Sports: MSU to Retool Football Program

            Coach John L. Smith will coach through the end of this season, with the “Miracle on Grass” comeback at Evanston as a memorable swan song. 

            Even though the 2006 Spartans staged the greatest comeback in Division 1A college football history, they could not sustain their momentum.  After their subsequent loss to Indiana, President Lou Anna K. Simon took decisive action on the future of MSU football.

            On Nov. 1, Simon announced that head coach John L. Smith will stay through the end of this season but not return next year.  Simon will lead the search for a new football coach.

            “We determined that new leadership is required after very careful and in-depth analysis of our expectations, our direction, and our current potential to have a sustained nationally competitive program,” wrote Simon to members of the MSU Alumni Association.  “We remain committed to a program that is built on the right values and that has a sustained record of success for individual student-athletes and for the team.”

            Just a couple of months before, optimism had reigned over the football program.  MSU beat Idaho and Eastern Michigan, as expected, and then won 38-23 at up-and-coming Pittsburgh.   MSU performed like an offensive juggernaut when it jumped to a 17-0 lead against 12th-ranked Notre Dame.  MSU still led 31-14 at halftime.  But any delusions of grandeur that fans at Spartan Stadium might have harbored were shattered moments later when two costly MSU turnovers allowed Notre Dame to eke out a stunning, 40-37 comeback win.  The next week, the Spartans looked listless in losing to Illinois, 23-20, a team with 10 straight league losses.  Injuries began to escalate, forcing offensive line coach Bill Stoutland to consider personnel permutations.  Without adequate depth, MSU was routed by nationally-rated No. 3 Michigan and No. 1 Ohio State.

            That set up the “Miracle on Grass” at Evanston, IL.  Northwestern seemed to make all the right moves and led the reeling Spartans 38-3 points with 9:54 left in the third quarter.

            What ensued was the greatest comeback ever in the history of Division 1A football.  The previous record comeback was from 31 points down.  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 co-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 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 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.”

            Alas, whatever clicked for MSU that half was absent the next week in Bloomington, IN, where the Hoosiers thrashed MSU 46-21.  MSU stood at 4-5 with a none-too-pleased fan base.  President Simon, with the full support of MSU’s Board of Trustees, made the decisive change.