Ancient legends tell us of a time when Michigan State Football was likely to lose the next game they played after a big upset victory, especially after defeating Michigan. Does anybody remember those days?
UM fans can enjoy those faded images of days-gone-by along with their love for leather-helmets and the Wing-T formation. Because they are no longer to be found in modern football.
We addressed the end of this mythology two years ago, when MSU was actually undefeated in games played after playing the Wolverines under Mark Dantonio. Then, last year, the Spartans joined 14 other teams on the losing end of a game with eventual National Champion, Ohio State.
Below is a reprint of the original article, with game scores updated from last year.
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The Michigan Mainstream Media Machine (M-4) would have us believe that Michigan State "can't handle success", and after winning a big game, the green-and-white revert to the "Same Old Spartans" and take a beating the next game. They never say that about UM.
Turns out this is another example of how the tables have already turned under MSU Head Coach Mark Dantonio. Instead of the SOS fairy tale, it's actually the S.O.W. ("Same Old Wolverines") who can't handle playing against MSU, regardless of whether they win or lose.
Here are the game results for the MSU Football team in the game following their match-up against UM:
- 2014 game after playing UM: Lost to Ohio State, 49-37
- 2013 game after playing UM: Beat Nebraska, 41-28
- 2012 game after playing UM: Beat Wisconsin, 16-13
- 2011 game after playing UM: Beat Wisconsin, 37-31
- 2010 game after playing UM: Beat Illinois, 26-6
- 2009 game after playing UM: Beat Illinois, 24-14
- 2008 game after playing UM: Beat Wisconsin, 25-24
- 2007 game after playing UM: Beat Purdue, 48-31
The FACT is that MSU has won their next game after playing UM for seven of the last eight years. Seems like our Spartans have handled success under Coach Mark Dantonio.
What about those wonderful weasels? Again, here are the numbers:
- 2014 game after playing MSU: Beat Indiana, 34-10
- 2013 game after playing MSU: Lost to Nebraska, 17-13
- 2012 game after playing MSU: Lost at Nebraska, 23-9
- 2011 game after playing MSU: Beat Purdue, 36-14
- 2010 game after playing MSU: Lost to Iowa, 38-28
- 2009 game after playing MSU: Lost at Iowa, 30-28
- 2008 game after playing MSU: Lost at Purdue, 48-42
- 2007 game after playing MSU: Lost at Wisconsin, 37-21
Upon review, it's the SOWs who can't handle the letdown after playing Michigan State, as they are now 2-6 after playing the Dantonio-led Spartans.
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Maybe they need to get some "steel in their spines" like the Spartans now have; the result of 8 seasons plus of forging wins.
ReplyDeleteYour post inspired me. Here is what I found.
ReplyDeleteBased on the win-loss records of the teams involved, all of those UM post MSU let-downs were versus even competition.
2015 5-2 Michigan at 4-3 Minnesota after a bye week for both
2014 3-5 Michigan vs 3-4 Indiana (4-8)
2013 6-2 Michigan vs 6-2 Nebraska (9-4)
2012 5-3 Michigan at 5-2 Nebraska (10-4)
2011 6-1 Michigan vs 4-3 Purdue (7-6) after a bye week
2010 5-1 Michigan vs 4-1 Iowa (8-5)
2009 4-1 Michigan at 5-0 Iowa (11-2)
2008 2-6 Michigan at 2-6 Purdue (4-8)
2007 8-2 Michigan at 7-3 Wisconsin (9-4)
I also checked for hangovers, the MSU effect lasting through to the end of the season. Total games are first, conference games are second.
pre |UM vs MSU| post
2015: 5-1 |L| ?-?; BT: 2-0 |L| ?-?
2014: 3-4 |L| 2-2; BT: 1-2 |L| 2-2 Sleepwalking
2013: 6-1 |L| 1-4; BT: 2-1 |L| 1-3 Hangover
2012: 4-2 |W| 3-3; BT: 2-0 |W| 3-2 Sleepwalking
2011: 6-0 |L| 5-1; BT: 2-0 |L| 4-1 Up and at'em
2010: 5-0 |L| 2-5; BT: 1-0 |L| 2-4 Hangover
2009: 4-0 |L| 1-3; BT: 1-0 |L| 0-6 Hangover
2008: 2-5 |L| 1-3; BT: 1-2 |L| 1-3 Sleepwalking
2007: 7-2 |W| 1-2; BT: 5-0 |W| 0-2 Hangover