Game of Inches Eludes Spartans
12/4/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 4, 2011
By Steve Grinczel, Online Columnist
INDIANAPOLIS - No roses clinched between their teeth, no paint from roses on their cleats for at least another year.
By some measures, the Michigan State Spartans missed the next step they've been trying to take as a program by mere inches. For those who won't be back - such as seniors Kirk Cousins, B.J. Cunningham, Keshawn Martin, Joel Foreman and Trenton Robinson - it might as well be an eternity.
They will only be able to celebrate a Rose Bowl featuring the Spartans vicariously through the actions of their successors in future seasons all because of an inch here, or an inch there, in Saturday's 42-39, defeat at the hands of Wisconsin in Saturday night's inaugural Big Ten championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium.
It was a game the Spartans (10-3) could have won, coach Mark Dantonio said afterward, going away if, for example, early in the third quarter cornerback Johnny Adams' hand snagged Badgers quarterback Russell Wilson's jersey instead of inadvertently brushing his facemask.
"We had them on the ropes," Dantonio said.
However, instead of adding to the momentum Michigan State built while scoring 22 unanswered second-quarter points, to lead 29-21 at halftime, with a drive-killing sack, the fortunes flipped 180 degrees.
Wilson not only eluded Adams, he converted a dire third-and-17 situation with a 42-yard touchdown pass to Jared Abbredaris to cut MSU's lead to one point.
Then there was the 36-yard pass play Wilson kept alive by running away from trouble on fourth-and-6 late in the fourth quarter. Two Spartans defenders were just seconds away from making a play in the secondary, but Wilson's completion to Jeff Duckworth at the Michigan State 7-yard line set up Wisconsin's winning touchdown.
Even then, MSU wasn't out of it. And when Cousins scrambled on third-and-8 and instead of possibly running for a first down flipped the ball to Martin, what would have been one of the most athletic plays ever in any sport was ruled incomplete by the replay official by the fraction of an inch Martin's foot landed out of bounds.
Finally, there was the ill-fated attempt to block a Wisconsin punt with under two minutes to play. Spartans safety, and Indianapolis Ben Davis High School graduate, Isaiah Lewis missed becoming the hometown hero because his path to Badgers punter Brad Nortman was off course by maybe six inches and he was called for running into the punter.
Meantime, Martin's return to the Badger 3-yard line was negated by the 5-yard walk-off.
Even Cousins' answers fell short, both in words and duration, of adequately describing the opportunity that just eluded the Spartans' grasp. Michigan State tied for the Big Ten championship with Wisconsin and Ohio State last season, but couldn't play in the Rose Bowl because the tie-breaker procedure favored the Badgers.
"It's tough," he said. "Came close two years in a row. It's tough."
Cousins was masterful in moving the MSU offense up and down the field against Wisconsin while completing 22 of 30 passes for 281 yards and three touchdowns.
Navigating the postgame wreckage with his heart up in his throat was more difficult, although his description of the near-miss to Martin pretty much told the story.
"Thought about running," Cousins said in a clipped manner. "Possibly could have run for the first down. I'll have to see the film. Keshawn opened up. Game of inches."
Dantonio said he made the decision to try to block the punt and relieved Lewis of responsibility.
"Obviously, if (Lewis) hit (Nortman), he just nicked him, but Keshawn runs it back," Dantonio said. "The out-of-bounds play was extremely close with the replay and that also played into this because it would have been a first down on about the 40-yard line.
"As Kirk said, and as we talk constantly, it's a game of inches. This football game is so close, you can't squeeze two fingers together sometimes, it's that's close. This game was very much like that. It could have been one little thing, one little inch here or there, and we could have won the football game.
"So disappointing, but no one play lost this football game."
But lose it the Spartans did, and for the second year in a row, Wisconsin is going to Pasadena, while MSU remains separated from the national validation it's been pursuing for five years under Dantonio.
"I'll be able to swallow defeat a little bit," said junior defensive tackle Jerel Worthy. "I feel like we're right where we need to be. A few plays here or there, and we're in the Rose Bowl.
"Everybody has to understand that we fell short today, but we still have a lot to be proud of. We went a lot further than a lot of people projected us to go and we were blessed with the opportunity to be in the first-ever Big Ten championship."
Although coming up short of the Rose Bowl, Dantonio and the Spartans feel like they're close enough to reach a BCS Bowl.
"I do think the two best teams in the Big Ten played today," Dantonio said. "I do think that we're worthy to compete and play at the BCS level, but you've got to get the votes to do that.
"I can only say that I do believe we're a BCS-type football team. We're a 10-3 football team. It could have gone the other way today. At the same time, you have to be able to look at things, deal with the problems that you have and keep moving forward. I think that's a part of life."
When the pain of losing to Wisconsin finally abates, the Spartans will realize they can shorten the step to the next level by winning their first bowl in five trips under Dantonio and accomplish MSU's first postseason victory since 2001.
