

MSU photo

The spotlight of the college football world will turn to Lincoln Saturday afternoon as Michigan State does battle with Nebraska. The game will have a tremendous impact on who winds up playing Ohio State for the Big Ten title.

It still feels a bit strange that Nebraska is a team fighting for the Big Ten and not its traditional Big 12 supremacy. Just wait until Rutgers-Nebraska is a conference clash. Yikes. I’d always thought 11 members in our ten-team conference was crowded enough. Apparently not.

Mark Dantonio’s squad arrives at this point with a sterling 8-1 overall mark. Amazingly enough for a group once believed to have one of the nation’s most inept offensive units, every victory has been by double digits.

Connor Cook has slowly developed into a Trent Dilfer-type game manager, content to hand the ball off, make the occasional throw downfield, and let the dominant Spartans D take care of the rest. His efficiency was off the charts in an earlier win against Illinois, attempting 16 passes and completing all but one. He’ll need to remain poised and under control in front of 90,000-plus at raucous Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

It is a giant game for Michigan State, even bigger than the clash with rival Michigan two weeks ago. Following this is a road game at reeling Northwestern (0-5 in the Big 10) and a home finale against improved, but fairly non-threatening Minnesota. If the Spartans can somehow escape Lincoln with a W, you’re looking at a possible 11-1 team entering the conference championship against likely 12-0 Ohio State.

Offense Was Horrendous

For anyone who watched the season opener against Western Michigan, or even the following week against South Florida, such lofty achievements would have seemed laughable. The offense was absolutely horrendous, the quarterback situation was a mess, and many predicted a frustrating year filled with tight 13-10 losses. But somewhere along the way, the Green and White flipped the script and became the 2000 Baltimore Ravens (the go-to comparison for any team with a ferocious D and pedestrian O).

Just like many Michigan State games this season, find a way to put up 17-20 and victory is all but assured. Unbelievably, Dantonio’s defense has allowed a total of NINE points in the last three games (no touchdowns, three FGs). Regardless of who those opponents were, that level of stinginess is simply sensational.

This game has the same feel as a road clash in Iowa three years ago. The Spartans were 8-0 and had pummeled Michigan a few weeks prior. They were ranked fifth in the country. The rest of the schedule appeared fairly harmless, turning the trip to Iowa City into the season’s defining moment. Any green-blooded Spartan fan can tell you what happened next.

The Hawkeyes scored first, they scored again, they forced Kirk Cousins into like 11 interceptions, and they built up an insurmountable 37-0 lead midway through the third quarter. It was a crushing blow, a harsh reminder of how quickly dreams can shatter in the span of one college football Saturday.

But things feel a bit differently this time around. In 2010, they flew to Iowa as a decided underdog. Now they invade Nebraska as a healthy favorite (6-7 points). The opposing quarterback that day was Ricky Stanzi, a capable senior and future NFL signal-caller.

The Huskers present a two-headed monster at QB, neither of which are remotely scary. Tommy Armstrong, Jr. is a freshman that prior to the win over Michigan, had thrown six interceptions in two games. The husky Ron Kellogg III will likely see time under center as well despite his left-guardish appearance.

Expectations Surpassed

The season has already surpassed expectations, and a loss Saturday would not necessarily signal the end of the world. There would still be an outside chance at finishing atop the “Legends” division and a respected bowl game would be on the horizon.

But for a team haunted by their 25-year absence from the Rose Bowl and the memories of Iowa-2010, a victory over Nebraska could come to represent a turning point in the program’s history and a message from the rest of the Big Ten originals that we liked things fine just the way they were.