Victory 4 MSU

Michigan State 24, Illinois 14

Michigan State left Chambana at 3-3 after a dominating performance against a struggling Illini team. For perhaps the first time this season, both the offensive and defensive lines took control of the game and ensured an easy Spartan victory. The win was costly, however, as both Glenn Winston and A.J. Jimmerson succumbed to the ‘turf monster’ and Keith Nichol and Larry Caper both got a little dinged up.

Injuries

Unfortunately, Winston will undergo season-ending knee surgery on Thursday to repair his torn ACL. Just when he was finally starting to put it all together. Prior to this game Glenn had mostly tried to run through tacklers, even if there was a gaping hole to the left or right; but in this game something clicked, and he finally started displaying the vision and patience required to be a feature back. Winston was gashing the Illinois defense and special teams, using not only his raw power, but an elusiveness that had previously been neglected.

If this had happened last week he may have qualified for a medical redshirt, but it is my understanding that if a player is active after the 5th game of the season they become ineligible. However Spartan fans should have hope that he will return next year to punish defenders, as I am sure he will.

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Yesterday truly was a “beautiful day for football” in East Lansing. Mostly sunny (maybe too sunny; I got a nice burn), temperature in the low 70s with a cool breeze and a delicious cupcake to dine on as our opponent. I really expected more of a fight from the Eagles after their 52-0 dismantling of Indiana State the previous week, but as the game unfolded it became clear that our players were simply bigger, faster and stronger than the opposition. As they say, talent trumps everything else, and the Spartans had more of that on the field Saturday.

This game was a chance for the team to regain some confidence after a crushing loss last week to a very good Cal squad. Just a reminder: we lost to Cal by only 7 points (38-31) after playing a below-average game, committing more penalties than usual, having some controversial calls go against us and having to play 2,000 miles away in a hostile environment all on the very first game of the year. This same Cal team then went on to destroy Washington State 66-3 in their house. Now, WSU may be a mediocre Pac-10 team, but they are still a quality, division 1-A, BCS opponent and the Bears completely embarassed them in their own backyard. After the Eastern game and knowing what the Bears did to Wash St, that 1st week loss isn’t looking nearly as bad as it seemed immediately following the game.  

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