By By STEVE MORRISON / Niles Daily Star
EAST LANSING – "Murphy" must have made it to the Michigan State-Northwestern football game on Saturday.
It's a good thing that Murphy wasn't a lawyer for the defense, because there is no way he could have any provided any help to defend his client, the Spartan defensive unit.
"Murphy's Law" … Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong," was the perfect adage for Michigan State's performance on Saturday.
You know things will go wrong if …
You score 41 points and your team loses.
Your opponent's quarterback, C.J. Bacher, completes 39 of 48 passes for a record setting 520 yards.
Your opponent, the Wildcats, hold possession for 11 minutes and 32 seconds more than you do.
Your punter, freshman Aaron Bates, carelessly has one punt blocked and shanks another boot for 14 yards, from your own 16 to your 30 yard line. Also, your place kicker, Brett Swenson, has his first conversion attempt blocked.
Two of your offensive plays, one for 45 yards and the other for 44, are nullified because of offensive holding. To "boot" your punt return team is called for roughing the kicker after a great punt return.
Bacher sliced and diced the zone coverage of the Spartan secondary. Managing to easily share the throws to an amazing 10 different receivers was a masterpiece of execution. He used screen, bubble, and passes on the flat to outwit his pursuers.
The Northwestern passing attack relied heavily on employing a receiver or running back in motion across to the other side of the field, before the snap. Then, using the receiver from the other side to block, Bacher would quickly zip the ball to the man in motion for a double-team on the cornerback. The plan seemed to work all afternoon in front of an unhappy crowd of mostly Spartan faithful.
After winning the toss, the Wildcats swiftly marched the field in an eight- play drive to go up 7-0, right at the beginning of the game. Bache completed four for 69 yards, and workhorse Omar Conteh carried the ball, unmolested into the end zone from 11 yards out.
Amado Villareal successfully kicked the conversion.
State came right back, after the kick off, with a 10 play drive of their own. Featuring their fine ground game, Javon Ringer with 31 yards in four carries and Jehuu Caulcrick's 1-yard determined blast, it appeared that MSU was ready to tie the score.
Instead Swenson's extra point attempt was blocked by the 'Cats.
Bacher and his legion of receivers roared right back in nine plays for another tally, with Conteh taking the option pitch for a nine-yard jaunt over the goal line. Villareal returned the earlier Spartan miss with a gift of his own when he shanked the extra point try to the left, leaving it 13-6, in favor of Northwestern.
The Spartan offense was not deterred. With 4:06 remaining in the first quarter, Devon Thomas returned the kick 33 yards to MSU's 38. Primarily using the arm of Brian Hoyer, who completed four of seven passes, the offense drove to the Northwestern 25.
On the final play of the final period Hoyer lofted a sweet aerial to receiver Mark Dell for a 21-yard gain. Ringer zipped into the end zone on the second quarter from the four-yard line. Swenson completed the drive, this time successfully booting the point after to tie the score at 13 apiece.
In justice to Michigan State's offense, they more than held up their part of the bargain for all four quarters of regulation play.
Hoyer had a respectable day, completing 17-of-31 toss for nearly 200 yards (194) with no interceptions. Ringer was especially effective, rushing 185 yards on just 12 touches for a 15.4 average. He added 54 yards on six catches to accumulate 239 all-purpose yards for the afternoon while entering the end zone for three scores.
Devon Thomas was a jack-of-all-trades, racking up 239 yards of combined offense: six rushes for 52 yards, five receptions for 61, and a whopping 153 return yards. Caulcrick gathered 35 crucial yards, netting two bashing tallies from near the goal.
Foolish penalties in the second quarter doomed MSU's repeatedly resilient effort. With State's defense showing a little life, the Wildcats were shut down on their next two possessions. However, by roughing the kicker with the Wildcats only on their own 26-yard line, State gave the visitors new life and got them out of a hole. The defense finally held again, forcing Northwestern to punt.
Field position was different, this time. The Spartans' Thomas was forced to field the punt at their four yard line and could only return it to the seven. The offense could only muster six yards in three plays.
Bates picked the worst time to botch a punt, for only 14 yards, that gave the ball to the hungry 'Cats at just the MSU 30.
Seven plays later, Bacher completed a 9-yard strike to favorite receiver, Ross Lane, to put the preying Wildcats ahead 20-13 with Villareal's attempt good, leaving 13 ticks on the clock. The half ended on that sour note.
Murphy must have been trying to give the hapless Spartans a signal during halftime when the skies cried with a 15-minute downpour. Even though the undaunted Spartan offense opened the third quarter to deadlock the game at 20, with a six-play 55-yard drive to come back to even the affair 20-20, the defense couldn't trap the fox, Bacher.
It took only three plays, including a three-yard loss by Bacher, for the pesky visitors to romp across the goal line again.
This time Bacher completed a 78 yard bomb to wide receiver Jeff Yarbrough down the middle for the score. Up 27-20 after the kick, the Wildcats again held the advantage.
Michigan State replied stubbornly in only four plays when Thomas ripped a 17-yard gainer on an end-around and Ringer jetted 47 yards for a score two plays thereafter. The score was tied again 27-27. The third quarter finally ended, with the Wildcats ready to pounce at the Spartan 20.
Seven plays into the last frame Bacher performed his magic again, delivering the ball to Lane for a one yard six-pointer.
With Northwestern now ahead 34-27, the Spartans went to their Ringer. Ringer took the handoff from the MSU 20, after the touchback, dancing down the right sideline for an 80-yard stunner. The kick by Swenson was accurate, yielding an improbable 34-34 standoff.
The two teams, sparring punch for punch, traded scores once more. Bacher hooked up with Eric Peterman for a 70-yard scoring toss. Hoyer found Eric Andino in the end zone for a 19 yard tally.
With regulation expiring Northwestern had two chances to put the game away. With a fake field goal attempt and an ill-planned pass from Northwestern's Kyle Daley to Corey Wootton, they blew an easy field goal opportunity of 36 yards.
After the Spartan offense sputtered, Bacher brought his team right back down the field from his own 18. With the ball resting on the 19-yard line and three seconds remaining in the game, Villareal pulled a boner, hooking the ball left. Miraculously the score stood 41-41 at the end of the fourth quarter.
It took only three passes, in overtime, for Bacher to find the end zone, completing a 12-yard scoring shot to Conteh. Villareal converted the point, 48-41 Northwestern.
The Spartans had one final chance to answer the purple-clad visitors. Four consecutive Hoyer passes headed to the end zone found themselves landing harmlessly to finalize the battle. It left for some to wonder, after the game, why Ringer, who was virtually unstoppable by the Widcats' defense, was never used in that last series.
During the post-game press conference, Spartan head coach Mark Dantonio somberly reflected, "When you score 41 points you should win the football game. They had us off balance. In games played against a spread offense you've got to play better. We missed a lot of tackles."
It was a frustrating day. Life is full of disappointments. It depends on what you do with them. We will move forward."
Northwestern 13 7 7 14 7 7 – 48
Michigan State 6 7 14 14 0 0 – 41
NU – Conteh, Omar 11 run (Villarreal, A kick)
MSU – Caulcrick, Jehuu 1 run (kick blocked)
NU – Conteh run (kick failed)
MSU – Ringer, Javon 4 run (Swenson, Brett kick)
NU – Lane, Ross 9 pass from Bacher, C.J. (Villarrealkick)
MSU – Caulcrick 1 run (Swenson kick)
NU – Yarbrough, Jeff 78 pass from Bacher (Villarreal kick)
MSU – Ringer 47 run (Swenson kick)
NU – Lane 1 pass from Bacher (Villarreal kick)
MSU – Ringer 80 run (Swenson kick)
NU – Peterman, Eric 70 pass from Bacher (Villarreal kick)
MSU – Andino, Eric 19 pass from Hoyer, Brian (Swenson kick)
NU – Conteh 12 pass from Bacher (Villarreal kick)