2B — Monday, October 22, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
Saturday shows why Michigan, Michigan State rivalry is great
During
his
weekly
teleconference
Sunday night,
more than 24
hours
after
it
happened,
Michigan
State
coach
Mark
Dantonio
was
asked
about Saturday’s pregame fracas
between his team and Michigan.
“I’m
not
gonna
bother
commenting on it,” Dantonio
said. “The whole thing to me
was sort of juvenile to me.”
You can call it juvenile. You
can call it bush league. You can
call it B.S. Those are the words
Dantonio and Jim Harbaugh
used when talking about the
incident.
I don’t care how anyone
describes it. What happened
yesterday was amazing.
This is the best rivalry that
both teams have going for them
right now. With the exception of
2016, every game in the series’
current chapter — Harbaugh vs.
Dantonio — has been incredible
and incredibly weird, at the
same time.
It makes for high-quality
television.
It
makes
for
outstanding football games, no
matter how sloppy they may
get.
But the previous three games
were missing something.
They were missing exactly
what Dantonio thought was
“sort of juvenile.”
Let’s go back and examine
what happened. Around two
hours before the noon kickoff,
a group of Michigan players
were on the field stretching.
Michigan spokesperson Dave
Ablauf said that the Wolverines
thought the Spartans would
arrive for the team’s traditional
pre-game walk at 9:50; hence
why Michigan was on the field
at 10, for the warm-ups before
the warm-ups.
We don’t know whether there
was a miscommunication, but
Michigan State did not arrive
at 9:50. The Spartans arrived
at 10 and began walking down
the field with their arms locked
and
helmets
strapped on at
10:02.
Michigan’s
players
didn’t
want to move.
Michigan State
kept
walking.
Which
meant
everyone
else
got
to
watch
both teams play
a weird version
of Red Rover. Fifth-year senior
defensive
tackle
Lawrence
Marshall
got
into
it
with
several Spartans. Sophomore
cornerback Lavert Hill’s pair
of very nice black headphones
were not-so-nicely ripped off.
Junior linebacker Devin Bush
Jr. was held back as he yelled at
Michigan State. Then, minutes
later, he dug his cleats into
the ground and mangled the
Spartan logo at
midfield.
Damn.
I
haven’t
even
gotten
to
the
game itself yet
— which was an
absolute doozy.
There was a
long
weather
delay.
There
were improbable
completions
off deflected balls. The bad
weather came back. Michigan
State paid homage to Nick Foles
and the Philly Special. There
was a one-handed snag by a
punter, who proceeded to rip
one for 60 yards. One offense
heated up down the stretch.
The other stayed cold all game.
When
the
game
ended,
Michigan
rushed
the
field
— as if it had won a national
championship,
said
Michigan
State
play-by-
play announcer
George
Blaha
during the live
radio broadcast
— and Bush did
several backflips
to
celebrate
his team’s 21-7
victory.
Later,
Harbaugh sat at a podium
and made his “bush league”
comment. In the room next door,
someone relayed Harbaugh’s
comments to Dantonio, who
said, “That’s B.S. You heard me.
That’s B.S.”
“You guys get your cameras
out,” he continued. “It’s all on
Fox. I’m not gonna go to that.
Go ahead, next question.”
A
few
seconds
later:
“Bush
league?
Mmmhmm.”
Like I said,
incredible.
We are back
to
where
this
rivalry was 11
years ago, when
former Michigan
running
back
Mike Hart called
Michigan State
“little
brother”
after
winning
his
fourth
consecutive game against the
Spartans.
Dantonio, then in his first
year coaching the Spartans, hit
back.
“I find a lot of the things
they do amusing. They need to
check themselves sometimes.
Let’s
just
remember,
pride
comes before the fall,” he said.
“They want to mock us, I’m
telling them, it’s not over. They
want to print that crap all over
their locker room, it’s not over
and it’ll never be over. It’s just
starting.”
Then he coached Michigan
State to six wins in the ensuing
seven years leading up to
Harbaugh’s arrival. In 2014,
former Michigan linebacker Joe
Bolden drove a stake through
midfield. But that gesture felt
hollow. The Spartans trounced
the Wolverines that day, 35-11,
and former Michigan coach
Brady Hoke later apologized for
what Bolden did.
The series has been much
closer since then. Both teams
are now 2-2 in the past four
years. No one is apologizing for
anything.
Let’s hear from fifth-year
senior defensive end Chase
Winovich: “We knew that they
couldn’t hang with us. We did
what he had to do. Sometimes
your little brother starts acting
up, and you just gotta put them
in place.”
After the game, he tweeted,
“I’d like to take this moment to
apologize...FOR ABSOLUTELY
NOTHING! Go Blue!”
These two teams hate each
other, they have always hated
each other and now they’re
not going to bother trying to
conceal it.
That’s great. That’s how it
should be. One team is going to
spend the next year thinking
about
what
went
wrong
Saturday. The other team is
going to remember what went
right for a very long time. Next
year, they’ll do it all over again.
Can’t wait.
Sang can be reached at
otsang@umich.edu or on
Twitter at @orion_sang.
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
The Wolverines notched a 21-7 win over Michigan State in East Lansing on Saturday, their first win on the road over a ranked opponent since the 2006 season.
ORION
SANG
FOOTBALL
Pre-game antics fire up ‘M’ defense
EAST LANSING — There was a
bit of a show before the Michigan
football team’s 21-7 win over No. 24
Michigan State.
The details of it, however, are
unclear.
The Spartans did their usual
pregame tradition, the “Spartan
Walk,” in which each member of
the team links arms and walks the
length of the field.
Senior safety Tyree Kinnel said
Michigan State was late, and that
the Wolverines had been given the
go-ahead to warmup on the field.
So when the Spartans began
their walk, they ran into fifth-year
senior defensive tackle Lawrence
Marshall, junior corner Lavert Hill
and junior linebacker Devin Bush.
Neither side backed down.
Michigan says Marshall was
clotheslined and Hill had his
headphones ripped off. Coach
Jim Harbaugh says Michigan
State coach Mark Dantonio was
walking behind the team, smiling.
Dantonio says that’s not true.
It all culminated in Bush,
standing on the midfield logo at
Spartan Stadium and stomping
repeatedly on the log, leaving a
large, noticable mark in the middle
of it..
“I just heard about it, I didn’t
see it,” Harbaugh said. “… Total
bush league. Apparently, Coach
Dantonio was five yards behind
and all smiling, so, yeah, I think it’s
bush league. That’s my impression
of it. But our guys, they didn’t
blink. They didn’t come here to
back down or get intimidated by
anybody.”
Added Bush: “It was pure
emotion. I did what I did, and, you
know, I can’t take it back, so it is
what it is.”
However you want to describe
the pregame antics, and however
you want to describe how it
affected the game, the results speak
for themselves. The Wolverines
involved in the skirmish were all
defenders, and the defense showed
out.
Michigan held the Spartans
to 94 total yards. Michigan State
quarterback Brian Lewerke went
5-for-25, throwing for just 66
yards. The Spartans went 0-for-12
on third-down conversions. They
averaged just 1.8 yards per play,
and they possessed the ball for
18:57, compared to the Wolverines,
who held it for 41:03.
The list goes on and on.
“Our defense was lights-out
today,” Harbaugh added. “Holding
an opponent to 91 yards of total
offense, and they were 0-for-12 on
third-down conversions. I mean,
that’s the kind of statistics you
dream, as a dream game.”
The
defense
was
needed,
too. For much of the afternoon,
Michigan
could
get
nothing
going on offense. It squandered
opportunities, and in the second
half, it turned the ball over.
In fact, the only time Michigan
State scored was after junior
running back Chris Evans coughed
up the ball and the Spartans
recovered on the 7-yard line.
The Wolverines did make things
interesting for themselves at the
end of the game, on what turned
out to be Michigan State’s final
drive. The possession began with
2:38 left, and on the first four plays
of the drive, Michigan committed
a penalty, giving the Spartans
some life and, eventually, the ball
on the Wolverines’ 24-yard line.
The next play, Bush screamed
through the offensive line and
sacked Michigan State backup
quarterback Rocky Lombardi. The
play after that, junior defensive
tackle Michael Dwumfour did the
same. Just like that, any hopes the
Spartans had of getting back into
things were snuffed out, once and
for all.
When
the
game
ended,
Michigan
grabbed
the
Paul
Bunyan Trophy and paraded
around the field. Bush did a few
backflips.
It culminated in the Wolverines
jumping up and down, holding
the trophy above their heads on
the midfield logo, the same spot
Bush made his statement just a few
hours earlier.
“I mean, we won,” Bush said.
“So, I mean, we’re gonna celebrate
our win. We’re taking Paul home,
and we let everybody know that.”
Peoples-Jones’ touchdown
changes Michigan’s trajectory
EAST LANSING — Nico Collins
and Donovan Peoples-Jones talked
earlier in the week about their
touchdown celebrations if they
scored at Michigan State.
It’s practically a weekly ritual for
the sophomore wide receivers. The
duo, thrusted into the spotlight as
the team’s premier pass catchers,
knows
opportunities
to
find
paydirt are more frequent than last
season. But in a rivalry game, the
conversation was quick — mimic the
stance on the Paul Bunyan Trophy,
the one that belongs to them.
And on the season’s most perfect
throw at the most critical juncture
of the No. 6 Michigan football
team’s 21-7 victory, Peoples-Jones
did exactly that.
The Wolverines and 24th-ranked
Spartans were tied, 7-7, with 2:35 left
in the third quarter. Positioned at
the Michigan 21-yard line, Peoples-
Jones pushed off Michigan State’s
Tre Person in man coverage, and
had a step on him streaking down
the right sideline.
“We had Donovan in one-on-one
coverage, good luck with that,” said
junior quarterback Shea Patterson,
who finished with 212 yards and
two touchdowns. “Just threw it up
to him and he made a hell of a play
after the catch.”
With all the time in the world,
and with Sean McKeon and Zach
Gentry blanketed on mirrored out
routes, Patterson stepped up and hit
Peoples-Jones in stride. Patterson
lunged, and Peoples-Jones kicked
out of his grip to stroll into a 79-yard
touchdown and the Bunyan stance.
“From the start, the line did
a great job of giving Shea time
to deliver, which I think was
the most perfect pass that he’s
delivered,” Peoples-Jones said of his
touchdown.
Added coach Jim Harbaugh:
“That was the huge one, the one to
Donovan. That throw was really
right on the money. Donovan did a
great job at the line of scrimmage
against the press coverage and
created some space, then created
more space after the release. Made
a fabulous over the shoulder catch.
“… That was a great time for that
play to happen in the ball game.”
The Wolverines, muffled from
over-conservative play-calling and
insufficient execution, were initially
writing a story for another arm-
wrestle with the Spartans. But the
connection between Patterson and
Peoples-Jones — the first true deep
shot of the game — represented
more than commanding a lead.
After a laborious game that, up
to that point, featured 16 punts,
three fumbles and momentum in
Michigan State’s favor, the pass
signified all the differences a year
can make.
Patterson read his progressions
comfortably behind a confident
offensive line — one that senior
running back Karan Higdon called
the “best in the country” for the
second
straight
week.
Behind
that line, Patterson was a capable
thrower who can place a football
with pinpoint accuracy.
The
touchdown
deflated
Michigan State, which struggled
wire-to-wire to generate any offense
of its own. It’s No. 1 rush defense
in the country surrendered almost
triple its per game average, with 144
of the yards belonging to Higdon.
“We were motivated from the
start,” Higdon said. “They were
talking trash all week, we stayed
quiet, stayed in our space and we
knew what it was gonna be when
we got here and we just elevated our
enthusiasm.”
It was a dogfight clouded with
the revelry that this historic rivalry
possesses, but with a difference-
making touchdown that redefined
the image of 2018 Michigan football.
Following resounding wins over
Michigan State and Wisconsin in
back-to-back weeks, the noise of
a team that doesn’t show up in big
games was muted.
It’s a credit to an unwavering
defense that has shined each year of
the Harbaugh era. And now, it’s also
a credit to the Patterson-led offense
that can air out the ball when it
needs it most and succeed.
“That was one of the most gritty
games I’ve been a part of,” Patterson
said. “The defense put us in good
situations, they were playing lights
out. That gave us confidence to stay
within ourselves, so that when we
get that moment to break through
we’re not gonna give it back.”
And
with
PeopleS-Jones’
touchdown,
the
Wolverines
never relented. The Paul Bunyan
Trophy turned from celebration to
hardware returning to Ann Arbor.
MIKE PERSAK
Managing Sports Editor
ETHAN WOLFE
Daily Sports Writer
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Wide reciever Donovan Peoples-Jones scored a touchdown on Saturday.
“The whole
thing to me
was sort of
juvenile...”
“Sometimes
your little
brother starts
acting up...”