I didn’t include them because it was a very close one and they went undefeated.
@CoralSpringsCat and @No Chores seem to only remember the positive moments of Fitz’s tenure and none of the negatives. Perhaps they could advise… or vote!
Geez.
They were numbing as a fan to live through.
Don’t forgot your obsession with crapping on Fitz. You should have a field day after games this season. Predicted for 17th in Big.Bumping this because the offseason is slow and we could get some fresh votes
MSU was bad because how it happened but considering it was Ftiz first year in a position he was thrust into,,,,,,,,
Didn't that Army team have a pretty funky offense that it was pretty difficult to prepare for? Army only played 4 home games that year and won 3 of them (their only three wins), Did not win any on the road, Had to wonder why we played them there
Army still ran the triple option but they were absolute AWFUL back then. IIRC they went 2-10 and we were one of the two wins.
I have a hard time faulting Hank on that, the time of possession in the game was 41:18-18:42. In the first half we had drives of 0:53 (fumble), 2:33 (fumble), 0:56 (interception), 0:12 (touchdown), 1:27 (punt), 1:24 (FG), and 3:29 (touchdown). We were only losing by 3, but Illinois had the ball for 19:06. In the second half, we went 1:25 (3 and out punt), 1:35 (3 and out punt), 2:07 (punt), 2:06 (sad FG) and 0:35 (end of game). 22:12-7:48 Illinois in possession.
I believe you’re referring to the 2007 Duke loss. That was a particularly jarring one as it also cost us a bowl bid (we finished 6-6 like Iowa and sat at home).
Agreed. The one highlight of that game was Trumpy’s late long TD run.
That MSU coach was always great at having that special trick play and he was very successful in using them against us
You’re taking about John L Smith.
You are right it was Dantonio that was the trick play guy. But I thought I remembered a trick play in that gameYou’re taking about John L Smith.
And, no, he was known for slapping himself in the face and blowing leads at MSU until he had the 35 point comeback against us. Not trick plays.
He was then fired and replaced by Dantonio.
Per Wikipedia:
Michigan State began 2006 with three wins and then suffered an infamous late-game loss against Notre Dame. The Spartans led 37–21 midway through the fourth quarter, but, despite a raging thunderstorm, the Irish rallied for a 40–37 victory. This led to a now-famous video of John L. Smith slapping himself at the post-game press conference.[18]
The following week, Michigan State's homecoming game, the Spartans were defeated 23–20 by an Illinois team that had not won a Big Ten game since 2004. After the game, players from both teams fought at midfield after several Illinois players tried to plant their flag at midfield of Spartan Stadium. In the post-game press conference, Smith admitted the coaches were having trouble motivating the players. Smith also slapped himself in the face as a reference to a claim by Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis who stated that he had been hit in the face during a sideline scrum earlier that season when his Fighting Irish played Michigan State.
Following another defeat to Michigan, Michigan State hosted and lost 38–7 to top-ranked Ohio State. At halftime, Spartan Stadium had mostly emptied, with a large portion of the remaining attendees being Ohio State fans.
MSU followed up those losses with a 41–38 win at Northwestern. The Spartans, down 38–3 in the middle of the third quarter, rallied for 38 unanswered points for the largest comeback in NCAA history. The Spartans then fell to Indiana the following week.
On November 1, Michigan State decided not to retain John L. Smith, and the remainder of his contract was bought out for $1.5 million.[19]Smith and his coaching staff stayed on the job through the end of the 2006 season.
There were several highs with Fitz, but even more incredible lows.
Once everyone has voted then I agree we can shut it down.Good post, JG.
I agree with the sentiment of the post, but what's weird about our history is that there were times that our BIG10 recruits couldn't just over power far lesser programs that had far fewer athletes than us. I stand by my choice of the Zips loss because we gave up 21 points on two pick-sixes and a fumble at their goal line. Then allowed a scoring pass from Kato Nelson, who I'm sure isn't in the NFL.
I agree that there are games early in the season where we did not appear ready. I’m just saying it has happened throughout our last 50 years. I can pick out at least 5-10 games that were embarrassing for every coach. If you want a list, let me know. I sat through a lot of very bad games.
