Sports: MSU Football Stages "Miracle on Grass"

            Despite a spate of injuries, MSU staged a “Miracle On Grass”—the greatest comeback in Division 1A football history—and kept its bowl chances alive. 

            A season that began with optimism was derailed by a slew of injuries and player attrition.  Despite the adversity, the 2006 Spartans managed to stage the greatest comeback in Division 1A college football history—thus keeping alive its chances to make a bowl game.

            It’s one thing to lose a starter or two, but this season MSU lost even its third string left guard.  Offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland had to resort to what mathematicians call “permutation”—scrambling linemen in and out, left and right, and rearranging the personnel.

            The team was reeling at 3-4 when beleaguered coach John L. Smith and team visited Evanston.  For more than one half, everything seemed to favor the Wildcats, as MSU trailed 38-3 with 9:54 left in the third quarter.  That when the “Miracle on Grass” began to unfold.  Showing no panic, the Spartans rallied for an incredulous 41-38 win.  The 35-point deficit MSU overcame set a new NCAA Division 1A football record (the previous one was 31 points).

            Quarterback Drew Stanton and defensive tackle Clifton Ryan, fellow seniors like linebacker David Herron and center Kyle Cook, and underclassmen like safety Otis Wiley—complete with banged up knee and a cast over his broken hand—showed their mettle by playing through injury and pain.  Stanton seemed to want to win come hell or high Gatorade cooler—or even concrete.  Despite suffering assorted pains, injuries and crashes into solid matter, he triggered the comeback step by step.  First, he threw a touchdown pass to running back Jehuu Caulcrick (starting in place of injured Javon Ringer).  Next, he set up a TD run for third string running back A.J. Jimmerson, who relieved an injured Caulcrick. 

            MSU quashed a Northwestern scoring opportunity when junior linebacker Josh Thornhill intercepted a pass in the MSU endzone.  But then a late hit propelled Stanton onto concrete, shoulder first.  Backup quarterback Brain Hoyer led a drive but threw an interception.  Again, the defense, led by injured captain Ryan, held.

            Still trailing 38-17 early in the fourth quarter, MSU special teams woke up from a slumber when sophomore Devin Thomas blocked a punt and freshman Ashton Henderson ran it in for a touchdown.  The scoreboard:  38-24.

            “Once we got the blocked punt, everybody started to believe,” recalls John L. Smith.  “There was an incredible amount of electricity on the sidelines.”

            Stanton re-entered the game and promptly capped a 60-yard drive with a twisting, 12-yard scamper for the endzone.  Then the roused defense, led by Ryan and Wiley, stopped the Wildcats yet again.  Stanton then capped his final drive with a spectacular, running TD throw to freshman wide receiver T.J. Williams, who started in place of injured Matt Trannon.  38-38, 3:43 left.

            Seconds later, walk-on defensive back Travis West, subbing for injured linebacker Nehemiah Warrick, intercepted a pass.  A few plays later, cucumber-cool freshman kicker Brett Swenson kicked the winning field goal, a 28-yarder, with 13 seconds left on the clock.

            The win “snatched victory from the jaws of defeat”—to use a cliché sportswriters had used earlier to describe Notre Dame’s 40-37 comeback win against MSU after trailing 17-0 in Spartan Stadium.  The improbable win left MSU with a mathematical chance to become bowl eligible.  It also quieted murmurs from the masses about any “quit” within the team.

            “(The players) showed great character to come back from that kind of deficit,” said an emotional Smith.  “They believed in each other.  I’m so proud of the attitude that was there.”

            Added Stanton, “The greatest thing about (the comeback win) is that everybody had a hand in it.  Everybody contributed.”

            The 2006 season will be remembered as one where the Spartans faced tremendous adversity and showed the tenacity and resilience to pull off a historic comeback.  MSU beat Idaho and Eastern Michigan, as expected, and then won an impressive road game against up-can-coming Pittsburgh.  MSU’s offense—when healthy—ranked nationally in several statistical areas and performed like a juggernaut, scoring in each of 16 trips to the “red zone.”  Then came the deluge, literally and figuratively, when Notre Dame capitalized on two late MSU turnovers and pulled off an unlikely comeback in Spartan Stadium. 

            The Notre Dame loss seemed to affect the team emotionally.  MSU’s play against Illinois, a 26-point Homecoming underdog, was listless (despite rousing exhortations by Kermit the Frog via the big screen).  MSU lost the game by a late field-goal and even worse, lost a slew of players to injury and suspensions.  Down went the first-, second- and third-string left guards, along with star running back Javon Ringer and wide receiver Matt Trannon.  The personnel loss—including suspensions to five players, among them starting tight end Kellen Davis—came just as MSU was to face the nation’s No. 3 and No. 1 teams back to back.  MSU lost to Michigan and Ohio State handily, setting up the pivotal matchup in Evanston.

            Will the Spartans use their “Miracle On Grass” comeback to stage a rally in the second half of the season?

            “Hopefully this can be a turning point in our season,” said a battered but triumphant Stanton after the game.  “I definitely think it can be and people can build on this.”