Gopher Football
The Spartans lost their quarterback Drew Stanton in the first quarter but the real dilemma for MSU was their running game. The Gopher “œD” held them to a mere three yards rushing for the game. The defense stopped the Spartans on all six off their fourth down attempts, including one right on the Gophers’ goal line. Another big headache for the Michigan State offense was Willie VanDeSteeg who had four sacks. The Minnesota defense also contributed a touchdown with a fumble return by Steve Davis to put the Gophers ahead for good. Added to that, Dominique Barber had two interceptions. All in all, this was by far the best defensive effort of the season.
Bryan Cupito had his second straight big game, passing for 243 yards and two TDs. The rushing yards were tough to come by until late in the game when they really needed them. Amir Pinnix did the most damage with 113 yards. Ernie Wheelwright had the offense play of the game with a 37-yard catch for a touchdown on third down and long. That put the Gophers firmly in control at 24-12.
Special teams were a disaster early with the Spartans returning a block of the Gophers’ first punt for a touchdown and a fake punt that didn’t work. Things settled down after that, even though MSU tried some trickery to get back in the game with a fake punt and an onsides kick. Both were unsuccessful.
With the Big Ten looking to get two BCS bids, the Gophers should have a worst-case scenario bowl bid opportunity at the Insight Bowl in Phoenix. The Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando and even the Alamo Bowl are possibilities, that is, if they beat Iowa next week. The Motor City Bowl only comes into play if Indiana happens to win at Purdue next week.
For a team that started the Big Ten season 0-5 and escaped with a 1-point win over North Dakota State, any bowl bid seems amazing. A couple more wins to give this team a 7-6 season would be sweet, considering this was expected to be a rebuilding year.