even fourth fiddle to Michigan and Ohio State. I think this game will be a lot closer than idicated for the following reasons. Michigan State is indeed talented and has been playing well all season ( a difficult victory against Pitt) but I think its conceivable they could have a down game against a seemingly floundering NW team. Also, with Omar, and many of the younger players who normally don't see playing time, the experience they gain in practice and in games can only benefit the team as the season goes on. Finally, we have an excellent Quarterback with the ability to make good decisions in an offense he was recruited to play. Many of his turnovers this year (Michigan Game and OSU) had very little to do with him. Being hit by the blind side and having receivers tip balls which they should have caught only to end up in a defenders hands are not his fault. So, I expect to see a close, hard fought game; and as an optimist, its only fair to say that Michigan State could also take this game over.
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