Remembering Better Times: ‘Member When State Came Back Against Northwestern?

2006 was a great time for young Weston Corbitt. The Cubs only had broken my heart badly once. I was attending college with the disillusion that I could get a full time job someday (check and mate, finally). I believed that the spread was the future of the Big Ten. Something that Michigan fell for too, I will remind you. I DIDN’T FORGET THAT RICHROD. John L. Smith had his signature win when MSU came back from a 38-3 deficit to beat the powerhouse Wildcats. Let’s look back to that win, because I guarantee no one really wants to look forward to this year. Nothing says your season is a disaster like Rutgers being a must win.

John L. “The L is for Legend” Smith: This win saved Coach Smith’s job for ten days. John L. Smith is the band you love before you discover what good music is. He was cool and flashy at Louisville before Bobby Petrino turned a basketball school into a football school then tried to get people interested in the Atlanta Falcons. He of course failed miserably, but Lamar Jackson is great to watch so all is forgiven. Even the motorcycle thing. Well, back to John L. Smith, he was great at making Drew Stanton fear for his life and looking impressive in September. My go to Spartan hoody was purchased in the Smith era. The green is too light, much like his defense every season.

Drew Stanton: Stanton is the gold standard for MSU quarterbacks and if you disagree I’ll probably cave after two minutes of arguing. State QBs are measured using an advanced sabermetric math formula to rate their effectiveness compared to Drew. O’Connor is .056 Stantons, same as Todd Schultz. Fun fact, if you put Stanton of last year’s team they would have probably scored a touchdown against Alabama. I was never more excited/scared for someone else as when Stanton ran around in the backfield. I went to a game against Purdue in High School where it was grey and dull outside the stadium and inside the stadium. But he ran around for three minutes while Terry “Mr. East to West on Punt Returns” Love danced around the end zone and caught a sick thirty yard dart. That touchdown led to losing to Purdue by only three points. Listen, the game happened 11 years ago it definitely went down that way.

Matt Trannon: He ran those sick trick plays that Smith loved to run so much. You can brag about all those dope fake punts and Little Giants that Dantonio is famous for, but nothing is more exhilarating than a double pass from a wide receiver that sails out of bounds.

Jehuu Caulcrick and Javon Ringer: Any running back duo with the nickname of thunder and lightning has a short shelf life, but Ringer later found life as the entire offense in 2008.

MSU football has almost become like HBO Original Programming: always good. But to move forward, sometimes you have to look back. This game against Northwestern could be a blip on a forgettable season, or could be a chance to see if Lewerke is good and try to qualify for the Little Caesars Bowl. Let’s try not to foul this up!