Victory 4 MSU

35-14

I was there. The final score was 35-21, but everyone knows we won by three touchdowns. From the moment Blair White broke that tackle I knew the Spartans would prevail, but those folks in Ann Arbor tried their hardest. The replay official even got in on the action, scoring 7 points for his beloved alma mater. Now wolverines everywhere think they can score a touchdown just by looking at a pylon. Maybe the field crew at Spartan Stadium should use something else to demarcate the endzone, just in case.

The funny thing is that the “cheaters and best” believe they are the rightful owners of the Paul Bunyan trophy; that it is only in East Lansing temporarily and will quickly be returned to Ann Arbor. To turn a clever little jab against them:

Oh weasel, no.

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Is it Saturday yet? This is one of those games that defines college football. It will be the 72nd meeting between Michigan State and Notre Dame, and the Irish have the lead in the series 44 – 26 – 1. The Spartans first played the Fighting Irish in 1897 in South Bend and lost that game 34-6. In fact, the Spartans lost the first eight games of the series before getting their first win in 1910 in East Lansing. (The first eight were all played at Notre Dame) However, Michigan State fans should not be upset by this because it was this rivalry that put MSU on the map in the national college football scene. This rivalry also aided the entrance of Michigan State into the Big 10 conference. So, thank you Notre Dame; and as a sign of our appreciation, please visit us in East Lansing Saturday for a good, old-fashioned beat down.

MSU has owned the Irish this decade, going 8-3 in the last 11 matchups; and the visiting team has won each of the last six years. 2005 in South Bend was the thrilling 44-41 Spartan victory in overtime and 2006 was the colossal 40-37 meltdown in East Lansing which single-handedly got John L. Smith fired. In 2007 the Spartans defeated the Fighting Irish 31 – 14 in South Bend under the watch of new head coach Mark Dantonio, giving the Irish their first ever 0 – 4 start in school history. They went on to a horrific 3 – 9 record; also the worst in school history. Have they improved enough this year to make a game of it?

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This Saturday will be the first meeting between the Spartans of Michigan State and the Florida Atlantic Owls of the Sun Belt Conference. The Owls have experienced a meteoric rise in the college football world since becoming a division 1-A program only four years ago. Under the instruction of head coach Howard Schnellenberger the team went 8-5 in 2007 and defeated the Memphis Tigers of C-USA in the New Orleans Bowl. For a more detailed look at FAU check out my Opponent Overview of them right here.

Let’s take a look at what they’ve done so far in 2008 and look ahead to our matchup Saturday. The Owls kicked off their ‘08 campaign in Austin, Texas against the Longhorns in front of 98,000+ fans. There was a bit of talk coming from the upstart Owls prior to the season opener, and surprisingly the best bulletin board material came from coach Schnellenberger himself. In a FAU student newspaper the coach was quoted as saying “Texas always has been a very polished team that has great talent, but they aren’t tough. They aren’t a physically tough team.”

The Longhorns apparently took offense to this and displayed just how tough they are, slaughtering the Owls 52-10. Texas was also able to stifle the potent Owl passing game while starting two freshmen at safety in their very first collegiate game. The first half may have been a wake-up call to the Texas secondary as they allowed 226 yards through the air, but they shut it down in the second; allowing only 53 total yards to FAU. Click through for this week’s matchups.

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