A terrible end to an otherwise great season (Alabama 49, Michigan State 7)
I feel silly that I really thought MSU had a chance in this game. How wrong I was. How amazingly, ridiculously wrong I was!
In my defense, I'll say that the primary reason I thought the Spartans had a chance was that I questioned how motivated the Tide would be in this game...well, the Tide was motivated. Extremely motivated.
The obvious question is: how in the world did Alabama lose three games this season? That was the most dominating performance I have seen in a LOOOONNNNNNG time. In fairness to MSU, the way Alabama played, they wouldn't have lost to ANY Big Ten team. Ohio State is the only Big Ten team that may have given the Tide a game, and I think the Buckeyes would've lost by at least a touchdown.
Alabama waited until the final game of the season to play like the pre-season #1 they once were, and the poor Michigan State Spartans were the unlucky recipients of this spirited and inspired butt-kicking.
I was at my in-laws' house to watch the New Year's Day games, and we continued to watch this game until the very end, probably just to see how bad it could possibly get. This game was like watching a trainwreck. My only hope was that somehow the Spartans could hold 'Bama to less than 50 points, and that if they got lucky, maybe, just MAYBE, the Spartans could score.
When the Spartans did finally score their lone touchdown, we celebrated and cheered the same way we did, a few years ago, when my son's youth soccer team finally scored their only goal of the season.
One of the few saving graces of the day, for MSU, was that the rest of the Big Ten did poorly. Michigan was blown out by Mississippi State, Penn State was dropped by Florida (in Urban Meyer's final game as coach), and Wisconsin fell to TCU in the Rose Bowl.
It was a dreadful day for the Big Ten, and I am once again pondering whether college football in the northern United States is becoming as irrelevent nationally as college baseball in the north.
Despite the loss--and it was a tough loss to take, there's no doubt about that--it was a very good season for the MSU football team. The team will have a banner to put up in Spartan Stadium for the first Big Ten title in twenty years. Most importantly, the culture of losing that has pervaded East Lansing for years finally seems to be ending. There are many reasons for Michigan State football fans to be optimistic for the future.
In my defense, I'll say that the primary reason I thought the Spartans had a chance was that I questioned how motivated the Tide would be in this game...well, the Tide was motivated. Extremely motivated.
The obvious question is: how in the world did Alabama lose three games this season? That was the most dominating performance I have seen in a LOOOONNNNNNG time. In fairness to MSU, the way Alabama played, they wouldn't have lost to ANY Big Ten team. Ohio State is the only Big Ten team that may have given the Tide a game, and I think the Buckeyes would've lost by at least a touchdown.
Alabama waited until the final game of the season to play like the pre-season #1 they once were, and the poor Michigan State Spartans were the unlucky recipients of this spirited and inspired butt-kicking.
I was at my in-laws' house to watch the New Year's Day games, and we continued to watch this game until the very end, probably just to see how bad it could possibly get. This game was like watching a trainwreck. My only hope was that somehow the Spartans could hold 'Bama to less than 50 points, and that if they got lucky, maybe, just MAYBE, the Spartans could score.
When the Spartans did finally score their lone touchdown, we celebrated and cheered the same way we did, a few years ago, when my son's youth soccer team finally scored their only goal of the season.
One of the few saving graces of the day, for MSU, was that the rest of the Big Ten did poorly. Michigan was blown out by Mississippi State, Penn State was dropped by Florida (in Urban Meyer's final game as coach), and Wisconsin fell to TCU in the Rose Bowl.
It was a dreadful day for the Big Ten, and I am once again pondering whether college football in the northern United States is becoming as irrelevent nationally as college baseball in the north.
Despite the loss--and it was a tough loss to take, there's no doubt about that--it was a very good season for the MSU football team. The team will have a banner to put up in Spartan Stadium for the first Big Ten title in twenty years. Most importantly, the culture of losing that has pervaded East Lansing for years finally seems to be ending. There are many reasons for Michigan State football fans to be optimistic for the future.
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