A look back at 2007

Submitted by bo_lives on

Well, user Jake Blues referenced Brian's 2007 MSU postgame in another thread, and I went and read through the whole thing - here are some bits and pieces that would have made me laugh manaically at Sparty's inadequacies back then but now make me go :'(

(In response to Hoyer's quote "Let's put it this way, if anybody hadn't taken this personal up until this point, it's personal now," Hoyer said. "It just shows what kind of class he has. "Sooner or later, the little brother, you want to put us that way, you get pushed around enough, the little brother fights back and kicks the other brother's ass.")

Oh, now it's personal? You mean it's unlike all those other games when a host of kids who never even got looked at by Michigan (save three or four per year) played their instate rival and then immediately collapsed afterward? Oh shit. We are in serious trouble now. It's personal. I am liquidating my assets and moving to Tahiti, as Michigan will never beat Michigan State again.

Well, if not for the Denard/Dileo/Gibbons miracle... Oy. Anyone know what plane tickets to Tahiti are going for these days?

I know, I know. You're probably wondering "what radical new direction will this knight errant take the hallowed Spartan program?" Well, let me tell you: every year Michigan State will jump out to a fast start by beating a bunch of awful nonconference teams. When they play at Notre Dame, they will win. Everyone will get all hyped up for the Michigan game, which they will lose. On the off chance they do not lose, they will arrange to lose to Indiana or Northwestern or some such team to restore the cosmic balance. After the Michigan game they will collapse wholesale. Sometimes they will go to a bowl in Detroit. Other times they will stay home and cry softly into their BEET MICHIGAN cardigans. They will never, ever go to the Rose Bowl, and every year MGoBlog will start its Michigan State preview the same way. Yes, friends, times are a-changin' in East Lansing.

Now, please don't take this the wrong way - I love Brian and the blog and was basically laughing right alongside everyone at the time... but now I am ready to cast out my demons and admit we were guilty of hubris. May the football gods accept my repentance and have at least a tiny smidgen of mercy on Michigan Football this Saturday.

Anyway, Go Blue!

EDIT: Added link

Bando Calrissian

October 20th, 2014 at 7:31 PM ^

As far as I'm concerned, Mike Hart can say anything he wants about Michigan State. Kid went 4-0, and these stat lines, man.

2004: 33 rushes, 224 yards, TD

2005: 36 rushes, 218 yards, TD

2006: 22 rushes, 122 yards

2007: 15 rushes, 110 yards

Now, should the "Little Brother" thing have lived beyond Mike Hart on the Michigan side of the ball? Probably not. Should Mark Dantonio have engaged back with a college student in the press about this stuff? Probably not. Does Brian freaking Hoyer have a word to say about it? Nope. Did we get too heady about this stuff? Yep, but who saw the unprecedented collapse of our program coming in 2007?

I just find it hilarious that ten years after the kid first played against MSU, Sparty fans are still bent out of shape about the guy. To which I say

mgeauxblu85

October 21st, 2014 at 7:16 AM ^

Mike Hart was an excellent player, student, and representative for the University of Michigan. He always did the right thing and he earned the right to say whatever the fuck he wanted. If you listen to the quote again you'll hear Mike say "that's what [MSU] thinks we think of them. So if they say it I'll agree].

I was on that team and Mike was pissed off because Dantonio had a moment of silence after M lost to Apo State. That's why after beating Sparty all the players huddled around, took a knee and had a moment of silence for Dantonio. You want to talk about humility? Maybe a head coach should show more maturity than a college kid.

MSU got good because Rodriguez let MSU top M in recruiting the state and Brady can't develop players. Little brother, their fans, and Coach D can't let it go because they know we'll be back.

In closing screw MSU and screw Dantonio. He insulted UofM and Mike Hart took it personally. I wish we had players with that kind of intensity and love for M.

flashOverride

October 20th, 2014 at 7:36 PM ^

Michigan fans were basing their opinions on what was available at the time: that Michigan had beaten MSU five years in a row in repeatedly hilarious fashion. They got a new coach, he shot off at the mouth before he coached a down against Michigan. Then when they finally played, his team blew a ten-point lead in the fourth quarter and made it six losses in a row. Michigan players didn't forget his shit talk, and mocked it after the game. Then he went and threw a fit about it before the media and painted himself and his program as the victims, and even stooped to wading into the shots being exchanged between players, which is about as sad as it gets for a coach. As for Mike Hart, he had just wrapped up his career 4-0 against MSU*. He could say what he wanted, especially considering the term "Little Brother" was introduced into the discourse by them, not him. 

I don't think it was crazy for Michigan fans to point and snicker based on what they could see.

Today, MSU fans are already crowing about the beatdown they expect Saturday, and they consider Michigan's program a joke. Does that mean they are now engaging in hubris, too? No, they are acting on what's in front of their faces, same as we once did.

*He went 0-4 againt OSU and certainly had to take his lumps for that. It's a two-way street. 

HermosaBlue

October 20th, 2014 at 7:39 PM ^

"[E]specially considering the term "Little Brother" was introduced into the discourse by them, not him."

People forget this always. Javon Ringer made the little brother comments before the game ("we're not their little brother", etc). Mike Hart just threw it back in their face. It's unsurprisingly revisionist of Sparty to suggest otherwise.



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flashOverride

October 21st, 2014 at 10:20 AM ^

The convenient forgetting of the "moment of silence" comment after Appalachian State is even worse, to me. Along with Hart's comments, it was Michigan players gathering at midfield in Spartan Stadium for a "moment of silence" that set off Dantonio's bitchy little rant. I mean, seriously, what nerve. That's why I will never have an iota of respect for him personally no matter how many times he beats Michigan. Seeing an alleged "man" go and make such a pathetic victim of himself over something he initiated is nauseating. 

bo_lives

October 20th, 2014 at 8:19 PM ^

and the players themselves will always talk smack. But as fans we skating on thin ice - on the heels of quite a streak of luck that for some reason we thought was utter domination. Only two wins in our stretch of 6 straight could even remotely be called convincing - 2002 and 2006. The 2003 game took a heroic effort from Perry, 2004 was the Braylonfest OT miracle, 2005 was another OT nailbiter, and 2007 required a 10 point comeback in the final 10 minutes.

jmblue

October 20th, 2014 at 8:27 PM ^

We dominated the 2003 game much more than the scoreboard showed.  We were up 27-13 and driving when Navarre fumbled and it was returned for a TD - a huge swing that made the final score respectable.  

Actually, almost exactly the same thing happened in the 4th quarter of the 2005 game as well.  MSU tied it up on another defensive TD right when we were driving to put the nail in the coffin.  

 

flashOverride

October 21st, 2014 at 10:34 AM ^

Agreed. Michigan State's respectability in the 2003 game sprang from that fumble and a blown coverage on one huge play, Agim Shabaj's long bomb TD reception. Michigan was carrying the play then and in 2005. The only games in which Michigan truly snatched victory away were the 2004 and 2007 contests.

flashOverride

October 20th, 2014 at 8:38 PM ^

Again, I'm not referring solely to what happened on the field, though what happened on the field wasn't nearly as even as you make it sound. I'm also referring to the fact that Mark Dantonio made an ass of himself right from the get-go, as far as I am concerned.

I do agree, though, that it's silly when post-2007 players and any fans use the term, "Little Brother". You won't find an occasion of me doing it.

UMxWolverines

October 20th, 2014 at 7:37 PM ^

It was not really that intelligent of a prediction to say MSU will do in the future under Dantonio what they were doing under John L. 

And the fact that he got the predictions completely wrong just like his 2008 MSU recruiting analysis  is just icing on the cake for them. 

LSAClassOf2000

October 20th, 2014 at 8:08 PM ^

To be fair, of course, there was not a whole lot of reason at the time to believe that things would be any different for MSU, so there is that - Dantonio was not exactly a name at the time. You can't really project the last seven years back and say that it was not a reasonable conclusion when in 2007 we were absent those seven years of data at the time. Hindsight is always 20/20, right?

flashOverride

October 21st, 2014 at 10:40 AM ^

Now that I do agree with. If people who are certain of victory want to talk it up beforehand, go ahead and roll the dice with that, but I won't. Learned that one at a pretty young age. I don't really don't do much smack talk before or after, I tend to find it tedious and classless. The big "unless" is if you ran your mouth to me beforehand and then lost, in which case I take pleasure in being pretty merciless.  

bo_lives

October 20th, 2014 at 8:35 PM ^

I mean, it's not as if we had been utterly dominant over that 6-win streak. Michigan could have pretty easily been 2-4 instead.

Under the same reasoning, it seems the data we have now indicates at least another 5/6 for Sparty :( except instead of nailbiters, most of them will just be pummelings. Alright time for me to stop wallowing... Maybe we'll at least reverse the downward trend in points this year?

snarling wolverine

October 20th, 2014 at 8:46 PM ^

In the 2011 game, we had the ball down 21-14 in the 4th quarter.  How did we have no chance?

Last year it was 16-6 going into the 4th quarter - not an ideal situation to be in, but not hopeless.  It was around that time we intercepted a pass and then went backwards.

We sucked offensively in those games, but it's not like we didn't have opportunities.

snarling wolverine

October 20th, 2014 at 9:06 PM ^

Saying that we sucked offensively is different than saying the game was out of reach at halftime.  It wasn't.  Our D kept us in the game for three quarters but the offense didn't do its part.  

BTW, I didn't mention it above but the 2008 game was also close for a long time - it was tied 21-21 after 3 quarters.

 

snarling wolverine

October 20th, 2014 at 7:59 PM ^

It would nice to actually link the post you're quoting.

BTW, I've seen a few references to the 2012 game as a "miracle" and I don't get it.  We played them pretty evenly that day and had the lead the majority of the game.  It would have been unfortunate if we'd lost.  I remember us settling for a FG after Denard missed a wide-open Gallon in the endzone, so it's not like we capitalized on every chance.  

 

erald01

October 20th, 2014 at 8:11 PM ^

I am the kind of person that believes in karma and superstition, my karma side always tells me that part of our downfall has been due to our fan base excessive arrogance and always rubbing it in especially to msu fans....and in all reality we havent been soo kind to them no matter how down their team was..rememebr John L last game? We kept running the score up...

So yeah it sucks big time to be on the other side of the fence and know we know how those poor bastards must have felt.

snarling wolverine

October 20th, 2014 at 8:24 PM ^

Bullcrap.  This rivalry has historically been a bigger deal to them than us.  When we've won our fanbase has followed the "Act like you've been there before" mantra while they've run their mouths whenever they've managed to beat us.  Hart in 2007 was a rare case of a Michigan player taking the bait - and even then Dantonio made a total ass of himself after that, determined to get the final word in.

And we didn't run it up on Bobby Williams (I assume you're talking about him and not JLS) - Lloyd cleared his bench and our 3rd-stringers still scored on their awful D.

snarling wolverine

October 20th, 2014 at 8:44 PM ^

Looking at that box score, we rushed 53 times and passed 31 times, and four of the passes were by our backup QB, Spencer Brinton.  I don't consider it running it up the score when your backup QB is throwing passes or your 4th-string or whatever tailback (Tim Bracken) is carrying the ball.  That's just giving backups a chance to play.

MSU simply quit that day.  

Bando Calrissian

October 20th, 2014 at 11:28 PM ^

I think my favorite part of the whole 2001 fallout was the next time we played them in hockey at Yost, we were winning big, IIRC, and the clock operator stopped the clock at 1 second at the end of the third period. It was kept that way for a good five seconds while the guys skated around on the ice. It was right in the midst of a stretch of pretty acrimonious games, lots of fights and really bad feelings all around, so it was at least a nice consolation.