On Sunday, Michigan State had best be in your top four. It’s been a good while since we’ve seen a win as impressive as what the Spartans put up in a 17-14 shocker of Ohio State whilst their Heisman-contender quarterback hung out on the sidelines all game with a shoulder injury.
Michigan State led for all of zero seconds of game time against both Michigan and Ohio State and won both games. That’s absurd.
Let’s step back.
This was Mark Dantonio’s Mona Lisa. Connor Cook was out. His Spartans were in Columbus. The weather was the kind that makes you hate going to games because you know the price you pay is “being sick for the next five days.” J.T. Barrett was back in full force.
The game honestly turned when MSU muffed a punt inside its own 10 that gave the Buckeyes a 14-7 lead. In a game where offense was the Ark of the Covenant, it should have felt like a 20-point bulge.
Helped by the Bucks’ defense, Dantonio, Jim Bollman (formerly of OSU), and the Spartans’ other play-calling participants surprised OSU with backup quarterback Tyler O’Connor’s legs.
O’Connor was supposed to be the drop-back foil to Damion Terry’s dual-threat juxtaposition. Terry went out in the second half with an injury, and that’s when O’Connor got his shot, one he might not give up once Cook has picked up his diploma.
O’Connor was elite — not only did he excel in drawn-up runs, but he made a crucial game-turning play. Near midfield; with no OSU defensive lineman over the center; and on third and two, the Spartans dialed up a brilliant sneak from O’Connor that gave them momentum they’d never give back.
When the play clock was running down, O’Connor was veteran enough to know what to do with it. He was a revelation on Saturday.
The big picture is that Michigan State is a worthy playoff contender. While we’ve spent the entire season talking about how much Michigan has improved and whether or not Ohio State can ever lose a football game again, MSU has quietly overcome injury, bad officiating, and disrespect to plop itself once again into the middle of the playoff race.
Mark Dantonio has been coaching a long time. He’s done a lot of great things. Nothing has topped this, however.
Sparty lives, and belongs on the grandest of stages after the biggest win to date of 2015. If the CFB Playoff committee doesn’t have the Spartans as their top ranked 1-loss team, they’re not playing with a full deck. Blow it up. Sparty On, indeed.
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