Michigan 21, Michigan State 7
On the surface, this game had the calling cards of an all-too-familiar script: missed opportunities, bad weather, field-flipping penalties, drive-killing turnovers, and another honest-to-goodness trash tornado. At some point any Michigan fan watching had to have seen a flag thrown or a ball popped into the air or a hot dog wrapper violently whipped back and forth against a sky that matches the concrete ring around the Spartan Stadium field and felt their stomach drop. And yet the goal posts in East Lansing are still standing, which means they’re going to be shifted for the next year in living rooms and bars and dining room tables across the state.
There is one unassailable fact, one thing completely immune to the shifting of said goal posts, and it’s that Michigan’s defense is really damn good. There has been a great deal of talk this week about ghosts around these parts—that talk carried into the game until about the three-minute mark in the third quarter—but the one who was apparently seeing them today was Brian Lewerke. Michigan State’s offensive line had trouble keeping Michigan’s defensive tackles from pushing through the middle, but the near-constant pressure came from the edges. Chase Winovich, Josh Uche, and Kwity Paye ate the lunch of Michigan State’s tackles; late in the third quarter, Cole Chewins decided to cut block Chase Winovich on 2nd and 10. Winovich was credited with three QB hurries on the day, Paye with one, and Uche with two sacks. My notes show about three times as many instances of QB pressure as the official stats; the presence of near constant mortal danger makes it less surprising that Lewerke was throwing seemingly everything that was targeted moderate or long out of bounds.
[Hit THE JUMP for incredible photos that I tried to put some words with]
Of course, the coverage also played a significant role in Lewerke’s throws past the chalk. Michigan recorded one PBU and zero interceptions, as Lewerke made the smart choice to wing the ball wide and live to play another down instead of forcing it into vanishingly small windows.
Michigan State’s lone points on the day came after a nearly disastrous two-drive sequence for Michigan. Leading 7-0 after halftime, Michigan fans took to Twitter to lament their missed first half opportunities within seconds of the second-half kickoff. Chase Winovich was flagged for a personal foul on the first play of the half, then Devin Bush followed suit with a personal foul of his own on the next play. The defense regained its composure and forced Lewerke into an out-of-bounds throw, an incompletion, another throw out of bounds, and a Wildcat speed option on which Winovich erased the gap the ballcarrier wanted and Paye made the stop. Even so, Michigan ceded field position at a time they could ill afford to do so.
It took three plays for that to come back to bite Michigan. A Higdon carry sans blocks lost two yards, then Shea Patterson put a ball too high for Nico Collins on the outside. A draw to Chris Evans on 3rd-and-12 ended with Raequan Williams ripping the ball out and Michigan State recovering the fumble at Michigan’s seven-yard line. Michigan State ran a variant of the now infamous Philly Special, with Lewerke receiving the snap then flipping to Scott who tossed the ball to Darrell Stewart as he jetted through the backfield and then threw to Lewerke in the end zone.
[Bryan Fuller]
From there, it took Michigan’s offense three drives to respond. Michigan’s offense left at least seven (a missed pull by Patterson that like would have likely been a touchdown had he kept it) and possibly 14 (Donovan Peoples-Jones got open in the end zone on a second-quarter 3rd-and-3 that saw Patterson take a sack after taking too long to decide between DPJ high and McKeon low) on the field in the first half, but it only took one play for them to pull ahead in the third quarter. Patterson lined up in the shotgun on Michigan’s first snap of their 12th drive, looked right, hitched once, and delivered a perfect ball down the right sideline to Peoples-Jones, who had two steps on Tre Person upon reception; a missed attempt at a diving tackle left Peoples-Jones all alone for 42 of his 79-yard run to the house.
Michigan’s next drive also ended in a touchdown after 13 plays and 84 yards. The second play of said drive was a would-be incompletion that popped into the air only to be snagged by Zach Gentry for a fresh set of downs and a fresh perspective on Michigan’s luck of late in the rivalry. Karan Higdon kept the drive moving, as 33 of his 144 yards and six of his 19 carries helped set up an 11-yard mid-drive Patterson keep (!) on 4th-and-2. The drive ended with an excellent seal by Juwann Bushell-Beatty to open a five-yard lane for Ben Mason to paydirt; Bushell-Beatty was rolled up on after the play, and though he walked off under his own power he did not return to the game, instead being spelled by Andrew Stueber.
[Patrick Barron]
The second stop on Michigan’s Revenge Tour went through the kinds of mechanical failures pessimists might expect before a big show, but this group recovered at a time where past teams have not. Michigan’s defense allowed 15 rushing yards and 79 passing yards, forcing State to go 0-for-12 on third down and 0-for-1 on fourth. Their offense put up 212 passing yards and 183 rushing yards on what was previously the nation’s most efficient run defense. Karan Higdon said State didn’t want to play them and again said his offensive line is the best in the nation, and Chase Winovich called State Little Brother in a postgame interview. This group talks, then they back it up.
October 20th, 2018 at 8:13 PM ^
terrible????? we have split the last 4 games, both msu wins comeing down to the final play. and still have won 9 out of the last 17 games. sounds really terrible. are you drunk???
October 20th, 2018 at 8:30 PM ^
Sorry, I forgot we are only counting four years against Dantonio. And even if we were, you know we are 2-2 right?
October 21st, 2018 at 12:52 AM ^
History is history unless of course you set an abstract date where you think it should begin.. then its his story.
Talk about complete History or who won the last game there is no in between.
October 20th, 2018 at 8:47 PM ^
Dantonio is 8-4 with guys we dont want. Douchebag, but good coach
October 21st, 2018 at 3:14 PM ^
A lot of teams have shiny records vs. Michigan if you only look at the years from Richrod forward. Dantonio got 7 years of lay-ups before Michigan finally got a decent coaching staff
October 20th, 2018 at 8:47 PM ^
Dantonio is 8-4 with guys we dont want. Douchebag, but good coach
October 20th, 2018 at 8:13 PM ^
They tried to break Ruiz's leg and then when our player caught on and pushed the dirt Sparty, we got offsetting penalties. I don't think you have to worry much about some trash talk after the win.
MSU and their fans will just have to take what they dish out.
October 20th, 2018 at 9:00 PM ^
anyway with sparty it's not trash talk, it's speaking in their native tongue.
October 20th, 2018 at 9:59 PM ^
Why don’t you take a break and log off for a day or two. After all the shit we had to put up with the last 6 years with them it’s warranted and completely ok to give them all of the shit and then some. We can be classy again next year.
October 20th, 2018 at 11:56 PM ^
Incorrect. All that really matters is right now. 5-7 for them. Glad he did it. Hammer them into the ground as much as possible
October 20th, 2018 at 7:42 PM ^
Just out of curiosity, was it confirmed the Gentry tipped catch was in fact the correct call? I know he had one foot in bounds before he caught it. As I understand for a tipped ball that was a good call.
October 20th, 2018 at 7:43 PM ^
Hail M
Hail D
Hail Shea,
Go Blue
October 20th, 2018 at 7:43 PM ^
Hail M
Hail D
Hail Shea,
Go Blue
October 20th, 2018 at 7:45 PM ^
Fuck OSU too! Haskins is one dimensional. And he just doesn’t seem too bright. Don Brown will mess him up. Their defense is suspect too. Way to many M fans are tentative. That’s for losers. Go get these pussies.
October 20th, 2018 at 7:57 PM ^
Haskins numbers are very good but incredibly inflated. How much YAC do his receivers have? That’s the key to stopping OsU in my low football knowledgeable opinion
October 20th, 2018 at 9:25 PM ^
Haskins seems like a bright kid in his interviews. Not sure where you got that impression.
October 20th, 2018 at 9:38 PM ^
Two words: dog whistle
October 20th, 2018 at 10:24 PM ^
Funny who the people are who hear the dog whistles.
From watching him at Purdue he and Shae both seem to have similar issues. All the talent in the world, not sure either see 2-3 seconds in the future like the best QBs do.
October 20th, 2018 at 7:56 PM ^
I was most impressed with the offense’s ability to run the ball late to put the game out of reach.
Most disappointed in hkw how the media is already hiding D’Antonio’s smiling and their bullshit during pregame and only showing Devin’s response as a temper tantrum like behavior. Why the media can’t just stick to facts nowadays will be the reason for their disappearance into oblivion
October 20th, 2018 at 8:16 PM ^
They like to show whatever fits a narrative. Like with Baker Mayfield last year. They show the handshake and crotch grab wouldn't show the repeated late hits against him (especially the flagarant targeting) or how defenders would get in his face and talk shit after every play. It was just "oh he's a hothead"
October 20th, 2018 at 7:58 PM ^
Suck It, Sparty!
So cathartic
October 20th, 2018 at 8:01 PM ^
Having been at both losses to these fuckers in the last 3 years, I will take any win. Yes, I cursed Jimmy about the play calling in the first half, but my Lord was he right to trust the defense.
Shea has some big balls when he goes RPO.
October 20th, 2018 at 8:04 PM ^
This groups balls; then they talk cause cause they just did it
October 20th, 2018 at 8:05 PM ^
It is *so* nice to win an ugly game against those guys. As Adam says, this felt like a familiar script: penalties, bad whether, sloppy play, and a trick play. These are the games MSU wins because the talent gap is erased by chaos. But not today! Michigan is big and talented, but they’re scrappy too. I love it.
Also, while there are many players to praise, Higdon is just a hell of a back at this point.
Finally, get well, JBB!
October 20th, 2018 at 8:16 PM ^
See... all Dantonio wanted, was for us to respect them enough, to take them seriously, and really spread them all over the field like roadkill. Our coaches and players were happy to deliver.
October 20th, 2018 at 8:19 PM ^
Quick meta: still can’t download the text message sound by grapentine. Please assist.
October 20th, 2018 at 8:21 PM ^
....then they back it up.
October 20th, 2018 at 8:21 PM ^
....then they back it up.
October 20th, 2018 at 8:49 PM ^
That is one goofy trophy
October 20th, 2018 at 8:35 PM ^
Its great.
To be.
A
Michigan
Wol
Ver
Ine.
Its great
To be...
October 20th, 2018 at 8:36 PM ^
One thing that has been missing for a while with Michigan football is having some swagger and being just as aggressive as MSU in these games. While the offense could use some higher octane in the first halfs of games, one thing that did not happen this time was Michigan hanging their heads or backing down at all.
That part to me is a big difference and a big reason why they are becoming a dominant second half team.
October 20th, 2018 at 8:46 PM ^
Revenge tour stop 1. Check.
Revenge tour stop 2. Check.
October 20th, 2018 at 8:52 PM ^
Fairly positive one of their guys called Michigan little sister last year. It’s-gun-b-k.
October 21st, 2018 at 1:18 AM ^
... lol ...lol ...lol ... just amazing, thanks!
October 21st, 2018 at 1:24 AM ^
You are a DUDE !!!!
October 20th, 2018 at 9:04 PM ^
Wasn't a fan of Chase's lil bro comment. Not needed. Don't give them bulletin board material. Other than that, great win
October 20th, 2018 at 10:10 PM ^
I'm sick of the narrative though. I want the headlines to be football related and not "little brother" stories. Michigan dominated. Embarrassed Sparty on the field. I'm ready for that to be the focus and not the other stuff.
October 21st, 2018 at 10:40 AM ^
Mork can shove his bulletin board up his ass. He's a scumbag rape enabler and his team is dirty. Chase could have wiped his ass on the Spartan flag and it wouldn't have been too much.
October 21st, 2018 at 3:17 PM ^
Those guys are going to find bulletin board material no matter what you do. They love playing the victim so even the smallest slight against them is something to get fired up over. Time to just lean into it, let em get all pissy, and mow em down every fall
I love the little brother comments because it so precisely hits this rivalry on the head. It pisses MSU off so much because it hits so close to home. They know its true
October 20th, 2018 at 9:09 PM ^
Our FB is a TB and you cant stop him. Eat it!
M won the LOS in a brutal face off. The score is important and we won but Michigan dominated the non statistical war.
October 20th, 2018 at 9:28 PM ^
Ben Mason is a MAN! Can we confirm he's really college age and not 40?
October 20th, 2018 at 9:52 PM ^
look at Harbaugh's yellow teeth in the photo above... must be chewing on camomile ! gotta love his commitment to our colors... :)
October 20th, 2018 at 10:04 PM ^
Go Blue!!!!
We NEEDED this win.
Our team is showing a toughness we haven't seen in awhile
Let's Go!!! Go Blue!!!
M0rk "Bush League" D'anti-sportmanonio.
October 20th, 2018 at 10:14 PM ^
Given that rival games are the only ones that count evidently, I wonder if Sparty will be running the “Dantonio is 1-2 in the last three years, against his only rival, with 2 losses at home” meme.
Also, OSU looking very beatable tonight. Something must be going on down there...Urban Meyer health, Bosa leaving, tight games each week...I feel that house of cards may come down when we drop those guys in Columbus next month.
October 21st, 2018 at 10:41 AM ^
I'm sure OSU will be up for our game, but Urban's poisonous "circle of trust" culture is in full effect. I'm so glad OSU bent over backward to cover for Urban just so they could get blown out by Purdue.
October 20th, 2018 at 10:20 PM ^
Watching this game on replay, and was giddy with what I saw. This team played to win the game! Rewatching the DPJ touchdown a few times and I still can’t be certain that catch could have been made. Such athleticism, reminds me of that freshman Mario Manningham reception vs Penn State, when he burned Justin King hard.
October 20th, 2018 at 10:33 PM ^
I know no one likes Velenti(or is Valenti? who cares) but I personally cannot wait for his shit-storm of tears. GO BLUE!!
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