Spartans Take Down Ducks 31-28 on Mission to Reach Higher and Make a Memory

Spartans Take Down Ducks 31-28 on Mission to Reach Higher and Make a Memory Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI Tonight was an ethereal moment for the Spartan

Spartans Take Down Ducks 31-28 on Mission to Reach Higher and Make a Memory

Spartan Stadium

East Lansing, MI

Tonight was an ethereal moment for the Spartan Nation. For the first time since the 1966 “Game of the Century” two top ten teams met at the High Cathedral of the Spartan Nation: Spartan Stadium. The crowd striped the stadium and from the moment the tailgating gates opened at 1 PM ET the place was on fire and loud. On this night, at this moment, regardless of how the season ends fathers and sons, grandpas and grandsons, families, friends and the nation made a memory.

Years ago when Mark Dantonio first started cutting his teeth at coaching he had forged the idea that you can’t win a football game, regardless of yards, if you can’t run the ball. Once again cloaked in humility, the Spartan head man, a defensive savant, was again proven as the Ducks threw for 309 yards, but against the Spartans feared front defensive line could only muster 123 anemic rushing yards.

The Ducks, despite the Spartans controlling the line of scrimmage, well coached themselves, kept trying to pound the rock continually with no avail. 39 times the Ducks took to the air but an amazing 43 times they tried to attack the Spartans ferocious defensive front seven.

Each time it was a different numbered Spartan making another great play, and with each stop the Spartan D grew into a gang green of infectious attacking testosterone fueled monsters asking for more.

The Ducks kept coming despite the punishing physicality of the Spartans and each time MSU was happy to oblige. To their credit, the Ducks took each beating and kept getting up. You don’t have epic games, memories in time like this without two great competitors and the Ducks did their part.

It was fitting as the legacy of the 1966 team loomed large that ICONIC Spartans Clinton Jones and Gene Washington were in the house. Like two grandfathers watching with pride, they watched a next generation of Dawgs honor them with physical play and a team component lacking for so long.

Under the shadow of the bright national stage and the lights that shined down on the field this team sent the nation a message. Somewhere in Columbus, Tuscaloosa, Los Angeles or Texas teams watched. They studied. Following the lead of their head coach the Spartans didn’t do anything dumb (only two penalties) or try to show up the Ducks, they just made plays. Pick a name on this night it was about Spartans and they all contributed.

The Spartans had a 14-7 lead at halftime and came out to start the third quarter of the game with the ball and proceeded to devour like a fat kid and cake 12:18 of the 15 minute quarter. Dantonio’s band of warriors put their own stake in the ground where Michigan had tried just one season ago. This was their house and they were not going to let anyone come in and take over.

How amazing was the crowd? The 12th man mantra in my mind is overplayed by schools wanting fans to show up and spend money. On this night it was as real and tangible as oxygen. Each moment when the Ducks seemed poised to strike, the crowd roared like mental steroids for their team. And their team responded.

I asked All-American DE Shilique Calhoun after the game to put in perspective how good the crowd was and he gushed over the Spartan Nation faithful like a new groom at the wedding altar. “Spartan Nation is incredible. I love that they are out there in tenfold and they honestly bring us life. I know a lot of programs say that, but we look to them when it's tough times and we look to them when we're having a great time. I think our fans make the program, also. They are part of this team, and they bring the hype-- when we need that lift up and they raise their hands and they are cheering and they are loud, it just gets us pumped up in the sense that no one else can do; not something your parent or coach can do. They bring a different type of dynamic to the game having them cheering for you. So having them stay for the whole game was special and I just want to thank them.”

Dantonio shared the overt adulation for the fans. Looking excited, but beat the Spartans commanding general said of Spartan Nation, “I just think this was the place to be in this state today. Very exciting atmosphere. Spartan Stadium was rocking and great crowd, great crowd, great football game, right down to the end, and very, very exciting.”

He added, “So you know, I just think it was a great atmosphere, and we knew it would be. It had everything coming into the football game, game day, national TV audience, two good football teams that were ranked in the Top-10. It had it all, so it delivered. The game delivered in terms of its intensity, and as I said, it was fast and furious out there. Things were happening at a very fast rate.”

Tonight the Spartans made a memory, something Dantonio preaches about. They also did something else amazing. They set the stage for even bigger memories. They say magical seasons just happen; like lightning in a bottle. Tonight, if you looked hard, while your ears hurt from the deafening roar of an appreciative Spartan Nation, you could see something. Was it pixie dust? Was it the emotion of George Webster and Bubba Smith from heaven watching their Spartans represent them so well? I’m not sure. That is up for interpretation. What I do know was that tonight was magical.

Long after I am gone, young men who played tonight will be back in this stadium decades from now with their grandchildren. They will be writing about some game on that night that stirred memories of this game. Tonight was a mile post.

Dantonio said it best, “I've always said, it's a special place, special people at a special time and that's what this win was, too. We talked about it coming into the game that this is a life moment and these are opportunities that you have to make good on and you just had to do your best. You just had to do your best. And if your best wasn't good enough, that's fine. Things happen out there. You're not making all the plays, but you have to do your best and you have to over-achieve, play with energy, play with character.”

Never satisfied, Dantonio put this game in even bigger perspective. “In my mind, this is a steppingstone game. This is a game that plays dividends at the end of season, and this is a game that promotes this brands and this program and it's exciting for everybody involved.”

If you weren’t at this game get the video. Don’t worry; just like Woodstock by the time history reckons the roll, there will be 10 million people who said they were sitting at the 50. Reading about it, listening on the radio, watching on TV or actually being there, you were part of this. Tonight was a program win and I hope you take the time to enjoy it.