Michigan State Spartan Football: Somehow They Win

Spartan Football: Definitely the most interesting team in the country right now. Michigan State has won its four biggest games this year with a total of 44 seconds of clock time remaining.

• Iowa last Saturday: 27 seconds.
• Ohio State and UM: 0 seconds each.
• Baylor, Cotton Bowl: 17 seconds. (I said “this year,” remember.)

They started this season with the motto, “Reach Higher.” I think if I were an opposing coach I’d be thinking something else about MSU, and it would keep me awake nights sweating:

They win.

If they’re way behind in the fourth quarter (Baylor), they win. If they’re hopelessly out of time (UM), they win. If they’re playing with their star on the sidelines (Ohio State) or partially injured (Iowa), they win.

Somehow they win. No matter what. And that’s what matters.

There’s just one obstacle they haven’t been able to overcome for a win. Like Clemson, they are undefeated against all other football teams this year. Unlike Clemson, they lost a game, not to a team, but to a referee (Nebraska — everyone agrees that was a bad call).

Yet even that setback they overcame in another way: they won the Big Ten, and they’re solidly in the hunt for the national championship.

Even if they lose, somehow they win.

They’re playing at the Cotton Bowl again this year, this time on December 31. They could be the first team to win the Cotton Bowl twice in the same year.

I only hope their win there, and the really big win that follows it, will be a lot less dramatic than their other big games have been lately. Somehow for a change I’d like to be able to relax a little bit while they win.

Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparty.