paul bunyan is home

"I should get financial compensation for watching this game" was a text message I received from an MSU grad friend near the tail end of the contest. No, the score did not end 78-0 but those who watched this game, and frankly, anyone who looked at the final score, knows that Michigan was significantly better at football than Michigan State on Saturday night. Wolverine fans know it. Spartan fans know it. Everyone in this state knows it. Another Jim Harbaugh-infused beatdown of an opponent at the Big House that resembled a boa constrictor slowly strangling its prey. Payback. Justice. Paul is home. 

Michigan State opened the game with the football after Michigan deferred their coin toss victory. The Spartans opened with a couple solid plays, a Jalen Berger run, an end around to Jayden Reed, and then a screen to Reed, but things quickly went haywire as MSU lost its discipline. LT Jarrett Horst was flagged for an unsportsmanlike-conduct after the play, then MSU committed a false start, giving themselves 2nd & 25. After a Payton Thorne keeper was foiled decisively, the Spartans were set up with 3rd & 30. They waved the white flag and punted. 

Michigan's first drive looked pretty much like we expected. They got solid gains on the ground and hit quick passes to Luke Schoonmaker, moving into Spartan territory but then a 1st & 10 screen to Cornelius Johnson was ripped out by a great play from MSU safety Xavier Henderson. The Spartans fell on the loose ball and had the big turnover. They were unable to capitalize though, as a 3rd & 3 run for Elijah Collins was oddly spotted short of the line to gain, and then the 4th & 1 Collins plunge up the middle was stopped short by the Wolverines. The fourth down try was initially spotted as a first down but the spot was clearly wrong, and replay officials rectified that. 

[Patrick Barron]

MSU thus gave the Wolverines excellent field position, starting at the opposing 46. JJ McCarthy found Donovan Edwards in space matched up on EDGE Jacoby Windmon, setting the Wolverines up with 1st & G at the four yard line. MSU did what they do well though, slamming the door inside the five. Blake Corum lost three yards on first down, McCarthy lost one more on a 2nd down run, and then the 3rd & G play was caught by Ronnie Bell well short of the goal line. Jake Moody's chip shot field goal put Michigan up 3-0. 

Michigan State's only scoring drive of the game would be the next one. Payton Thorne scrambled to pick up a first down, and then a few plays later, on 3rd & 8, he threw a fade up for Keon Coleman, who came down with it for a 29 yard gain. Two plays later, he jacked it up again, and again Coleman, the leapy half-basketball/half-football star, came down with it over good coverage from Gemon Green. This time he landed in the end zone and gave the visitors a 7-3 advantage. 

Surprisingly trailing, Michigan went back to their bread-and-butter, Blake Corum runs and some JJ McCarthy passing peppered in between. A Wolverine flea flicker attempt was not open, but McCarthy made a good decision to find Ronnie Bell open underneath instead. McCarthy dodged a blitzer on another play, rolling to the right and finding Luke Schoonmaker, who rushed inside the ten. Michigan ran Corum twice inside to get inside the three and then on 3rd & G, they ran a nifty play where McCarthy lateraled the pall forward (so it is technically a pass) to Blake Corum, who was coming across in motion and then surged into the end zone. 10-7 Wolverines. 

[Bryan Fuller]

Michigan State's next drive was pretty solid as well, showcasing Keon Coleman as a rising star in this conference yet again. Thorne hit Coleman for 27 on 3rd & 9 against DJ Turner and then would find Coleman for 22 against Makari Paige on the very next play. Down inside the Michigan 15, MSU decided to go to the run and and it was a bad idea. As they had all game, Michigan gummed up MSU's running game between the tackles. Elijah Collins and Jalen Berger would run it four times but could not gain a cumulative ten yards. When Berger was stuffed by Michael Barrett and Junior Colson on 4th & 1 from the five yard line, it was a turnover on downs and a major opportunity for the Spartans to stay competitive had been squandered. 

The home team got the ball with 7:31 remaining in the first half and proceeded to go on a long drive that milked nearly all of the remaining clock. The first five plays were all rushing plays, though the last was a McCarthy scramble for 21 yards into Spartan territory. A few plays later, McCarthy scrambled again, this time on 4th & 3, picking up 16 more yards and getting Michigan down to the MSU 22. Donovan Edwards would then rush two times for 16 yards, setting the Wolverines up for 1st & G on the six with a chance to get a two-score lead into halftime. It was not to be again, as MSU again slammed the door, holding two rushing plays to a cumulative -1 yard, and then Windmon helped break up a 3rd & G pass to Schoonmaker. Moody threaded through his second chip shot FG of the game, making it 13-7. 

MSU would get one more possession before halftime, but it would achieve nothing, even after being given a second chance. They seemed to go three-and-out when Mike Sainristil broke up a pass to Tre Mosley, but two Wolverines jumped offsides on the punt, giving MSU a fresh set of downs. Didn't matter. Thorne's screen to Elijah Collins was tackled in bounds and then Thorne was sacked by Mazi Smith and Mike Morris, ending the half. Despite Michigan State getting the half's only turnover, getting the extra possession from the coin toss, and hitting four passing plays of 20+ yards in the first half, they were unable to lead at the half. Your author felt at the time that it was a rather bad omen for MSU's chances in the second half and he would be proven right. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: More recap]