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    • Michigan football is once again taking a bite out of the Michigan State rivalry
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    Michigan football is once again taking a bite out of the Michigan State rivalry

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    Have you ever seen one of those videos where a shark chases an unsuspecting fish?

    And just you know what’s about to happen?

    This is how it was.

    Michigan State quarterback Aidan Chiles sprinted out of the pocket, seemingly oblivious to what was coming out from behind him Saturday night in the Big House. Because he didn’t have the ball safe, and he seemed to be taking his time, as Michigan’s Josaiah Stewart chased him from behind, gained ground, opened his jaws and it was fair to think: We need a bigger boat!

    Wham!

    Stewart dismissed Chiles and the ball was recovered by Kenneth Grant.

    If there was one play that summed up this game, it was Michigan lurking in the background, waiting to pounce and chase the Spartans down in a 24-17 victory.

    Because the Spartans had opportunities on Saturday evening, but missed them. Or rather, the Wolverines ripped it out of their hands, while the Spartans botched this game in all three phases: struggling in the red zone. Ruining a field goal. Biting at tricks. Making mistakes and committing drive-kill penalties.

    “Frustrating, disappointing – there’s a lot to digest in the game,” MSU coach Jonathan Smith said. “It was actually all three phases.”

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    Two plays after that fumble, Michigan turned the scoreboard over, grabbed all the momentum and took the lead for good when Dominic Zvada hit a 37-yard field goal.

    At that moment, it would have been fair for an MSU fan to think: How in the world does Michigan have a halftime lead?

    Well, the Wolverines had no turnovers in the first half, no penalties and their only real mistake was a failed extra point attempt.

    Meanwhile, the Spartans had a great opportunity to take a huge first quarter lead and blow it.

    “We’ve got the momentum back,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore told the Big Ten Network at halftime. “We didn’t start strong.”

    That’s an understatement.

    Michigan State dominated early

    Let’s start with the first quarter.

    MSU (4-4, 2-3 Big Ten) dominated Michigan (5-3, 3-2) early in this game. With almost every measurement.

    The Spartans gained 135 yards on their first two possessions. More importantly, the Spartans had no negative plays. Want another crazy statistic? The Spartans had eight first downs before Michigan ran seven plays.

    And it wasn’t just one player. Six different Spartans had the ball in the first quarter as Michigan State rolled off reverses and QB runs and put Michigan on its heels, picking up a whopping 5.5 yards per carry.

    The Spartans forced the ball down the Wolverines’ throats, running the ball 11 times on their opening possession and reaching the Michigan 2.

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    It was truly breathtaking. The Spartans controlled the line of scrimmage, did what they wanted and dominated in every area – except the most important place:

    The scoreboard.

    “I think everyone in the locker room knows we probably should have won this game,” MSU running back Nathan Carter said.

    Well, if they had scored more touchdowns. Funny how that works.

    Unfortunately for MSU, reaching the end zone is a lingering problem.

    On their first possession, the Spartans lined up for a fourth-and-goal play, but a delay of the game flag changed those plans. So MSU brought up its kicker, Jonathan Kim, who missed a 25-yarder to the right.

    That was the blood in the water.

    Bringing in the sharks.

    “In hindsight, yes, I would call a timeout,” Smith said.

    Michigan came alive just before halftime

    The Wolverines came alive in the second quarter.

    With a new quarterback.

    Who was the old quarterback?

    Davis Warren.

    Yes, the guy who started the first three games of the season but was benched because of his tendency to throw interceptions.

    Now Michigan played it safe with him at the start of this game. It was like playing quarterback with training wheels; he just threw incredibly safe, easy passes.

    But then?

    Well, he started to heat up late in the first half, hitting Colston Loveland for a 10-yard touchdown.

    “Our O-line stepped up on that last drive,” Moore told BTN. “We need to reset our focus. We can’t think this will continue into the next half.”

    The second half was all about Michigan.

    Suddenly the Wolverines were doing flea flickers.

    Suddenly, running back Donovan Edwards threw a touchdown pass.

    And suddenly everything was easy for the Wolverines.

    So there are two ways to look at this game. In some ways, the Spartans blew it by not building a big lead in the first quarter when they had Michigan on the ropes.

    But give the Wolverines credit. They responded as the Spartans withered.

    The Wolverines were the sharks.

    And the Spartans were unsuspecting prey, not realizing what was about to happen.

    A missed field goal. A few tricks from Michigan. And there was no turning back from it.

    Still, the Spartans got one last chance. Chiles started doing great things, and Nate Carter had a great run after a catch.

    Then it came down to this: MSU reached the Michigan 16-yard line with 2 minutes left.

    Fourth-and-5.

    Chiles was on the run and Stewart was chasing him again.

    The shark came closer, but this time Chiles lost the ball… and it fell incomplete.

    “We’re not finishing the thing,” Smith said afterward with a sigh.

    And Michigan got its win, its third straight in the series.

    Contact Jeff Seidel: [email protected]. Follow him on X @seideljeff. To read his recent columns, visit freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.

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