Lee Corso said it best when he yelled, “Michigan State with the miracle ending,” after Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011’s football game vs. Big Ten rivals, Wisconsin. On a day planned to go down in MSU history, regardless of the score, an unexpected play was caught by an unexpected player, at the last possible second.
ESPN’s College GameDay decided to put East Lansing in the limelight for the first time in six years. The hype was already overflowing with hopes of seeing famous newscasters Lee Corso or Kirk Herbstreit, being on national television, or getting a chance to ask news anchor Erin Andrews to homecoming.
“I saw a boy asking [Erin Andrews] to homecoming with his poster,” Spartan fan Shannon White said. She added that, “He was telling everyone that she smiled at him and said yes, but I didn’t see that happen.”
The last time GameDay made its appearance on Spartan soil was when State played Penn State in honor of their turn around season. Although Wisconsin deserves some credit, MSU’s football team has been receiving a lot of much deserved recognition for their hard work this season.
The switch from head coach John L. Smith to Mark Dantonio is credited with this newfound fame.
Dantonio demonstrated his hard work through one of his craziest plays during the game.
Photo: Gabbi Stremers
“Coach [Dantonio] is a great coach,” freshman football player, Takudzwa Kubvoruno said. “He works the team hard, but all of the hard work the guys have put in has been worth it.”
While College GameDay’s appearance on campus was already an exciting ploy in itself, the game will go down in history.
Wisconsin’s team and fans harbored some bad blood from their unexpected loss vs. MSU last year. The badgers showed their hunger for revenge coming out strong in the beginning. Hope seemed lost early on when Wisconsin found themselves ahead by two touchdowns within the first quarter. What was considered the best defensive line in the Big Ten seemed to be allowing Russell Wilson, the badger quarterback and Heisman trophy candidate, to run all over them.
Photo: Gabbi Stremers
From watching the beginning of the game, no one would have ever expected the game to come down to the last second.
The last play called for a final effort to break the tie of 31-31. Quarterback, Kirk Cousins, played one of the most risky plays in the book hoping that God would shine his favor down on the Spartans.
The play, Dantonio calls “Rocket,” is a hail mary. It is a play where Cousins throws the ball with all of his might into the end zone with hopes that any team member catches it.
Keith Nichol hadn’t been lucky at all during the game after not making any catches. It was after the timer ran out, that Nichol had the magic hands to snatch the ball right at the end zone line after the ball bounced off [BJ] Cunningham’s chest.
The clock had run out and the call on the field was incomplete for a touchdown. Since the call couldn’t be changed unless there was indisputable evidence, hope seemed lost for the Spartans.
“The student section was the quietest I have ever heard it when the ref walked onto the field,” MSU student Jason Smith said. “But as soon as the ref told everyone that Nichol had passed the [touchdown] line, the place blew up.”
Wisconsin suffered their first loss of the year.
“I don’t think you could write a better script,” Cousins said.