Linking Laconically Is Still Trying to Find the Words to Describe the Outback Bowl
by Pete Rossman on Jan 3, 2012 5:30 AM CST
in Michigan State Spartans News Roundup
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PrintHey y'all. There'll be a recap of the game tomorrow, but let's be honest -- you know all the critical moments and triumphs of the game. I could fill the recap with "YUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSSS" and that would work, but I want to do a really good job with it. That's why it going's to be a bit late, but trust me -- it'll be worth it. In lieu of a recap, here are some links.
Finishing with a flurry - LSJ Blogs: Hey, Joe Rexrode with the quintessential take.
Drew Sharp: Michigan State finds bowl salvation when field-goal attempt snuffed out | Detroit Free Press | freep.com Drew Sharp you say? Why not, I'm feeling magnanimous.
Michigan State rallies from 16-0 halftime deficit, beats Georgia in third OT of Outback Bowl | MLive.com A traditional gamer if you forgot the details. Because of lack of oxygen to your brain. Because that's what happens when you hyperventilate for half the fourth quarter and three overtimes.
Snap Judgments: Sparty saves afternoon after B1G bowl letdowns – Campus Union Our dearest Aunt Stabby with a brief recap of the Outback Bowl along with other games yesterday.
David Attenborough Narrates The Outback Bowl - From Our Editors - SBNation.com Jerel Worthy GIF? Oh, you know I'm on that.
Michigan State Spartans 33, Georgia Bulldogs 30: All's Bad That Ends Badly? - Dawg Sports A view from our blog bros over at Dawg Sports, SB Nation's Georgia Bulldog blog.
QUICK HITS: Michigan State 33, Georgia 30, 3OT - CBSSports.com The game was rated an "A" for entertainment value. I'd agree with that, as would the few years taken off my life.
Spartans prevent another B1G debacle - Big Ten Blog - ESPN Lastly, Rittenberg says what we all thought at one point afterwards -- MSU saved the B1G's ass. Surprisingly, I don't think Jim Delany (remember, when spelling Jim's last name it's "Delany" like Dana, not Kim) will be sending Mark Hollis a gift basket.
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Should have won it in regulation
Don’t go for any 2 point conversions and make the 3 extra points instead and the final would be MSU 28 UG 27
by James Rinkevich on Jan 3, 2012 7:36 AM CST via iPhone app reply actions
Hindsight is 20/20
How was Dantonio supposed to know? It’s logical to go for 2 when you’re down by 2 to try and tie it up. And you do it early, so that you know what you need to do in the later stages of the game.
Agreeish
Once you go for the first one, you have to go for the next two. But going for two so early in the 3rd Quarter was pretty questionable. I mean, it was pretty unlikely that UGA’s scoring was going to stop at 16, so trying to catch them at that specific number was pretty unlikely.
I thought it was early to be playing with specific scores too
I mean, it was pretty unlikely that UGA’s scoring was going to stop at 16, so trying to catch them at that specific number was pretty unlikely.
But I wonder if Dantonio was also trying to give his defense a boost of confidence by playing some numbers so early in the game.
Tonight's going to be a good night.
by Spartalytical on Jan 3, 2012 10:43 AM CST up reply actions
Disagreed w/ going for first 2-pt converstion at the time
But, after they made it, it did feel like it swung the momentum in our favor even more by making it a one-score game.
Willing to cut MD quite a bit of slack on this, even though you’re right in principle.
by KJ@theonlycolors on Jan 3, 2012 10:21 AM CST up reply actions
IMO the first conversion attempt made sense
But the second one did not. Here’s why:
Down 16-6 early in the third, a PAT would still leave MSU two scores behind, but the 2 point conversion made it a one score (+ another conversion) game.
Now, down 16-14 only a few minutes later in the third, and with clear momentum, a 2 point conversion obviously ties it, while a PAT leaves us behind by one. HOWEVA, fail on the 2 + a UGA TD now leaves us down 9 points, so 2 scores no matter what.
BUT, hitting a PAT leaves us down only 1 point, so a UGA TD now keeps it a one score game.
Again, we have to take time and momentum into consideration. If we scored the second TD with 5 minutes to go in the 4th, I say go for 2. But since it was more like 5 minutes to go in the third, the safe play is the PAT, to ensure that we’re still within one score no matter what UGA did.
Right
Like I said at the time, it wasn’t the choice I would have made, but I understand making it, and it fits perfectly with the aggressive approach Coach D is getting known for. Sometimes it works, sometimes not, but I’m happier with that than with a Richt-ian conservative approach.
I disagree rather strongly with your logic.
There are reasons not to chase, but the possibility of trading TDs later is not one of them. You have to try a two sometime; the earlier you do so, the more time you have to adjust your strategy based on the result. Eight points is a 1.5 score game, not a 1-score game. (In fact, if Georgia scores two TDs after that, if you’d kicked you only need one two-point try but you don’t get a second shot if you miss; if you went for two you do get a second chance if the first one failed by going for two twice more.)
The real reason to consider just taking the 1 instead of 2 there is the scenario that played out – a Georgia FG + MSU TD means you’d have to go for 2 again if you failed to get back to the 3 point lead you would have if you kicked both. (On the other hand, if you made it, kicking would put you up 4 instead of 3, which is quite significant too. Lots of permutations.) Even then, as long as the odds of making the first are better than the odds of missing both, it may pay off in the long run.
I've got this terrible pain in all the diodes down my left-hand side.
Bradley-Terry rankings for college football and basketball: because there aren't enough computer rankings already.
Agree on the momentum aspects
Getting to within one score at that point certainly felt good to me, and obviously couldn’t have hurt the teams confidence going forward. Dantonio (obv) has a much better feeling for how the success/failure of the 2 pt conversion vs. XT PT would affect the team. In general I dislike it, and ultimately resulted in us leaving a point on the field but the team came through in the end and measuring the role of decisions like that in impacting the game is impossible (which is what ultimately makes sports so compelling).
Felt a lot like a Day-day three… No, no, no, no, YES! :D
I like the Day-Day 3 analogy
I feel like that every time he shoots one.
haha me too
I feel like every time i’m happy with one he takes, he misses, and every time i’m complaining about it, he makes it. My friend who I go to games with can definitely attest to that.
In that...
…game, I’d got for two. MSU’s offense hadn’t been moving it all, so I’d have erred on the side of just needing two scores to tie.
In a normal game versus a worse defense, I’d kick it there.
by witless chum on Jan 3, 2012 11:54 AM CST up reply actions
Personally, I think we should go for 2 all the time.
I like points. I also hate punting.
https://twitter.com/#!/SpartanKC
by Spartan D on Jan 3, 2012 1:35 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Are you really Spartan D,
or are you actually coach Kevin Kelley of the Pulaski Academy in Arkansas?
Biggest critical moment of the game
Cousin’s 15 yard rush during the final push in regulation. Without that play, we’d be much more sullen.
Or how bout our D
Manning up & stopping UGA on 4th & short in the red zone in the first quarter? Had we given up a score there, we’re down 9-0 pretty early with all the momentum on their side.
Most important player
Brad Sonntag. I never thought I’d appreciate the value of a good holder on such a level as I did yesterday, after seeing the replays of him saving multiple FG and PAT snaps that were just off enough that they could have been disastrous.
"It was worth it. Every needle, every dose of medicine that I've taken. That's why you play the game. A chance to be on a Final Four team, a chance to win championships." Delvon Roe
Oh Sonntag earned his scholly right there for that
And I’m glad to see it, all rerports are he was a consumate team player his whole career at MSU, playing QB, h-back, WR, and even dback on scout teams, to help us prep each week.
Sadler, too, had a huge game, he not only had a couple of great catches on wild long snaps, but got great distance & hang time on his punts.
by MSUDersh on Jan 3, 2012 11:10 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
So many most important plays/players
I’m not sure it’s possible to name a single one as most important. Sonntag’s holds, Cousins’ scamper, White’s block, Gohlston’s first half, Conroy’s two field goals, Worthy’s quickness off the line, the offensive play-calling to abuse UGA’s committment to jumping all over those screens. What a game. What a way to end a season and MSU career for so many.
Tonight's going to be a good night.
Hell yeah!
Also, Linthicum going into BEAST MODE in the second half. That TE screen was awesome, he just kept going & going & going . . . Terrific work to get wide open on the 2 pt conversion, too
love me some links
but for now. work.
so do we watch msu bball or the sugar bowl?
a Michigan State and Michigan blog: http://onrivalries.blogspot.com/
I'll be at the Kohl Center
So the decision is even easier for me. I was at one point rooting for UM to get beaten in this game, but with the completely awful showing by the big ten in bowls, I’m actually a little torn. I wouldn’t mind them winning 3-0. As long as at some point in the game Denard runs out of bounce and accidentally gets swallowed by Brady Hoke.
You can't be for serious.
Tonight's going to be a good night.
by Spartalytical on Jan 3, 2012 10:41 AM CST up reply actions
Hoops, Tbone
Hoops. Not to mention, hoops game at 6, fball at 730, so it should be late 1st quarter when the Whiskey game ends.
For realz?
No respectable Spartan should waste any time or electricity watching the Splenda Bowl.
https://twitter.com/#!/SpartanKC
Disagree, although I will be watching bball first
After the MSU win, a UM loss is not desperately needed, but I think it’s big for us. UM’s schedule is much harder next year than this year (@ Alabama, @ ND, @OSU, @ Nebraska – still no Wiscy), and starting off what I hope to be a bad 2012 for them with a loss to a Big East team would be sweet as…sorry, can’t do it.
We keep inching toward the point where young recruits think of MSU as the team to play for and UM as a history (like ND), a UM loss tonight plus another victory over them this fall will keep us moving forward. A high school sophmore being recruited right now was in elementary school the last time UM beat MSU.
I'm boycotting the Splenda and MNC games based on who they chose to play.
They value $$$ over competition, and the only way to protest is to not watch.
https://twitter.com/#!/SpartanKC
Well I don't think my TV counts in the ratings
and I’m certainly not going to fall for any stupid advertisements (save for Clown College), but I hear ya, it’s a principle sort of thing.
That said, Let’s Go Hokies!! M is gonna kill them though . . .
I have zero issues with the championship game
LSU-Bama 1 was one of my favorite games to watch all year, and Alabama needed insanity after the loss to have a chance at a rematch.
I have many, many issues with the "championship" game.
Oklahoma State has the worse loss, true, but they have better wins all down the list. (Arkansas-K State is pretty even; after that you’re comparing Baylor and Oklahoma against Penn State and Auburn.) Oklahoma State is the champion of the top-ranked conference (according to all the computers); Alabama finished second in the second-best conference.
The bigger problem is that Alabama already lost at home to LSU and has a worse resume than LSU even excluding that game. There is no possible result of the title game that would give Alabama a legitimate claim to being #1 over LSU, IMO – at best they split the series, at home and a neutral site (no road game), and have nothing that even comes close to matching LSU’s slate of wins (WVU, Oregon, Arkansas, Georgia vs. Penn State and Arkansas).
I've got this terrible pain in all the diodes down my left-hand side.
Bradley-Terry rankings for college football and basketball: because there aren't enough computer rankings already.
both games
were great endings. solid sports week all around.
a Michigan State and Michigan blog: http://onrivalries.blogspot.com/
Rush defense was amazing
Georgia had 39 carries for only 51 yards (1.3 YPC). Not only did we take away their run game but we put so many big hits on their rb’s. What makes it even more impressive is that we were missing 2 senior DT’s.
I also thought Bell was a beast yesterday. He may have only averaged 2.8 YPC, but I feel like most backs wouldn’t have averaged half that.
Bell was a stud
I agree with Bell. He did much better than his stats indicate. Baker seems to just run into the supposed hole as fast/hard as he can and seems to have no vision. Bell has much better vision and also did a great job picking up blitzes and made a few catches as well.
UGA was so aggressive in the first half that I hoped Roushar would come up with some good counters to them jumping screens and the entire Keshawn package of plays. The fake bubble screen with a downfield pass to Linthicum and the Keshawn pass were both beautiful.
Most important football IQ moment
When Dantonio challenged the completion on the pass interference play and got us 13 more seconds.
Schadenfreude ist die schoenste Freude
This
The contrast between that moment and how certain other Big 10 coaches performed yesterday couldn’t be more stark.
by witless chum on Jan 3, 2012 11:56 AM CST up reply actions
D is a hell of a gameday coach
I know fan boards everywhere gush over their coaches, but who’s better than Dantonio?
In some ways he has earned considerable national respect for his daring playcalls, but he still feels underrated to me. There are coaches who are better at recruiting studs for whatever reason, but this guy routinely outcoaches name competitors while thriving in the cleft between U-M and OSU. He gets ridiculous production out of a 2/3 star roster, down to the last walk-on, and his teams fight for him despite some crushing disappointments in the past. He would definitely challenge for national titles if he was running one of the elite programs.
He's good, yes. But, I'm not totally sold on his gameday abilities.
Sometimes those aggressive playcalls bite us in the ass. (fake FG @ND, punt block in B1GCG)
https://twitter.com/#!/SpartanKC
I'll take that bad with the good
Especially since our coach owns up to the stuff that doesn’t work out, unlike a certain coach in Madison
Schadenfreude ist die schoenste Freude
Bottom line
How often have you felt that MSU lost to a lesser team? I’m not arguing for papal infallibility. Our losses the last couple of years came down to being decisively outplayed (Iowa, ND) or the breaks of a tightly contested game (Wisconsin).
Don't forget UNL in that first category
Though with better halftime adjustments, we could have won that game, it was only a 7 pt game at the half. But UNL, in Lincoln, by no means a lesser team.
Punt Block his call?
I know he said it was, but was it really or was he covering for his player?
I think we had been aggressive on punt rush all day and UW knew it.
If you watch Nortman when he runs off the field after the play he points at the sideline emphatically twice…as if to say you got it right, you “called” it. I think he was coached to flop.
The official bought it and the rest is now history. I think Dantonio always wants some guys to rush the punter.
That was absolutely brilliant.
Lose the challenge, and what do you lose? The timeout you were going to call anyway. Win and you not only stop the clock, get back those 13 seconds, but you keep the timeout too.
I've got this terrible pain in all the diodes down my left-hand side.
Bradley-Terry rankings for college football and basketball: because there aren't enough computer rankings already.
DeAnthony Arnett update
Earlier today he was granted a full release from UT after they initially said he couldn’t transfer to UofM or MSU. For those who don’t know he’s a WR who was a top 100 recruit last year and put up 24 catches for 242 yards and 2 TD’s as a true freshman this year. There’s a chance he would be eligible this upcoming year if he can get a special excemption due to his father’s illness, which is the reason for his transfer. UT and MSU were his final two choices during his recruitment.
With the losses we have at WR he’d be really nice to get. I like the talent we currently have as replacements but it’s all unproven besides maybe Fowler.
It would seem logical for him to sit a year if he is returning home to be closer to his father as he deals with an illness.
His attention could be divided between school, football and family. Family in this case being the most important.
That being said what’s his preference between UM and MSU? Did we offer him a scholly the first time around?
He was high on MSU until the end
In fact, I believe it was down to MSU vs. Tenn.
Also, if he wants to be closer to family, Saginaw is only an hour down the road from EL, while it’s more like 90 minutes + from AA. Just sayin’
That would be a huge get
It’s sad to hear the reason for his transfer, and I’m glad the Vols saw the light and won’t preclude the kid from playing high D-1 while being close to his family, but I’m also happy as a football fan that MSU has another shot at him.
Like you said Stones, we’re very thin & inexperienced at WR next season, but suddenly getting Arnett, on top of Fowler Jr as a Jr, Mumphrey as a RS frosh, and Burbridge & Kings in the mix, we could suddenly have a lot of explosive talent at that spot
Sim Jr too. He's a quick slot guy who's reportedly done well on the scout team
I was so high on Fowler coming into this year. It’s too bad he’s basically been injured all year. I’m not sure what are chances will be, but I know coach D is going to see if we can get Fowler a medical hardship for this year and get him a 6th year of elgibility.
Rexrode says the basketball team were late flying out to Madison yesterday
because of this:
I’m just happy we don’t have athletic programs that regard each other like this.
Lets not throw stones.
It wasn’t too long ago that our football and hockey teams felt that way about each other.
Seems like Coach D not recruiting the Winston type anymore
There has been minimal negative, off the field stuff since the incident.
Also Anastos just announced he’ll be actively pursuing top level blue chip prospects, the one and done types. Hopefully guys like that will act more like professionals (or like adults), and less like drunken frat boys.
I hear you.
I definitely agree with you that there has been a chance in culture (and leadership – both student and executive) in East Lansing.
I’m just saying that it wasn’t very long ago (in fact there may still be a couple of guys around from those teams) that we had a similar ugly incident – probably a worse one than this.
Worthy
You guys think he’s staying or going? Late 1st rounder vs. playing on what will be one of the better D-lines in MSU history between he and Gholston. Selfishly hope he stays, but if someone waved a few mill at me as a 21 year old, I know what I’d do.
I think he's going
And I don’t blame him. He’s done everything asked of him & more while here, and has a chance to cash in on all of his hard work. Frankly, I think it would be foolish to stay – one injury and his entire future is drastically altered.
With that being said, no way is Johnny Adams ready to go pro. He’s improved by leaps & bounds but still has a long way to go. Right now he could be undrafted, another season of high level ball will improve his stock.
Next season, if Gholston continues to improve like this, I see him leaving. Also I think Isaiah Lewis could be an early exit candidate after next season, but at this point, that’s all I see.
Agree
Hes gone and I wish him the best. Hes a man amongst boys on the collegiate ranks. I do hope he picks up his degree, but in football if you are going to be a first rounder you have to leave. The injury risk is too high.
OTOH In football there are always rookies drafted late that don’t even make teams, so most non-RB/non-first rounders should play out their time IMHO. Certainly Adams shouldn’t gamble on a 5-7th round slot unless his 40 time is a helluva lot better in combine situations than it looks on the field.
He needs to go get paid
Frankly, in the long run it’s better for MSU to be able to point to NFL success to potential high level recruits and Worthy should do what’s right for his family.
Schadenfreude ist die schoenste Freude
BTN replaying Outback Bowl right now
It runs from 5-7, I turned on the TV two minutes ago at 525 – and it was the second half kickoff already! I wish the first half had really only taken 20 minutes – it felt like 6 or 8 hours in real life.
It will be replayed again tomorrow (Sat am) at 730 central, also next Tues 9-11 pm central.
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