ATLANTA – It looks like Ohio State is about to have another Big Ten East leader in the near future.
Michigan ended the Buckeyes’ four-year reign at the top of the league and advanced to the College Soccer Playoffs. The Wolverines looked like they were ready to fulfill their promise to Jim Harbaugh in command. Talent is exploding and Werewolves are two games ahead of the national title.
And now there seems to be another threat from the Great Lakes State. 10 Michigan State ended a brilliant season beyond expectations with a thrilling 31-21 win over 12 Pitt in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. The team with a total of 4 over/under wins last season ended 11-2 and will be in the top 10 for the first time since 2015.
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Michigan State coach Mel Tucker said: “It’s a huge win with 11 wins. “It’s a pretty amazing achievement. And doing that as a team, playing complementary football, that’s fantastic. The best is ahead for us.”
The Spartans adopted the “keep slashing” theme from Tucker, and they certainly lived up to that theme Thursday night. Michigan State was forced to write off a 21-10 deficit in the fourth quarter and scored three goals in the final 8:06 to eliminate the Pitt team playing with a third quarterback in the final three innings. Heisman finalist Kenny Pickett opted out of the game, and his replacement, Nick Patti, was injured scoring the winning goal on Pitt’s first drive. That puts sophomore Davis Beville in control.
“Davis did a fantastic job,” said Pitt’s coach, Pat Narduzzi. “As good as you’d expect a third-team midfielder to do. Not good enough to win a football game. All of our players are there and playing as we please. We just not playing enough in all phases.”
Pitt built a 21-10 lead thanks to a flexed but unbroken defense and a defensive scoreline during a clumsy return by Cam Bright early in the third quarter. But a brilliant save by Jayden Reed, the second of his night, gave MSU a 24-21 lead with 2:51 to play, and after Pitt headed in on goal, Cal Haladay sealed it. match for Sparta with a score of 78- interception on the field returned for a touch of the ball 22 ticks left.
“We’re constantly trying,” says Tucker. “We are undeterred. We believe in the process. We continue to be tight. We are in great shape. We know we can go deep into Q4 and wear the teams. down, took them down into the deep water. And that’s where we wanted to be. And we were able to get them to that point and were able to finish.”
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The Spartans betting big, big money on this breakout season isn’t a miracle that happens to Tucker. In late November, Michigan State fought off any suitor to the coach and awarded him a 10-year, $95 million contract with an extended market value. He may want to return to the NFL one day – he spent 10 years there as an assistant – but in the short to medium term he will be in East Lansing. And early signs suggest he has the ability to build a program that can live on the upper reaches of the Big Ten East right next to Ohio, Michigan and Penn State.
Michigan State will bid farewell to star rerun Kenneth Walker III, who finished sixth in Heisman’s vote after an extraordinary season in which he hit 1,636 yards in 12 games and scored five touchdowns. in MSU’s win over Michigan. Walker overcame a bad game to avoid injury and prepare for the NFL Draft.
But the Spartans really have a chance to attack better in 2022. Midfielder Payton Thorne, who is 29 at 50 at 354 yards with three TDs, one interception and one tumble against Pitt, will be back. back to his youth season after starting all 13 Games. He completed 60% of his passes with a record of 27 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He showed leadership all week in Atlanta when Walker was out, giving the team a meaningful speech after a practice lead. A quality pocket player, Thorne showed to Pitt that he can also be dangerous with his feet, and he put his best focus on his team in the fourth quarter.
“We’re missing Ken, but we feel we can earn something in the passing game,” Thorne said. “And we didn’t really beat them in many games. But in the fourth quarter we were able to put some things together and capitalize on those areas where we thought we would be able to. “
Like CJ Stroud at Ohio State, Thorne may have multiple future NFL receivers at his disposal. Reed and Jalen Nailor are both deciding whether they should enter the NFL Draft, and both showed during the Peach Bowl why they could go pro in the future. Reed was the offensive MVP with six catches for 80 yards and two touchdowns, while Nailor had six catches from 108 yards. Nailor had a great one-handed catch in the first half to create great space, and Reed’s two touchdowns were simply the result of him winning the games 1-1. The fact that both played poorly is clearly a good sign for MSU.
The end is certain Connor Heyward will join the NFL, but the future in this position still bright for freshman Maliq Carr, who showed plus sports with a good catch and run on Thursday. And former four-star running again Jalen Berger is moving in from Wisconsin after a disappointing freshman season. If he can stay on track, MSU could have another powerful weapon behind the scenes.
Eight starters will be back on the defensive, and Tucker will also be looking to add reinforcements through the transfer portal, especially in second place. MSU’s defense has sagged at key moments in 2021 and will need to improve. But basically, the unit shut down Pitt in the second half and let the criminals win in the end.
“Our adjustments (in the second half) were just better tackles, better dribbles, better clearances, just better little things,” said Haladay, who received the defensive MVP Award for the shot. eat six points and a leader said. 11 tackles. “That’s what we did at the end of the day. We just had to go out, get the ball back as fast as we could and give ourselves a chance to win.”
Ohio State is not going anywhere, Michigan hopes to have become the elite program it has always wanted, and Penn State will never be out of business for long. Is there room for a fourth program near the top tier of a division on par with the nation’s toughest Western SEC? The state of Michigan certainly thinks so.
“There’s a lot of hard work that needs to be done between now and when we start again next season,” Tucker said. “But we’re going to stay focused and determined to get where we need to go. And we’re playing in a tough game. It’s been tough. It’s competitive. But we’re in it. We’re in. are in it to win And, so, I believe the best of us lies ahead.”
