My third favorite team to win was the Michigan State Spartans, who opened a can of thump ’em at UAB (the University of Alabama at Birmingham) in the season opener for both teams at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.
The battle between MSU’s first-year coaches Mark Dantonio and UAB’s Neil Callaway was no contest with Dantonio’s Spartans winning 55-18. On the Thursday before Friday’s game, Callaway said he “had a feeling his team was ready to start the season” against MSU, the first Big 10 team UAB has played. Michigan State gave Callaway a lot to think about on his way back to Alabama.
Dantonio’s Spartans took a 42-0 lead midway through the second quarter, scoring touchdowns on their first 6 possessions and amassing 252 first-half rushing yards on 34 carries (an average of 7.4 per carry). Senior running back Jehuu Caulcrick had 4 touchdowns on 94 rushing yards in the first half.
Caulcrick is a 6-foot, 255-pound running back who, in 35-pound football gear, comes at you at a 290-pound middleweight and strong. Caulcrick outweighed any player on Syracuse’s offensive line. I’m glad I wasn’t the defensive back for Syracuse who had to face Caulcrick.
Junior running back Javon Ringer had 83 rushing yards and junior QB Brian Hoyer completed 8 of 8 perfect passes for 149 yards.
The MSU defense gave up just 87 total yards in the first half. The Spartans had a penalty in the first half. I think you get the idea. Michigan State University football is back in a big way under Dantonio’s watchful eye.
MSU’s offensive outburst was unexpected. Dantonio turned down MSU, turning it into a run-oriented physical team instead of the stretch offense used by former coach John L. Smith. Walking out the door with Smith was the country club vibe that Smith cultivated.
Trust me when I say that Dantonio will not put up with half the effort and no liability from assistant coaches or players. No more fucking Michigan State players. It reminded me of when Lou Piniella came to the Seattle Mariners in 1993. The first thing he did was get the then pathetic Mariners team together and tell them this: “We’re going to win in Seattle from now on. Unfortunately, 75% of us don’t You’ll be here to see us win.”
In two years, Piniella got rid of 75% of his players, found some players who wanted to win, and Seattle started to win. Piniella became the AL Manager of the Year in 1995 and again in 2001 when he led Seattle to a 116-win season that set a major league record.
Great coaches will not tolerate lack of effort, bad attitude, stupid mental mistakes, and mediocrity. Piniella won’t and neither will Dantonio.
Big congratulations to Head Coach Mark Dantonio, Offensive Coordinator Don Treadwell and Defensive Coordinator Pat Narduzzi on their debut in the Dantonio Era at Michigan State. In January of this year I wrote an article when Dantonio was selected as MSU’s new football coach. I was gushing in my excitement and now you know why.
The entire weekend was rounded out beautifully when news broke that the University of Michigan Wolverines were upset by their 34-32 NCAA Division I-AA opponent Appalachian State. The loss came before 110,000 fans at the Big House in Ann Arbor, which might now be called the House of Mouse because it was the Appalachian State that turned out to be The Mouse That Roared.
Michigan’s three offensive stars and their coach returned this year in place of the players who entered the NFL draft and head coach Lloyd Carr retired. The Wolverines ranked fifth in the preseason Associated Press Sportswriters Poll and also in the Division I Coaches Poll. I thought about calling Lloyd Carr to offer my condolences after their loss to Appalachian State, but I was too busy laughing.
Carr may actually have a bright future as a coach, but right now he doesn’t seem to be at Michigan or Appalachian State. As a loyal Spartan fan, he’s licensed to hate the University of Michigan Wolverines, mainly because they’ve had their way with MSU in recent years. Now they are on notice.
If you’re wondering about my MSU connection, I graduated from MSU in 1966 when a guy named Duffy Daugherty led the Spartans to the Big 10 title with a 7-0 record and a 9-0-1 season mark. which resulted in a National. Championship after the infamous 10-10 draw with Notre Dame in the “Game of the Century.”
In 1965, my junior year, Daugherty led MSU to another Big 10 title at 7-0, a 10-1 season record, and another National Championship. No wonder they pampered me when I left the state of Michigan. 41 years have passed since 1966 and the unmatched glory of Spartan football.
I find it ironic that Duffy Daugherty, the greatest football coach in Michigan State history, played college football at Syracuse. I take it as a good omen that Mark Dantonio started his career at MSU by opening that can of thump ’em in Syracuse. After all, Daugherty left his mark at MSU, not Syracuse.
The football gods have now given us Mark Dantonio, who ranks as the best bet to recapture MSU glory since Duffy Daugherty. This weekend is what being a football fan is all about: wins for all your favorite teams and the college team you hate the most sucking water out of the pond after losing to an AA team in their own stadium.
(Editor’s note: this is part 3 of a 3-part article.)
Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley
