Just got back from a vacation with the whole family. Spent the whole week with my mom and dad who live out of state , and so I only get to see them a few times a year. They are doing OK, but for the first time I am really seeing the effects of age on them.
Made me very reflective. This 2018 season will be my 31st as a Loyal Spartan fan and season ticket holder. I grew up out of state, and liked MSU but didn't LOVE MSU until I got accepted. My first game was MSU vs FSU. MSU got blown out by Seminoles and Dion Sanders but I was hooked.
I started thinking back to my past 30 years of enjoying MSU football. I know many of you are going to have some great additions to this list, but I kept my list to my experiences, during my fandom.
Comp once posted a great missive on "what it means to be a Spartan". One of the best things I've ever read. This is just my thoughts on the best and worst games against each B1G team, in my opinion over the past 30 years. The Heartbreaks and the Joys. It has been such a tough off season for me ( for all of us) with the unfortunate and tragic events that took place with Nassar, as well as the hit job OTL piece that was meritless, but effective at turning MSU Athletics into Public Enemy number one.
I am very much looking forward to Friday night, and the start of a new season, as well as the possibility of seeing Mark Dantonio becoming the winningest coach in MSU history.
1. Illinois
Best: 2013 MSU just whooped on Illinois. It was my first visit to Champaign and Connor Cook had a game. After that win, the feeling of something special happening that season was really starting to creep in. ( Nebraska who was still in the Legends division with MSU had lost to Minnesota earlier in the day, and MSU seemed to now be taking control of the Legends division)
Worst: To me it is 1987. MSU was making a run at a Big Ten title and First Rose Bowl since '66. A very mediocre Illinois team came into Spartan Stadium and held the Spartans to a 14-14 tie. I remember ripping up a poncho in the stadium. It seemed like that game was going to cost MSU a chance at the title at that moment.
( I imagine some of our seasoned Spartans will put 1963 game in this spot. Apparently after the game against Illinois got canceled due to JFK assassination, the Spartans had a fierce scrimmage beating the snot out of each other, only to lose to Illinois the following week, costing them a Big Ten title and Rose Bowl berth)
2. Indiana
Best: 1987 MSU vs IU for the right to go the the Rose Bowl. After IU scored first on a field goal, MSU just dominated the game. Lorenzo White ran like crazy. The stadium had not gone through the renovations yet, and the fans could easily storm the field. I remember running around with a rose in my mouth. Shaking Andre Rison's hand, Hanging off Tony Mandarich's shoulder pads. Still one the the greatest feelings I've had as a Spartan
Worst: I am going to go with 1993. I went down to Bloomington. MSU could not move the ball. it was cold and snowy and the IU fans were pelting us with ice balls and plastic mugs packed with snow. MSU lost 10-0. It was the feeling of the end of the Perles reign.
3. Iowa
Best: 2015 BTCG. How could this not be my favorite. "The Drive" . The knowledge that not only had MSU won the Big Ten, but was making the playoffs. The Holy ground. What and incredible game. I can watch that game anytime any where
Worst: while 2012 was miserable ( losing in the freezing sleety rain in OT) , the real worst was the 2009 loss. Prime time. MSU still not respected as the team that can win the big game. Last play of the game is the slant to McNutt. MSU loses. Dantonio is building a monster, but Spartan fans still don't know it. The loss is another sting to the fandom
4. Maryland: limited data here
Best: 2014 MSU vs Maryland in the first ever Big Ten match up of teams. I made the trip to College Park. It was a blackout night game, but MSU was just too much for the Terps that year. But I got to visit a new campus and see MSU hoops beat ( barely) the Naval Academy the night before.
Worst: 2016. MSU was still clinging to hope of a possible bowl berth, but a Madre London fumble in the Red Zone and a bizzare fake field goal/fake attempt was botched to end the half and Maryland beat the Spartans in what turned out to be MSU's worst season in decades
5. um
Best: Every time we beat them is so sweet. For sheer jubilation the 2015 "trouble with snap" game must take the title. It kept MSU playoff hopes alive, it shut the media up that Harbaugh was going to come in year 1 and dominate the Spartans and Big Ten. And it was such a rapid change of emotion from sadness to joy.
Worst: every loss to them hurts. But 2004 loss in triple OT stings. I was at the game. MSU was making um of look silly, then Stanton gets hurt, and MSU has a converted RB playing DB and um comes back and wins in triple OT and the media kept up the "Same old Spartans" mantra for a few more years.
6. Minnesota
Best : 2012 My first trip to Minneapolis for a game. MSU needs a win to be bowl eligible. MSU gets the win, in what I still say is the coldest I have ever been at a football game. My beer was getting iceburgs in it and the cardboard tray holding my cheese curds froze to the metal bench, but MSU continuing the bowl streak appearance in Dantonio's tenure was huge.
Worst 2009
MSU was starting to make a name for itself again. They go into Minneapolis on Halloween night, and lose a game to a weak Gopher team, with a lot of strange calls and weird ball bounces.
7. Nebraska
Best: MSU first win ever vs Cornhuskers 2013. Chrome helmets, Hey Diddle Diddle run Sadler up the middle, and again the idea of winning the Legends division was now firmly in hand.
Worst 2015: A dropped interception in the endzone allows UNL to get another play off. And we all know the rest. Zebra determines MSU DB pushed UNL player out of bounds and allows him to run back in and catch a TD. MSU drops like an anvil in the polls and everyone of the talking heads states MSU has zero chance at the playoffs now.
8.Northwestern
Best:2005 I just feel like this was a great win for the program. It still stands as the largest comeback ever in NCAA FBS history. It was amazing to see the team fight back. I know the "mousetrap" game had bigger ramifications, but this 2005 game stands out as the positive
Worst: 1997 My first trip to Evanston. MSU was ranked and headed for a showdown with um. First time I ever met Comparoni ( so that was good) but MSU had a game winning field goal blocked to end the game, and again MSU was the team that just couldn't get it done ( per the media)
9. Ohio St
Best: 2013 BTCG. MSU scores 17 to take the lead, then loses the lead, then reclaims the lead, and the Denicos Allen stop on Braxton Miller on 4th down is the stuff of Legends. Of course, MSU getting it's first Rose Bowl Berth since 1988 was huge. To this day, still one of my favorite days. ( in many ways out ranks beating Iowa in 2015 championship, because I had always stated I would do whatever I had to do to see MSU in the Rose Bowl after I missed traveling in '88 due to being a poor student. All those years of suffering and wanting were finally met with an answered promise of a trip to Pasadena)
Worst: 2014 MSU having lost to Oregon in the opener was still in discussion for the first ever playoffs. OSU came to Spartan Stadium and just punched the Spartans in the mouth. While in the end MSU ended up in a NY6 Bowl, and incredible outcome of it's own with the comeback against Baylor, at the time, the loss to OSU knocked MSU out of playoff contention and was a real gut punch to the program at the time.
10. Penn St.
Best: 2017 MSU was not favored,PSU were defending Big Ten champs, and MSU was trying to "flip the script" This game against PSU was crucial to MSU getting to 9 wins. The longest rain delay in MSU history ( possibly NCAA) resulted in a very loyal, very loud, and very passionate crowd returning to Spartan Stadium to see MSU upset Penn St. and give me another one of the most incredible games/feelings in Spartan Stadium
Worst:
1994: I drove out to Happy Valley. MSU was just tossed aside by a dominant ( Rose Bowl champion and First time Big Ten Champion ) Penn St team. Penn St. had just been in the league 2 years, and was winning a Big Ten Title. Perles was coaching his last game, and you could feel the program taking a step back. Mediocrity had set in.
11. Purdue
Best: 2000 MSU in Bobby Willams first season, is having a mediocre season. Purdue is ranked and Drew Brees comes into Spartan Stadium a senior. Under Saban, MSU had blown to leads in the final minutes in 97 and 98.And lost at Purdue in 99. MSU came up with a plan that day, that just halted Joe Tiller's spread offense "basketball on grass" It was a minor joy in a blah season.
Worst:
1999 MSU was ranked and unbeaten. MSU was on it's way to a Rose Bowl we thought. Then, MSU went to Purdue ( as did I, for my only trip to W. Lafayette). Purdue stunned Nick Saban's Spartans. MSU was making a comeback, had come within one score and had stuffed Purdue on 3rd down, but Robaire Smith got a personal foul to give Purdue a fresh set of downs, which they used to go down and score and put the game away.
12. Rutgers
Best: 2015. I made my trip to NJ, and in so doing completed my tour of all Big Ten stadiums. MSU ranked 4th and in the hunt for a playoff spot was in a dog fight with unranked Rutgers. MSU's starting center Jack Allen had to play Left Tackle to finish the game due to so many OL injuries. MSU squeaked out a win, and kept playoff hopes aside. ( as a bonus, I took my brother to his first ever College Football game that day)
Worst:
1988; MSU coming off Rose Bowl win was playing Rutgers in Spartan Stadium. MSU was still on trimesters and dorms had not opened yet, so I was still at home in NY. We didn't have cable at my house back then, and even if we had, the game was not televised. Back then not every game was on TV. So, I sat in my back yard with an old radio and listened to the Rutgers broadcast of the game. MSU, as was the case under Perles, never started well in the pre Big Ten season. An undermanned and not well respected Rutgers upset the ranked Spartans that day. I remember being so pissed off. The Rutgers broadcast team stating "And folks this is the Biggest win in Rutgers history that I can think of. Beating the Defending Rose Bowl Champions on the road, in their house. I can't think of a bigger win" Terrible day for me that day
13. Wisconsin
Best: 2011 "Rocket" MSU had come off beating um, and David Brandon made sure Will Gholston was suspended for the game against Wisconsin. MSU was flagged for zero penalties that night, and what a finish. What a game. Wisconsin had been dominating to start, and then MSU came back and won the game.
Worst. 2011 BTCG. Russel Wilson connects on a long desperation pass. MSU gets flagged for running into the punter, and again, MSU hopes of getting back to Pasadena are pulled out from under them.
Bonus: Notre Dame
Back in the day MSU used to always play ND
Best: 2010 Little Giants. Mark Dantonio shows his Riverboat Gambler side, and MSU wins a gutty game, that is forever etched in MSU lore
Worst:
2013 My last trip to South Bend. MSU got hosed by the zebras that day. Costing MSU a shot at a National Title. The image of Andrew Maxwell running out of bounds on 4 th down instead of throwing down field for a Hail Mary still haunts me.
(runner up) 1990. My parents first and only game in Spartan Stadium. MSU the underdog, has National Power ND on the ropes. A fluke missed interception off Spartan CB shoulder into the hands of Notre Dame receiver in the end zone to win the game for Irish was devastating.
I can't wait to get back in my seat at Spartan Stadium, hear the wonderful words "It's a beautiful day for football" watch my beloved Spartans play ball, and cheer them on with the best fans in the world. I hope I can get 30 ( or more) years of going to games and cheering the Spartans on in person.
Go Green!
Made me very reflective. This 2018 season will be my 31st as a Loyal Spartan fan and season ticket holder. I grew up out of state, and liked MSU but didn't LOVE MSU until I got accepted. My first game was MSU vs FSU. MSU got blown out by Seminoles and Dion Sanders but I was hooked.
I started thinking back to my past 30 years of enjoying MSU football. I know many of you are going to have some great additions to this list, but I kept my list to my experiences, during my fandom.
Comp once posted a great missive on "what it means to be a Spartan". One of the best things I've ever read. This is just my thoughts on the best and worst games against each B1G team, in my opinion over the past 30 years. The Heartbreaks and the Joys. It has been such a tough off season for me ( for all of us) with the unfortunate and tragic events that took place with Nassar, as well as the hit job OTL piece that was meritless, but effective at turning MSU Athletics into Public Enemy number one.
I am very much looking forward to Friday night, and the start of a new season, as well as the possibility of seeing Mark Dantonio becoming the winningest coach in MSU history.
1. Illinois
Best: 2013 MSU just whooped on Illinois. It was my first visit to Champaign and Connor Cook had a game. After that win, the feeling of something special happening that season was really starting to creep in. ( Nebraska who was still in the Legends division with MSU had lost to Minnesota earlier in the day, and MSU seemed to now be taking control of the Legends division)
Worst: To me it is 1987. MSU was making a run at a Big Ten title and First Rose Bowl since '66. A very mediocre Illinois team came into Spartan Stadium and held the Spartans to a 14-14 tie. I remember ripping up a poncho in the stadium. It seemed like that game was going to cost MSU a chance at the title at that moment.
( I imagine some of our seasoned Spartans will put 1963 game in this spot. Apparently after the game against Illinois got canceled due to JFK assassination, the Spartans had a fierce scrimmage beating the snot out of each other, only to lose to Illinois the following week, costing them a Big Ten title and Rose Bowl berth)
2. Indiana
Best: 1987 MSU vs IU for the right to go the the Rose Bowl. After IU scored first on a field goal, MSU just dominated the game. Lorenzo White ran like crazy. The stadium had not gone through the renovations yet, and the fans could easily storm the field. I remember running around with a rose in my mouth. Shaking Andre Rison's hand, Hanging off Tony Mandarich's shoulder pads. Still one the the greatest feelings I've had as a Spartan
Worst: I am going to go with 1993. I went down to Bloomington. MSU could not move the ball. it was cold and snowy and the IU fans were pelting us with ice balls and plastic mugs packed with snow. MSU lost 10-0. It was the feeling of the end of the Perles reign.
3. Iowa
Best: 2015 BTCG. How could this not be my favorite. "The Drive" . The knowledge that not only had MSU won the Big Ten, but was making the playoffs. The Holy ground. What and incredible game. I can watch that game anytime any where
Worst: while 2012 was miserable ( losing in the freezing sleety rain in OT) , the real worst was the 2009 loss. Prime time. MSU still not respected as the team that can win the big game. Last play of the game is the slant to McNutt. MSU loses. Dantonio is building a monster, but Spartan fans still don't know it. The loss is another sting to the fandom
4. Maryland: limited data here
Best: 2014 MSU vs Maryland in the first ever Big Ten match up of teams. I made the trip to College Park. It was a blackout night game, but MSU was just too much for the Terps that year. But I got to visit a new campus and see MSU hoops beat ( barely) the Naval Academy the night before.
Worst: 2016. MSU was still clinging to hope of a possible bowl berth, but a Madre London fumble in the Red Zone and a bizzare fake field goal/fake attempt was botched to end the half and Maryland beat the Spartans in what turned out to be MSU's worst season in decades
5. um
Best: Every time we beat them is so sweet. For sheer jubilation the 2015 "trouble with snap" game must take the title. It kept MSU playoff hopes alive, it shut the media up that Harbaugh was going to come in year 1 and dominate the Spartans and Big Ten. And it was such a rapid change of emotion from sadness to joy.
Worst: every loss to them hurts. But 2004 loss in triple OT stings. I was at the game. MSU was making um of look silly, then Stanton gets hurt, and MSU has a converted RB playing DB and um comes back and wins in triple OT and the media kept up the "Same old Spartans" mantra for a few more years.
6. Minnesota
Best : 2012 My first trip to Minneapolis for a game. MSU needs a win to be bowl eligible. MSU gets the win, in what I still say is the coldest I have ever been at a football game. My beer was getting iceburgs in it and the cardboard tray holding my cheese curds froze to the metal bench, but MSU continuing the bowl streak appearance in Dantonio's tenure was huge.
Worst 2009
MSU was starting to make a name for itself again. They go into Minneapolis on Halloween night, and lose a game to a weak Gopher team, with a lot of strange calls and weird ball bounces.
7. Nebraska
Best: MSU first win ever vs Cornhuskers 2013. Chrome helmets, Hey Diddle Diddle run Sadler up the middle, and again the idea of winning the Legends division was now firmly in hand.
Worst 2015: A dropped interception in the endzone allows UNL to get another play off. And we all know the rest. Zebra determines MSU DB pushed UNL player out of bounds and allows him to run back in and catch a TD. MSU drops like an anvil in the polls and everyone of the talking heads states MSU has zero chance at the playoffs now.
8.Northwestern
Best:2005 I just feel like this was a great win for the program. It still stands as the largest comeback ever in NCAA FBS history. It was amazing to see the team fight back. I know the "mousetrap" game had bigger ramifications, but this 2005 game stands out as the positive
Worst: 1997 My first trip to Evanston. MSU was ranked and headed for a showdown with um. First time I ever met Comparoni ( so that was good) but MSU had a game winning field goal blocked to end the game, and again MSU was the team that just couldn't get it done ( per the media)
9. Ohio St
Best: 2013 BTCG. MSU scores 17 to take the lead, then loses the lead, then reclaims the lead, and the Denicos Allen stop on Braxton Miller on 4th down is the stuff of Legends. Of course, MSU getting it's first Rose Bowl Berth since 1988 was huge. To this day, still one of my favorite days. ( in many ways out ranks beating Iowa in 2015 championship, because I had always stated I would do whatever I had to do to see MSU in the Rose Bowl after I missed traveling in '88 due to being a poor student. All those years of suffering and wanting were finally met with an answered promise of a trip to Pasadena)
Worst: 2014 MSU having lost to Oregon in the opener was still in discussion for the first ever playoffs. OSU came to Spartan Stadium and just punched the Spartans in the mouth. While in the end MSU ended up in a NY6 Bowl, and incredible outcome of it's own with the comeback against Baylor, at the time, the loss to OSU knocked MSU out of playoff contention and was a real gut punch to the program at the time.
10. Penn St.
Best: 2017 MSU was not favored,PSU were defending Big Ten champs, and MSU was trying to "flip the script" This game against PSU was crucial to MSU getting to 9 wins. The longest rain delay in MSU history ( possibly NCAA) resulted in a very loyal, very loud, and very passionate crowd returning to Spartan Stadium to see MSU upset Penn St. and give me another one of the most incredible games/feelings in Spartan Stadium
Worst:
1994: I drove out to Happy Valley. MSU was just tossed aside by a dominant ( Rose Bowl champion and First time Big Ten Champion ) Penn St team. Penn St. had just been in the league 2 years, and was winning a Big Ten Title. Perles was coaching his last game, and you could feel the program taking a step back. Mediocrity had set in.
11. Purdue
Best: 2000 MSU in Bobby Willams first season, is having a mediocre season. Purdue is ranked and Drew Brees comes into Spartan Stadium a senior. Under Saban, MSU had blown to leads in the final minutes in 97 and 98.And lost at Purdue in 99. MSU came up with a plan that day, that just halted Joe Tiller's spread offense "basketball on grass" It was a minor joy in a blah season.
Worst:
1999 MSU was ranked and unbeaten. MSU was on it's way to a Rose Bowl we thought. Then, MSU went to Purdue ( as did I, for my only trip to W. Lafayette). Purdue stunned Nick Saban's Spartans. MSU was making a comeback, had come within one score and had stuffed Purdue on 3rd down, but Robaire Smith got a personal foul to give Purdue a fresh set of downs, which they used to go down and score and put the game away.
12. Rutgers
Best: 2015. I made my trip to NJ, and in so doing completed my tour of all Big Ten stadiums. MSU ranked 4th and in the hunt for a playoff spot was in a dog fight with unranked Rutgers. MSU's starting center Jack Allen had to play Left Tackle to finish the game due to so many OL injuries. MSU squeaked out a win, and kept playoff hopes aside. ( as a bonus, I took my brother to his first ever College Football game that day)
Worst:
1988; MSU coming off Rose Bowl win was playing Rutgers in Spartan Stadium. MSU was still on trimesters and dorms had not opened yet, so I was still at home in NY. We didn't have cable at my house back then, and even if we had, the game was not televised. Back then not every game was on TV. So, I sat in my back yard with an old radio and listened to the Rutgers broadcast of the game. MSU, as was the case under Perles, never started well in the pre Big Ten season. An undermanned and not well respected Rutgers upset the ranked Spartans that day. I remember being so pissed off. The Rutgers broadcast team stating "And folks this is the Biggest win in Rutgers history that I can think of. Beating the Defending Rose Bowl Champions on the road, in their house. I can't think of a bigger win" Terrible day for me that day
13. Wisconsin
Best: 2011 "Rocket" MSU had come off beating um, and David Brandon made sure Will Gholston was suspended for the game against Wisconsin. MSU was flagged for zero penalties that night, and what a finish. What a game. Wisconsin had been dominating to start, and then MSU came back and won the game.
Worst. 2011 BTCG. Russel Wilson connects on a long desperation pass. MSU gets flagged for running into the punter, and again, MSU hopes of getting back to Pasadena are pulled out from under them.
Bonus: Notre Dame
Back in the day MSU used to always play ND
Best: 2010 Little Giants. Mark Dantonio shows his Riverboat Gambler side, and MSU wins a gutty game, that is forever etched in MSU lore
Worst:
2013 My last trip to South Bend. MSU got hosed by the zebras that day. Costing MSU a shot at a National Title. The image of Andrew Maxwell running out of bounds on 4 th down instead of throwing down field for a Hail Mary still haunts me.
(runner up) 1990. My parents first and only game in Spartan Stadium. MSU the underdog, has National Power ND on the ropes. A fluke missed interception off Spartan CB shoulder into the hands of Notre Dame receiver in the end zone to win the game for Irish was devastating.
I can't wait to get back in my seat at Spartan Stadium, hear the wonderful words "It's a beautiful day for football" watch my beloved Spartans play ball, and cheer them on with the best fans in the world. I hope I can get 30 ( or more) years of going to games and cheering the Spartans on in person.
Go Green!
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