BuckeyeGrove.com - Spartans looking to avoid the late swoon

October 17, 2007

Matt Barker
Staff Writer

After promising starts under former head coach John L. Smith, Michigan State's midseason swoon knocked them out of contention for a bowl bid the last two years.

Now under first-year head coach Mark Dantonio, the Spartans (5-2, 1-2 Big Ten) rebounded with a 52-27 win over Indiana last Saturday after losing two games in a row to start the Big Ten schedule.

Maybe the football landscape is changing in East Lansing. With a win over Ohio State on Saturday, Michigan State will become bowl-eligible for the first time since 2003 when the Spartans played in the Alamo Bowl against Nebraska.

Back in 2005, the 16th-ranked Michigan State Spartans traveled to Columbus to take on No. 15 Ohio State after losing to in-state rival Michigan, 34-31 in overtime. They entered the game with a record of 4-1 and the Buckeyes were coming off a 17-10 loss to Penn State at Beaver Stadium and owned a disappointing 3-2 record.

Michigan State led 17-7 with 24 seconds left until intermission, but things started to unravel for the Spartans. On second-and-12 at the OSU 17 yard line, Michigan State quarterback Drew Stanton was sacked by Ohio State defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock. Without any timeouts left, and instead of having Stanton spike the ball to stop the clock, Smith rushed the field goal kicking team onto the field.

Amid the chaos, only ten men lined up for the field goal try, and Ohio State's Nate Salley sliced through the left side of the offensive to block John Goss' kick. Ashton Youboty picked up the loose ball and raced 72 yards for a touchdown as time expired in the first half.

Two long touchdown passes from Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith, a 57-yarder to Ted Ginn Jr., and a 46-yard to strike to Santonio Holmes, plus a 1-yard sneak by Smith with 1:29 left to play in the game gave the Buckeyes' a 38-24 win over the Spartans.

Amazingly, Michigan State dominated the stat sheet. The Spartans had more than twice as many first downs (27-13), along with 456 yards of total offense to Ohio State's 386. Michigan State also had the ball twice as much as Ohio State, with a time of possession of 40 minutes, 59 seconds.

Ohio State also had four turnovers, all fumbles, while Michigan State didn't turn the ball over once, yet the Buckeyes still won.

Ohio State would go on to win the next six straight games, including a 34-20 win over Notre Dame in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

Michigan State, though, went on to lose four out of their last five games, and were not invited to a bowl game.

Last season, Michigan State's annual implosion happen much sooner.

After getting off to a 3-0 start, the Spartans were leading Notre Dame 37-21 after a 30-yard run by Jehuu Caulcrick with 5:50 left in the third quarter. But Michigan State allowed 19 fourth quarter points, including two touchdown passes from Fighting Irish quarterback Brady Quinn.

The fatal blow came with 2:53 remaining in the contest when Irish cornerback Terrail Lambert intercepted a Stanton pass and returned it 27 yards for the game-winning score.

Last year at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Ohio State entered the game with an unblemished mark of 6-0, and was the consensus No. 1-ranked team in the country. Michigan State was 3-3 after losing three straight before hosting the Buckeyes. Ohio State had little trouble, holding the Spartans to just 79 yards of total offense in the first half, and took a 24-0 lead into the locker room.

Smith was 15-of-22 passing for 234 yards and two scores, while Ginn added a 60-yard punt return for touchdown. The Buckeye defense held the Spartans to 198 yards of total offense, with the bulk of that coming in the second half against OSU's reserves. Michigan State avoided the shutout when A.J. Jimmerson scored on a 6-yard run with 1:07 left in the game.

This season, the Spartans are led by Dantonio, who took over after it was announced that Smith would not return to coach Michigan State, last November.

Dantonio, a native of Zanesville, Ohio, was the head coach at Cincinnati for three seasons prior to his arrival at Michigan State, where he led the Bearcats to a record of 18-17 from 2004-06.

Prior to taking the job at Cincinnati, he was the defensive coordinator for Jim Tressel at Ohio State from 2001-2003, and was a graduate assistant under former head coach Earle Bruce for the '83 and '84 seasons.

Dantonio also was the defensive secondary coach and defensive coordinator under Tressel at Youngstown State from 1986-90.

The Spartans enter the match-up against Ohio State with a 5-2 record. After winning the first four games of the season, Michigan State lost to Wisconsin 37-34, and to Northwestern 48-41 in overtime, before getting back into the win column with a victory over Indiana, last week.

Michigan State returns the two-headed monster at running back with Javon Ringer and Jehuu Caulcrick, who combined average 35.4 rushing attempts and 204.4 yards per game.

Ringer, a 5-foot-9, 200-pound junior from Dayton, Ohio, is second in rushing in the Big Ten averaging 133.1 yards per game with six touchdowns. The former Ohioan was named the Big Ten's Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for 203 yards and two touchdowns against the Hooisers.

Caulcrick, 6-foot, 255-pound senior bulldozer, is 10th in the conference averaging 71.3 yards per game, but has a 13 rushing touchdowns, which leads the Big Ten in the category.

For the year, Ringer has 932 yards on 132 attempts, while Caulcrick has 116 carries for 499 yards.

Taking over for Stanton at quarterback is 6-foot-2, 212-pound junior Brian Hoyer, who hails from North Olmsted, Ohio. Hoyer is eighth in the Big Ten in passing, averaging 210.4 yards per game. Overall, Hoyer is 115-of-188 (61.2 percent) for 1,476 yards with 11 touchdown passes and three interceptions.

Hoyer's favorite target is the Big Ten leader in receiving yards, 6-foot-2, 212-pound junior wide receiver Devin Thomas, who has 38 receptions for 690 yards and five touchdowns.

As a team, Michigan State leads the Big Ten in scoring offense (36.7 ppg), and the Spartans are also tops in the conference in total offense (467.0 ypg).

Defensively, Michigan State uses a base 4-3 scheme led by 5-foot-11, 199-pound junior cornerback Kendell Davis-Clark with 46 total tackles.

Jonal Saint-Dic, a 6-foot-1, 255-pound senior defensive end leads the Spartans with eight sacks and 11 tackles for loss.

Overall, Michigan State is seventh in the Big Ten in scoring defense (24.9 ppg), and fourth in the conference in total defense (332.6 ypg).

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