Just like I predicted on Thursday morning, the #23 Michigan State Spartans pulled the upset over the #11 Michigan Wolverines. It’s the first loss of the season for UM, and their fourth in a row to State. Little brother no more? And entire graduating class of Spartans is now undefeated against their in-state rivalry.
But hey Michigan still has some really cool new retro uniforms (more on that later). MSU used a big 14 point third quarter to win 28-14 and take control of the Legends division in the Big Ten. The winner of this game has the inside track to representing the division in the Big Ten title game in Indianapolis.
Sparty came into this game #1 in the nation in total defense, #2 in pass defense, #3 in rush defense and scoring defense. They held the Wolverines well below their averages of 491 yards per game (14th nationally) and 39 ppg (19th nationally).
Denard Robinson had one of his typical sub .500 completion rate and meager yards-per-attempt passing games going 9-24 for 123 yards, 1 TD, 1 COSTLY pick-six INT that sealed the win for State. He also carried the ball 14 times for 76 yards and a touchdown. Mich St held him to almost half of his usual 135 yards per game. (He entered the game 4th nationally in rushing).
Edwin Baker was the man for MSU, rushing 26 times for 167 yards. Keshawn Martin redeemed himself for his dropped touchdown pass on the first Sparty drive of the game. He had three grabs on the day, two for touchdowns.
Now…about those sweet new uniforms:
The legacy jersey is a compilation of design elements from different eras of Michigan football. It featured player numbers on the front and back of the jersey with a block M above the heart and repeating striped sleeves. The shirts under the uniform have “Victors” on the left bicep and “Valiant” on the right bicep.
The white pants are a throwback to the 1974 and 1975 seasons when the program wore all white on the road. In addition, the Wolverines wore two-tone socks with blue on top (calf) and white on the bottom.
Player numbers appeared on the winged helmet (borrowed from Princeton) that first appeared in the late 1960s. After wearing these numbered helmets for the Notre Dame game, head coach Brady Hoke decided to continue the tradition before the start of the Big Ten conference season to pay homage to the program’s past.
Michigan warmed up in its traditional road uniforms but returned for the start of the game in the new legacy uniforms.