Illinois Coach Lovie Smith After The Illini Upset the Michigan State Spartans
Spartan Stadium
East Lansing, MI
Following a dismal month of October, Michigan State played host to Illinois on Saturday afternoon, but a promising start quickly became what could be described as Michigan State’s darkest hour under Mark Dantonio.
The Spartans quickly surged out to a 28-3 lead in the second quarter, seemingly making easy work of the Fighting Illini as they looked to coast to an easy, confidence-building win heading into next week’s rivalry game against Michigan, but instead another case of poor coaching, inept offense and unexpectedly bad defense led to a nightmarish Saturday.
Illinois slowly chipped away at Michigan State’s comfortable lead as they eventually trailed by just one, 31-30, late in the fourth quarter and a 5-yard touchdown pass from Brandon Peters to Daniel Barker with less than a minute to play, erasing Michigan State’s 25-point lead as Illinois knocked off the Spartans, 37-34.
The loss for Michigan State could and probably should be considered as the worst loss in the Dantonio era at Michigan State and a loss that falls directly on the Spartan head coach and his inability or unwillingness to fix the issues that have ailed the program over the past four years.
In a four-game stretch where the Michigan State program has spiraled all the way down to rock bottom, the Spartans will head to Ann Arbor next Saturday to take on rival Michigan at the Big House.
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