A Turmoil Filled Alamo Bowl Turns Late in Favor of the Red Raiders
For the third straight year, MSU had a chance to win a Bowl game in the 4th quarter against a better team, but lost. As the Spartans took a 28-27 lead into the 4th quarter, the Texas Tech home crowd in the Alamo Bowl began to worry. At the 8:05 mark of the final quarter, Sr. K Brett Swenson put MSU up 31-27 with his final FG as a Spartan. The 44-yard effort put MSU in the driver’s seat, but Texas Tech grabbed the wheel from that point and drove the win home with a set of gutsy plays.
As the mid-way point of the 4th loomed, Interim Texas Tech Head Coach Ruffin McNeil made a seemingly desperate move to bring in back up Jr. QB Steven Sheffield. To that point, Red Raider starting Jr. QB Taylor Potts had thrown for 372 yards with 2 TDs and 1 INT. McNeil’s attempt to jump start the herky jerky performance of the Red Raiders’ 2nd half Offense worked like a dream.
Sheffield’s entry to arrival with 8:05 to go changed the outcome of the game. Two plays after picking up an initial 1st down, Sheffield found himself down on the Alamo Dome turf, a victim of a 2nd down Rs.-Fr. Tyler Hoover sack. McNeil’s QB switch was about to stall out. Texas Tech faced a 3rd and 12, and the prospect of giving the ball back to a Spartan Offense that had run off 10 consecutive points. Had the Spartans held the Red Raiders on that 3rd down, they would’ve likely had an opportunity to go up as much as 11 points. An 11 point would have guaranteed MSU a healthy cushion, as Texas Tech would have needed two TDs to regain the lead.
Sheffield took the 3rd down snap and seemed to instantly know where he wanted to go with the ball. He threw it high, but right on line for the leaping Jr. WR Lyle Leong to catch in stride. Texas Tech had more than 350 “yards-after-the-catch†versus Spartan tackling on Saturday night. Perhaps none were as important as the 35 or so that Leong gained on that game changing down. Leong took the pass 43 yards, all the way down to the MSU 22. Three plays later, Sheffield found Jr. WR Detron Lewis for an 11-yard TD, which put the Red Raiders up for good at 34-31.
With 3:02 left in the game, the Spartans were far from out of it. In fact, they appeared to have exactly the type of redemption opportunity they were looking for as a program. Better yet, Rs.-So. QB Kirk Cousins had a personal shot at redemption, looking to get back some of the confidence that had to erode after the final drive of this year’s Notre Dame game. The game was once again there for MSU’s taking.
But on the second play of that drive, Cousins forced a ball across-field that he should’ve never thrown in bounds. After Red Raider Franklin Mitchem pulled down the Defense’s second interception of the day, momentum had completely returned to the Red Raiders. They lost the game’s momentum early in the 2nd half with two turnovers, but with barely three minutes to go, “Turmoil Tech†stood on the MSU 35 up by 3, and poised to put the game out of reach for good.
After using their first two timeouts after 1st and 2nd down, MSU had Texas Tech and Sheffield facing a huge 3rd and 5. Sheffield called the number of one of Texas Tech’s most reliable receivers, Jr. WR Alexander Torres. But Torres dropped an easy pass that would’ve gained a 1st down, and thus put Interim Texas Tech Head Coach Ruffin McNeil in quite the pickle. 4th and 5 is hardly a gimmie, but Texas Tech charged on anyway.
After calling time out, McNeil boldly sent his Offense back on the field, hoping to put the game away for good. The Red Raiders ran Torres on the sameexactroute, but this time he caught the ball and secured the 1st down. It appeared the Red Raiders’ had cinched an Alamo Bowl comeback victory. But MSU’s Defense didn’t quit all day, despite giving up 579 yards and 41 points. That’s obviously too many points and yards to consistently win games, but the MSU Defense did keep playing all night.
MSU stood Texas Tech up on the new set of downs again, and with 2:42 left, the Red Raiders faced a 4th and 4. Surprisingly, McNeil went for it again. Even Bill Belichik must have been wondering exactly what TTU and McNeil were thinking there. Yet, again the Red Raiders’ hot handed QB Sheffield threw easily over a Spartan Defensive Line that struggled all night to consistently put their hands up to knock passes down at the line. Torres buried the Spartans again for a 6-yard gain, and another new set of downs.
With all the momentum and confidence they could hope for, Texas Tech moved the ball a final 24 yards for the day to notch their last TD. With 2:11 to go, Texas Tech had a virtually insurmountable 10 point lead. The impressive and memorable 4th quarter comeback was all but complete.
A Third Straight Bowl Loss Brings Potential Program Gains
To the Spartans’ credit, they seemed to do everything they could to win this Bowl game. They had Jr. Aaron Bates throw a fake punt knuckleball for a drive extending 1st down. And on the very next play, do everything So. WR Keshawn Martin to a snap out of the Wildcat and threw another TD pass to Jr. TE Charlie Gantt. They tried Rs.-So. QB Keith Nichol at WR much of the game, without looking ridiculous or silly. This time, the Spartans appeared to use every tool in the box, which is refreshing.
In a nutshell, Spartan Football had a lot to gain with a win tonight. And while they did themselves proud, and clearly brought a good effort and focus to the Alamo Bowl, they did come up short. So while some might look at this trip as an overall success for the program, which it was in many ways, they again did not accomplish their biggest goal. Like each of the last two bowl games, this was probably a game that MSU should’ve won, though they were not the better team.
Texas Tech was clearly the better team coming into this game, given the circumstances. And but for perhaps the most bizarre timing in history to fire a Head Coach, this could’ve been a Red Raider blowout. So though there was a big opportunity missed for the Spartan Football program late Saturday night, they will take a many of positives forward from this game and the dramatic post season experience.
Clearly Cousins in 2010?
More than a few times this season, at pivotal moments, Cousins has tried to force balls into bad spots. On the opening drive of this Alamo Bowl game, MSU had moved the ball into Field Goal range when Cousins made an impatient decision that cost the Spartans points. Falling backwards at the hand of the Red Raider rush, Cousins inexplicably tried to flip the ball down the field. It ended up sailing into the waiting hands of Texas Tech DB Jamar Wall.
Cousins’ second and coffin nailing second INT at 4:34 of the 4th seemed like yet another case of bad judgment by the Rs.-So. QB. He forced another ball to a spot on the field where there simply wasn’t much of an upside. Cousins should’ve recognized that there was nothing there, and thrown the ball away to play for the 3rd down. He undoubtedly knows that; but to this point in his Spartan career, he has struggled throw it away and live for another down. It’s now become a real issue.
It’s a bit puzzling that Cousins would still try to force the ball too much in these situations. He appears a staunch student of the game who wants to do very well, but has struggled with pressing too hard to make things happen instead of letting the game’s opportunities come to him. Generally, no one play loses a game, and I’m not suggesting that either Cousins interception cost MSU the Alamo Bowl Saturday night, but I would say that he must improve his decision making in big games for MSU to win them in the future.
I’m not immediate endorsing the reopening of the starting QB competition, but this program will not get to the level that Mark Dantonio and the Spartan Nation expect it soon will if Cousins, or any Spartan QB, continues to repeat this pattern. There will be a very capable stable of QBs in East Lansing next fall, and I would not be shocked if there’s more of a competition for the starting spot during the 2010 season than would appear to be here on January 2nd. As good a statistical season as Cousins had, as accurate and live an arm he possesses, and as clear as the leadership position he had on this 2009 team, there is a lot of room for him to improve in the future. MSU must get better QB play at critical times to win more than six games in 2010.
The Spartan Nation should be careful not to overrate any of the Spartans in this off season that are not named Greg Jones. He’s earned his accolades, and will be a returning All-American should he suit up in Green and White next year. But this team went 6-7 this year with some bad losses late, some unfortunate but critical officiating calls against them, and some positive signs for the future. Yet, one of the systemic problems around this program for years, in my view, has been a tendency to overrate and over hype various players.
I hope this does not happen to Kirk Cousins, or any of the returning Spartans in future years. It only builds an environment around a program that fosters a sense of entitlement, and almost inevitably leads later to great disappointment, across the board. That’s not fair to Cousins, and not fair to the rest of the younger-unproven players. These players went 6-7 this year, not 11-2. And they weren’t almost 9-4, they were 6-7. Cousins isn’t the next Troy Aikman yet, so I hope the Spartan Nation doesn’t think or act like he is. Let him earn the accolades and respect like Greg Jones did, on the field. The adulation of his young teammates is a nice start, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves with inflated expectations and projections. September 4th, and the season opening date with Western Michigan, is eight months away.
2010 Vision
The future starts immediately for Mark Dantonio and his Michigan St. program. Now in the past is hopefully the worst year in his tenure. Not just the worst record wise, loss wise, injury wise, or otherwise, but hopefully the worst overall. What awaits in 2010 is largely unknown. Yet, if “practice squad†and other internal reports are accurate, the influx of new contributors next year will show up rather quickly next fall. MSU in 2010 could perform a lot more like the ’08 team than the ’09 team. This is not the time to look that far ahead and blow sunshine about unproven commodities though. But it should be recognized that there will be a distinctly different look to the Green and White beginning this spring.
2009 was really an amazing season in Spartan Football history, and not necessarily for all of the best reasons. Going all the way back to the start of fall camp, a lot of things happened in and around this program to shape the outcome of the 6-7 season. In the coming weeks, Spartan Nation will examine and analyze some of those happenings.
I have written thousands of words about this roller coaster ride of a 2009 season, and I truly appreciate the vast attention and feedback of the Spartan Nation readers. Thank you for listening. But if I had to sum up ’09 season at this point in just one word, it would simply be this: OVER.
Bring on 2010.
Add us as a preferred source on Google