EAST LANSING, Mich. — It's time to reboot the national conversation about the best defense in college football.
So far, about 99 percent of the talk has centered on LSU and Alabama — or, if you prefer, Alabama and LSU — despite the fact that the No. 1 total defense statistically belongs to Michigan State.
So will the No. 23 Spartans get their due after Saturday's 28-14 mashing of No. 11 Michigan?
"I don't care,'' said MSU defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi, despite the look on his face that indicates he might. "It's what we do on Saturday. The stats and the stuff you guys talk about, it doesn't matter.
"At the end of the year, we'll find out where we are.''
I don't think that we need to wait that long to assess MSU, which comes to Nebraska in two weeks.
Sparty held Michigan's 26th-ranked offense to 250 yards, 207 under its average. Sparty limited UM quarterback Denard Robinson, the nation's No. 9 rusher, to 18 carries for 42 yards, 78 under his average. Sparty also had seven sacks and 10 tackles for loss.
Add in five personal foul penalties and driving Robinson out of the game by injury late in the fourth quarter and only one conclusion can be drawn:
Sparty beat the living tar out of the Wolverines.
"Our defense does have an attitude,'' said sophomore defensive end William Gholston, who had two of the personal fouls and two of the tackles for loss. "We've got a hit-you-in-the-mouth mentality.''
Michigan got in the first punch.
The Wolverines took the opening kickoff and drove 80 yards in 11 plays into a 30-mph wind — the drive was saved by a 3-yard gain on a fake field goal — to go up 7-0. Robinson scored on what will go in the books as a 15-yard run, but which in reality was 40 yards of zig-zag scrambling.
From there, the butt-kicking commenced. Michigan's output the rest of the day was a measly 3 yards per snap.
"The score was closer than the play,'' MSU quarterback Kirk Cousins said. "We really dominated the game.''
No argument here, even though it was 7-7 at halftime, a showing that looked like something from the leather-helmet era.
In the third quarter, with the wind helping, Cousins led touchdown drives of 54 and 61 yards, ending both with touchdown passes of 10 and 13 yards to wideout Keyshawn Martin for a 21-7 lead.
Still, the Michigan State defense couldn't rest. Robinson threw a 34-yard touchdown pass on the first play after a short Michigan State punt to cut MSU's lead to 21-14 with 9:49 left.
The Spartans (5-1, 2-0) fumbled away the ball on the next play at their own 33. But on fourth-and-1 at the 9, Michigan State cornerback Johnny Adams sacked Robinson for a 10-yard loss, preserving the lead.
Appropriately, the Spartan defense ended the scoring when Isaiah Lewis returned an interception 39 yards with 4:31 left. That sparked a perfectly timed MSU student section chant of "Hail to the Victors,'' a dig at the Wolverines and their fight song.
Before we continue, Michigan's Brady Hoke deserves some praise.
The first-year coach has steadfastly argued that his team shouldn't be ranked anywhere near the Top 10, and it's easy to agree after an in-person look. Besides Robinson, this is a modestly talented team that did amazing work to go undefeated until Saturday.
If Hoke keeps the Wolverines (6-1, 2-1) in the Legends Division race to the end — and the schedule makes that possible, including a home game with Nebraska on Nov. 19 — he should get some coach of the year consideration.
Speaking of that honor, let's hear from Michigan State's Mark Dantonio, who now has a big road scalp (Ohio State) and a big home scalp (Michigan).
"One of our goals in this program,'' the fifth-year coach said, "is, 'Anytime, anywhere.' That means to be able to play competitively with anybody in this country.
"We've beaten good football teams. And we've struggled a couple of times. I'm not going to say we're there yet. But the temperament of our football team is one of confidence and one of toughness and one of effort. You can win with those things.''
That formula will be tested to the max next Saturday when No. 4 Wisconsin comes to Spartan Stadium. Already, there is talk about ESPN "GameDay" being on hand.
An upset might spark a weeklong Sparty Party. If that happens, it had better start with a salute to the defense.
Michigan....................7 0 0 7—14
Michigan St................7 0 14 7—28
First Quarter
Mich—D.Robinson 15 run (Gibbons kick), 8:50.
MSU—Baker 1 run (Conroy kick), 5:08.
Third Quarter
MSU—Martin 10 pass from Cousins (Conroy kick), 11:07.
MSU—Martin 13 pass from Cousins (Conroy kick), :25.
Fourth Quarter
Mich—Roundtree 34 pass from D.Robinson (Gibbons kick), 9:49.
MSU—Lewis 39 interception return (Conroy kick), 4:31.
A—77,515.
Mich MSU
First downs 20 16
Rushes-yards 36-82 39-213
Passing 168 120
Comp-Att-Int 12-31-1 13-24-0
Return Yards 22 52
Punts-Avg. 7-31.9 5-41.0
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 2-2
Penalties-Yards 5-40 13-124
Time of Possession 29:27 30:33
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Michigan, D.Robinson 18-42, Smith 8-37, Gallon 1-8, Toussaint 2-7, Dileo 1-3, Gardner 6-(minus 15). Michigan St., Baker 26-167, Martin 3-20, Bell 7-20, Fowler 1-6, Cousins 2-0.
PASSING—Michigan, D.Robinson 9-24-1-123, Gardner 3-7-0-45. Michigan St., Cousins 13-24-0-120.
RECEIVING—Michigan, Roundtree 4-66, Gallon 3-43, Hemingway 3-43, Koger 2-16. Michigan St., Cunningham 4-39, Martin 3-31, Linthicum 2-22, Ke.Nichol 2-20, Bell 1-5, Caper 1-3.
Contact the writer:
402-444-1024, lee.barfknecht@owh.com
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