Tag: Michigan State Football

Former Michigan State Head Coach George Perles Passes Away

In 1983 he was hired to be the head coach of his alma mater where he led the Spartans through 1994, leading them to the Rose Bowl in 1987 which was their first trip to the game in 22 years at the time.

Former Michigan State defensive tackle, head coach and the man who helped oversee one of the NFL’s greatest dynasties died Wednesday at the age of 85.

George Perles played on the Michigan State defensive line from 1954-56 before returning to East Lansing as an assistant coach from 1959-70.  His ability to coach consistently strong defensive lines helped lead him to Pittsburgh where he coached the defensive line starting in 1972 until 1982 when he took a job in the short-lived USFL.

In 1983 he was hired to be the head coach of his alma mater where he led the Spartans through 1994, leading them to the Rose Bowl in 1987 which was their first trip to the game in 22 years at the time.

As much success as Perles brought to Michigan State, beating Notre Dame is something he had much trouble with, going just 2-10 against the Irish.  Even in the 1987 season that saw Sparty finish the year as Rose Bowl Champions, Michigan State lost at Notre Dame 31-8 in September in a game that helped launch Tim Brown’s eventual Heisman campaign.

Perles finished his career with a 68-67-4 record at Michigan State.

Wisconsin decade in review: Badgers vs Michigan State

Wisconsin vs Michigan State

As the 2019 season brings to a close another decade of college football, Badgers Wire has been engaged in a series of reflective pieces. “Record Review” is another series examining how the Badgers have fared against the rest of the Big Ten. Next up is an examination of the Badgers’ record against a program that found a winner in Mark Dantonio. Michigan State has been a mixed bag for the Badgers. Let’s look at what Badgers Wire means by that. 

Using Stassen, Badgers Wire pulled up every result against Michigan State since the start of this decade. The Badgers gained a 4-3 advantage in wins with this year’s victory, but the Spartans prevented UW from getting on a roll in this series over the past decade. Only this year did Wisconsin win two games in a row in the series during the 2010s. The Badgers had a 2-1 advantage at Camp Randall, a 1-2 disadvantage in East Lansing, and had the only victory at a neutral site, which happened to be the 2011 Big Ten Championship Game. The two teams seem to trade losses and wins, and that was true within the 2011 season itself. Wisconsin and MSU split the 2011 meetings between them. 

Let’s talk about the biggest game played between these teams in the past decade, Wisconsin’s gritty win in the 2011 Big Ten Championship Game. The Badgers trailed 29-21 at one point and allowed Michigan State to take a late 39-34 lead, but Montee Ball capped an eight-play, 64-yard scoring drive on a score with 3:45 left and then closed the game out with more disciplined responses in key situations. When the chips were down, the Badgers found a way to win. This is what they haven’t done as often against Ohio State and Penn State. 

If the Badgers could somehow take the success they have against Michigan State and Michigan, and apply that to Penn State and Ohio State, they would be cooking with gas. It’s hard to tell where they would be in the overall conference title picture if they’d won a few of these close games against the tougher teams and found a touch more consistency against Michigan State. Fortunately for the Badgers, the biggest game they played against the Spartans this past decade resulted in a Wisconsin victory. More of that in 2020, and the grill will be cooking all season long… and well into the decade to come.

Big Ten, big ’20s: Michigan State football

Michigan State football in the 2020s

For the Michigan State entry in our “Big Ten, big ’20s” series on college football in the next decade of Big Ten competition, I asked a friend on #CollegeFootballTwitter, Matthew Herek, for some perspective. Matt follows the Spartans avidly and has the gift of being a fan who will tell it straight on the Spartans. He will say things are bad if they are bad. He will say things are good if they are good. He is a reliable observer when I need the real story on Michigan State sports.

Here is what Matthew Herek said about the big question facing MSU football in the 2020s:

“The easy answer is who will be the next coach..one way or the other that’s happening in the next decade. And yet I think the bigger question is where is that coach going to recruit? Michigan’s population is shrinking, leaving fewer players to split with U of M. The best and second-best players in Ohio are staying put. The next decade will see MSU need to find a durable recruiting pipeline outside of their comfort zone.”

It does indeed seem that Mark Dantonio is not going to coach through the entirety of the 2020s. That is a relatively easy call to make, even if you think Michigan State is going to bounce back in the next few seasons. Dantonio had health problems this past decade. It will take hard work to improve MSU to Michigan’s level, let alone Penn State’s or Ohio State’s level. Even if Dantonio shows more staying power than a lot of people expect, he will probably be out of coaching by 2024 or 2025. The strain of the job will take its toll even if Michigan State has one more revival under Dantonio.

Let’s say, though, that Dantonio does NOT revive MSU in the 2020 season. He could very well step down a year from now. If that happens — and given the lack of movement on the coaching staff at Cincinnati — a lot of people in the college football industry think that Luke Fickell might have his eye on the Michigan State job. If you are unsure why Fickell would choose Michigan State, let’s remind you that Dantonio himself came from Cincinnati to coach the Spartans after the 2006 season.

If Michigan State wants to recruit Ohio well in the 2020s, Fickell would rate as an obvious choice, if Luke wants to make the trip to East Lansing. We shall see.

Great Wisconsin moments of the 2010s: 2016 Michigan State

2016 Wisconsin-Michigan State

The 2016 season wasn’t as great as the 2017 season for the Wisconsin Badgers football program, but it was loaded with great moments. The season-opening win over LSU was immensely satisfying and validating. The season-ending Cotton Bowl win might have come against Western Michigan, a “no-glory” assignment in a New Year’s Six game against the Group of Five champion (somewhat akin to what Penn State faces this December against Memphis), but it was still a New Year’s Six bowl win. Those are always moments to cherish.

In the 2016 season, there was one other moment which stood out from the rest, a moment important enough to highlight in our review of great Wisconsin achievements in the 2010s. The 30-6 beatdown of the Michigan State Spartans in East Lansing reverberates through the Big Ten landscape today.

When Wisconsin and Michigan State played on that sun-drenched, late-September afternoon in 2016, Wisconsin was ranked 11th and MSU No. 8. Michigan State was riding high, having just won on the road at Notre Dame and coming off a 2015 season in which it made the College Football Playoff, having won the Big Ten title over Iowa in Indianapolis. Michigan State had won the Big Ten and the Rose Bowl in the 2013 season. Two years later, MSU reached the playoff and climbed over Ohio State in Columbus to do it, dethroning the defending national champions and making their own powerful statement. Mark Dantonio was at the height of his powers. Michigan State was the 1-B in the Big Ten compared to Ohio State’s 1-A. Wisconsin was the third-best program in the conference, a cut below the Buckeyes AND the Spartans in the Big Ten pecking order.

What happened in that 24-point win over Michigan State reflects more on the Spartans, in a sense, than the Badgers. Yes, this victory put Wisconsin on track to win 11 games, a division title, and a New Year’s Six bowl, sustaining the Paul Chryst era and forming an on-ramp to the brilliant 2017 season which would follow. Yet, in many ways, this game marked a turning point more for Michigan State than UW… and not in a good way. Michigan State did win 10 games in 2017, but that has become the aberration, not the norm, for the Spartans.

The blowout loss to Wisconsin in early 2016 led to a disastrous domino effect for Dantonio, whose team plummeted to 3-9. Michigan State has lost at least six games in each of the past two seasons (bowl game included), and many people in and around the Big Ten feel that Dantonio is on his last legs. His program clearly doesn’t have the strength or resilience it once owned.

Wisconsin clearly weakened Michigan State’s program in 2016. It didn’t deliver a finishing blow, but it began a process of erosion which is in evidence to this day. Few in the college football industry would be shocked if 2020 is Dantonio’s last season on the job.

Michigan State hasn’t been back to the Big Ten Championship Game since 2015. It hasn’t returned to a New Year’s Six game. It hasn’t kept up in the Big Ten, whereas Wisconsin has supplanted the Spartans as the second-most successful team in the conference, with Penn State also having an argument to make on that front. Wisconsin and Ohio State have met in two of the last three Big Ten Championship Games, and the Badgers are playing in their third New Year’s Six game in the past four seasons, matching Penn State in that category.

The 2016 Michigan State game will be viewed as an important moment in the story of Big Ten football 20 years from now. Wisconsin authored the story, but its biggest development affected the team the Badgers bludgeoned.

Russell Wilson beat Kirk Cousins Monday – and in the 1st B1G title game

Recalling Russell Wilson versus Kirk Cousins in the 1st Big Ten Championship Game between the Wisconsin Badgers and Michigan State Spartans

Monday night — December 2, 2019 — Russell Wilson’s team defeated Kirk Cousins’ team, 37-30, in a big December game which would help determine where the respective teams would play in January.

Saturday night — December 3, 2011 — Russell Wilson’s team defeated Kirk Cousins’ team, 42-39, in a big December game which would help determine where the respective teams would play in January.

Deja vu, baby. Russell Wilson doesn’t have a perfect record against Kirk Cousins — the Seattle Seahawks lost to the Washington Redskins at home in the 2017 NFL season (but only because Seahawk kicker Blair Walsh missed three field goals in a game the Redskins won, 17-14) — but Wilson does keep winning the biggest meetings between the two quarterbacks. The Seahawks and the Minnesota Vikings are both playing for division titles and home games in the NFL Playoffs (with the possibility of a first-round bye included). Monday night’s game in Seattle was high-stakes poker.

Eight years earlier, Wilson and Cousins met in a supremely important game, the first Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis. Wisconsin’s first trip to Indy started something special. The Badgers are returning to the Hoosier State for their sixth Big Ten title game appearance. Michigan State has made three such trips, but the Spartans haven’t been back to Lucas Oil Stadium since 2015.

That Big Ten title game — played in a dome instead of freezing outdoor weather — invited conditions suitable for a track meet. That’s exactly what the game became. Moreover, it began a full decade in which Big Ten title games have usually been high-scoring rather than grind-it-out slugfests. This is proof of the evolution of college football. It is also proof that the old Big Ten of Woody and Bo no longer lives among us.

Get this: Of the eight Big Ten Championship Games which have been played, only two have involved fewer than 58 total points, only one with fewer than 48 (Michigan State 16, Iowa 13, in 2015). If you told a 1985 Big Ten fan that the most important Big Ten game of the season in the decade of the 2010s would average 64.25 points scored per game, s/he would have laughed at you. Yet, that’s the reality we have.

Russell Wilson and Kirk Cousins got the party started in 2011.

Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Both men threw for three touchdowns that night, in a seesaw game which was pure popcorn. Wisconsin took a 21-7 lead in the first quarter. Michigan State stormed back with 22 points (yes, a 2-point conversion on a fake extra point) in the second quarter. The teams went to the fourth quarter with Michigan State maintaining an eight-point lead at 36-28, but guess what happened? Russell Wilson took over in the fourth quarter, leading two touchdown drives for a come-from-behind 42-39 victory. It’s what he did then. It is what he is still doing now with the Seahawks. Some things never change, right?

Wisconsin won the Big Ten in 2010, the last year without divisional play. That was due to a tiebreaker involving Michigan State. In 2011, the Badgers and Michigan State settled it on the field, and in the end, Russ won, Kirk Cousins lost. Cousins was not at fault for Michigan State’s loss that night, but as Green Bay Packer fans could tell you, Cousins has not owned the fourth quarter in the NFL the way Wilson has, or the way Aaron Rodgers so often has. He tried his best Monday night, but Wilson had the final say.

Russell Wilson usually gets the last word… and such was the case in the first Big Ten Championship Game, part of a streak of three straight Big Ten titles the Badgers won from 2010 through 2012. It is delicious for Wisconsin-based football fans to see a Badger hurting the Vikings and helping the Packers these many years later. The fun began on one night in Indianapolis, eight years ago.

Big Ten Championship Game: Wisconsin is part of a B1G trinity

Reflections on the Wisconsin Badgers’ sixth appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game.

Minnesota is in the rearview mirror. Let’s now move to the Big Ten Championship Game this upcoming Saturday against Ohio State. We have plenty of time to unpack numerous angles related to this contest. Let’s start with some aspects of Big Ten Championship Game history at the end of the first decade for this standalone event, which began in 2011.

It is fitting that Wisconsin and Michigan State played in the first Big Ten Championship Game, with Ohio State stuck for one season between the end of the Jim Tressel era and the beginning of the Urban Meyer era. Ohio State’s 2011 mess and its 2012 lack of eligibility for postseason play are why the Badgers have the most Big Ten Championship Game appearances at the end of the decade, with six. A 6 of 9 “shooting line” is 67 percent from the field, so to speak. That will do. It speaks to Wisconsin’s consistency and dependability as a program.

The surprise is not that Wisconsin has been consistent. It was consistent in the late 1990s. It was consistent in the several seasons immediately preceding the 2011 campaign, the first year with a Big Ten Championship Game. Wisconsin has generally been a 10-win program over the past two decades, with a brief period of drift in the early 2000s and an occasional ho-hum season (such as 2018 for Paul Chryst) in which a lot of things went wrong.

No, the surprise is not that Wisconsin has been consistent, or that Michigan State and Ohio State have also made multiple return trips to the Big Ten Championship Game in this decade, which is about to end. The surprise is that no one else in this conference has been particularly consistent at the higher end of performance.

Yes, Penn State has become fairly strong in recent seasons, and the Nittany Lions could become the team which makes an upward move among the Big Ten’s best teams in the 2020s. Yes, Michigan has not been terrible; its biggest sin under Jim Harbaugh is that it can’t match the juggernaut Urban assembled, and Ryan Day sustained this year, at Ohio State. Nevertheless, Michigan has not been relentlessly consistent in the way it used to be under Lloyd Carr. Yes, Minnesota could become the fresh new face in the top tier of the Big Ten in the coming decade.

Yet, all of them haven’t truly maintained a regular annual home in the top tier of the Big Ten. The first nine seasons of divisional play and a Big Ten Championship Game reveal that Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Ohio State are the ONLY three programs to make the Big Ten title game more than once.

Does that surprise you? Maybe the current pecking order in the Big Ten — with a second Wisconsin-Ohio State B1G championship showdown in three seasons — casts that statement in a different light. Maybe it is so expected that Ohio State and Wisconsin will win their respective divisions that the above fact doesn’t resonate very strongly. Fair enough.

Yet, I ask you to pause for a moment. Just absorb this question and what it means: In 2011, when the first Big Ten Championship Game was played, were you prepared to think that Michigan would not play in ANY of the first nine B1G title games?

Were you prepared to think that Nebraska would play in only one, and go seven years (and counting) without so much as a division title? Were you prepared to think after 2015 that Iowa would not get back to this game in the remainder of the decade?

The fact that we have had nine Big Ten title games (including this upcoming 2019 edition) means that 18 berths in the Big Ten Championship Game have been allotted in the past nine seasons. The leaderboard looks like this:

  • Wisconsin, 6 berths
  • Ohio State, 5
  • Michigan State, 3
  • Nebraska, Iowa, Penn State, and Northwestern, all with 1 apiece

The top two aren’t surprising at all, and in 2012, Ohio State would have qualified had it been eligible. The surprise is how few Big Ten programs have returned to Indy… and Michigan State, after so many strong seasons, is a program in decline, with Mark Dantonio’s career seemingly out of gas.

Wisconsin and Ohio State, it can reasonably be argued, are not only the two most reliable programs in the Big Ten; they might be the ONLY reliable programs in this conference.

MSU Football vs. Maryland: Three Things To Watch

Michigan State Football has its final regular season game against Maryland this Saturday, Nov. 30. Here are three things to watch.

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The Michigan State Football regular season finale is upon us. The Spartans are set to take on the Maryland Terpins this Saturday, Nov. 30. For many fans, this game comes as a sign of relief.

Here are three things to watch:

Bowl Eligibility

MSU must win this game against Maryland to become bowl eligible. This would be the twelfth time in Mark Dantonio’s tenure as head coach. Note, he has been the Spartans head coach for 13 years. This year was not as enjoyable as the others. A win against Maryland puts MSU at 6-6 on the year. On the other hand, a loss puts them back at rather pitiful 5-7 on the year.

Fan Reaction

Fan reaction to a Maryland loss is rather easy to predict. On the other hand, fan reaction to a Maryland win is certainly unpredictable. Will fans be happy? Does bowl eligibility matter given their deflating performances all year long?

If I had to guess, I’d say bowl eligibility is met with strong apathy. Unfortunately, many fans will not care. Furthermore, I think fans react with vitriol to a bowl game loss. I hope, for Dantonio’s sake, MSU finishes strong against Maryland and the potential bowl game opponent who comes after. This will at least guarantee some favor in the eyes of fans until next year.

Signs Of The Future

Despite the negativity surrounding this season, there are positive signs for the future all around. In particular, there are positive signs on the Football field. All three freshman RB’s will likely improve heading into next year. Most notable is Elijah Collins, a proven stud. Collins racked up numbers this year even though the offensive line suffered numerous injuries.

C.J Hayes returns next year as does Cody White. Behind them, the receiving core features Jalen Nailor and Tre Mosley. That is a solid group of young receivers to pair with a new QB. If MSU blows out Maryland, we might even see someone besides Brian Lewerke at QB.

Firing a head coach is easier said than done. Especially when there is no viable replacement. Let’s pump the brakes on the Dantonio talk until the start of next season.

Tune in Saturday at 3:30 P.M. on FS1 to cheer on the Spartans. Stay locked on SpartansWire for more coverage to come.

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Michigan State Football landed commitment of two 3-star recruits this week

Michigan State has had a big start to Thanksgiving week, nabbing two 3-star linemen in two days.

Kind of like I will be doing with some stuffing and mashed potatoes in a few days, Michigan State went for second helpings this week, but instead of carbs they are double-dipping on 3-star football recruits. Mark Dantonio landed the commitment of two 3-star linemen this week, one on the offensive line and one on the defensive side.

First, the Spartans received a verbal commitment from Justin Stevens, a 3-star offensive tackle from Mississauga, Canada on Monday. Stevens is the 129th ranked tackle in the 2020 class.

Then, just a few hours ago, defensive end Avery Dunn of Shaker Heights High School (Ohio) announced his official commitment from his Twitter account.

Dunn is the fifth 3-star defensive end in the 2020 class. Some have criticized MSU for failing to land a big five-star recruit for this class, but they have started to stockpile a well-rounded class.

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MSU Football vs Maryland: Scouting Report

Michigan State Football takes on Maryland this weekend on Saturday, Nov. 30. Here is a scouting report of the Maryland Football team.

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Michigan State Football squares off against Maryland this weekend on Saturday, Nov. 30. The Spartans come into this game after a 27-0 victory against Rutgers. Maryland, on the other hand, is fresh off a 54-7 loss to Nebraska.

Here is a scouting report for the Maryland Terpins Football team:

Offensive Side Of The Ball

Maryland is…not a good football team, however, their offense isn’t absolutely terrible. Maryland has a solid QB by the name of Josh Jackson. Jackson has racked up 1,133 yards and 11 touchdowns on 180 throwing attempts.

While Jackson has a strong arm, it is certainly not accurate. He has thrown five interceptions on the year. Furthermore, Maryland has scored one touchdown or less in four different games. Michigan State’s defense can exploit his inaccuracies for their own gain. Much like they did with Johnny Langan last week against Rutgers.

Junior RB Javon Leake and sophomore RB Anthony McFarland shoulder the load for the run game. Leake has 92 carries for 716 yards on the year with eight touchdowns to boot. McFarland, on the other hand, has tallied 480 yards and seven touchdowns on 106 attempts. The Spartans must dominate the trenches to shut down Maryland’s run game.

Defensive Side Of The Ball

Maryland, much like Rutgers, is really weak on defense. Opponents average 36 points per game against the Terpins. Furthermore, Maryland suffers horrendous losses at the hands of high-end collegiate programs.

Penn State dropped 59 total points on Maryland. Michigan put up 38 points. Ohio State devastated the Terpins in a 73-14 loss and as I mentioned earlier, Nebraska blew them away 54-7.

Yes, Michigan State has struggled in the past offensively. This should not persist against Maryland though. Instead, the Spartans should have a field day on offense Especially given how hot the Brian Lewerke and Cody White connection is as of late. At the very least, MSU Football ends the year on a high note with a blowout victory.

The game kicks off on Saturday at 3:30 P.M. and you can catch all of the action on FS1. Stay locked on SpartansWire for more coverage to come.

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Locked On Spartans Podcast: MSU FOOTBALL IS BACK, BABY!

MSU football gets back in the win column against Rutgers. MSU hoops takes on Virginia Tech.

Wil and Matt revel in Michigan State’s glorious win over Rutgers. Then they make fun of Greg Schiano a little bit and preview Michigan State vs. Virginia Tech.

You can find the episode on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

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