Real Kato Blog: Football No Longer Needs To Suck It

Okay, so today was a better day for Michigan football. Going to overtime for the second year in a row, Garrett Rivas kicked a field goal to give Michigan a 34-31 victory over Michigan State.

Ahhh. Today is a good day to be a Michigan fan. I feel bad for my Michigan State friends (of which I have many); I know how much it sucks to lose, especially to Michigan, and especially when expectations and hopes are high. But I'm celebrating anyway.

This game was a nail-biter, going back and forth, with big plays on both sides. You can tell how tense a game it was by the volume of food and alcohol that was consumed in my house during the game... when I'm nervous about a game, I can't stop eating and drinking. The total carnage: a plate of corned beef and cabbage, three pieces of fried chicken, a bowl of chili, three beers, two screwdrivers, and one vodka tonic.

Both teams looked unstoppable offensively in the first half, racking up 45 points and nearly six hundred yards of combined yardage. Michigan took advantage of vulnerable cornerbacks playing soft coverage, and the return of tailback Mike Hart gave a spark to the running game. (Hart ended up with over 200 yards rushing on the day.) Michigan State used well-designed misdirection plays, and leaned on the talents of quarterback Drew Stanton.

In the second half, the defenses started to play better, and the offenses played worse. There were dropped passes and turnovers, and neither team executed very well. But the difference, I thought, was that Michigan turned to its bread-and-butter plays, whereas Michigan State dived deep into its playbook to try some trickery. I don't know why a team would try trick plays when its regular offense seems to be clicking so well, but hey, thanks guys.

As the game wound down, Michigan made two critical errors that almost cost them the game. One was a fumble from quarterback Chad Henne, which was returned for a touchdown. With the game tied 31-31, Michigan drove back down the field, converting two fourth-down plays along the way. But Garrett Rivas missed a potential game-winning field goal from short range. Michigan State, for its part, had a chance to move into position for a game-winning field goal as well, but penalties and questionable play-calling stopped their drive as regulation time ran out.

In overtime, there was more strange play-calling on Michigan State's part, and they ended up missing their field goal try. Rivas returned to redeem himself, kicking a 35-yard field goal to end the game. There was much rejoicing among the staff of the Real Kato Online.

This was really a must-win game for Michigan. Going into the game 2-2, and having dropped out of the top 25 rankings, a loss would have made it difficult to even get to a bowl game. As it stands now, Michigan still has an opportunity to be in the hunt for the Big Ten title.

Ahhh. Or really.... whew.

Permalink 1 Comment

Posted by Ken in: sports

Comments

Comment #1 from olafandyjon (Guest)
2005 Oct 1 - 9:10 pm : #

It's great
To be
A Michigan Wolverine

I have to admit, today is not the day to lightly rib the State friends. They are not taking this loss well, but I guess I can understand as they invested quite a bit into this game and felt that this was the year they finally passed us. The thing is, every MSU fan I know feels like this: all they wanted out of this season was to win this game. If they run the table and go to a BCS bowl, they will be happy, but not satisified because they didn't beat us.

Meanwhile, I'm checking out what Minnesota's like to get ready for next week.

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