Michigan State Football

According to Jalen Watts-Jackson’s sister’s Twitter account, Jalen has a “broken hip” and is “getting surgery in the morning well be on crutches for about 3months will be back next season.”
Watts-Jackson will be forever remembered for recovering the fumble and scoring the touchdown during the most unbelievable finish in the rivalry’s history.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — There were wide eyes, open mouths and shaking heads everywhere as ancient Michigan Stadium emptied after a final play destined to never die in this state or in college football history. Many among the departing crowd of 111,740 looked as if they had seen a ghost, and even those who were happy muttered while wandering into the night.

Down in the bowels of the stadium, victorious players for No. 7 Michigan State and their coach, Mark Dantonio, flashed sheepish smiles knowing they were blessed by bizarre fortune at game’s end.
“I’ve never felt anything like that,” Spartans quarterback Connor Cook said. “I honestly felt like I was in a dream. It was completely crazy.”
The jaw-dropping nature of Michigan State’s 27-23 victory shocked Jim Harbaugh, the first-year coach of No. 12 Michigan, in a manner he said he hadn’t ever experienced as a college or NFL player and coach.
“It’s hard to fathom,” Harbaugh said.
Leading 23-21 with 10 seconds remaining, Michigan punter Blake O’Neill — a graduate student from Melbourne, Australia — dropped a low snap, picked up the ball, got hit from behind and all heaven broke out for the Spartans
The hit on O’Neill jarred the ball into the air straight to Michigan State sophomore Jalen Watts-Jackson, who sprinted 38 yards and dove into the end zone for the winning touchdown as time expired.
It was the first time Michigan State led all game, and it ignited a pile-up of celebrating Spartans that Dantonio said left Watts-Jackson with either a dislocated or broken hip. The sophomore from Dearborn, Mich., was immediately taken to a nearby hospital.
“I don’t know what you say about that,” Dantonio said. “You go from 10 seconds and the guy punting the ball, and you’re thinking, ‘OK, this is done.’ And then, all of a sudden, life gets flipped upside down and we come out on the top end of it.”
Michigan State (7-0, 3-0) overcame a nine-point deficit in the game’s final 8:56 to defeat its Big Ten East Division rival for the third consecutive time and seventh time in the past eight years 
After shutting out its previous three opponents, Michigan (5-2, 2-1) saw its five-game winning streak end in such improbable fashion that Harbaugh shrugged incredulously.
“Everybody played really hard, winning football, and competed like maniacs,” Harbaugh said. “Both sides did, but we didn’t get the win. Welcome to football.”
The Wolverines controlled the game with their physical play, and they seemed destined to win after Michigan State could not score on three fourth-quarter drives that took the Spartans within 40 yards of the end zone.
That final possession died at Michigan’s 45 yard line when Cook threw an incomplete pass on fourth down with 1:47 left and the Wolverines ahead 23-21.
“There was no shot for us to win,” Cook said.
And then the improbable occurred to forever link Watts-Jackson and O’Neill in history.
First, however, it appeared Michigan had victory in hand earlier when it took a 23-14 lead with 9:25 remaining on a 38-yard field goal by Kenny Allen.
Cook, however, answered seconds later with a 74-yard completion to wide-open fullback Trevon Pendleton. That set up a 1-yard touchdown run by LJ Scott that cut the Spartans’ deficit to two points.
Those two points were going to be enough until the game’s final play.
“I didn’t know what happened,” Dantonio said. “Everybody’s mouth dropped open. It was just an incredible ending to a great football game. That’s why football is loved so much in America.”

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — College football, you win.
Move over, Auburn field-goal return.
Step aside, Boise State Statue of Liberty play.
You have company in the HOW COULD THAT HAVE HAPPENED Hall of Fame.
Michigan had a 23–21 lead on rival Michigan State with 10 seconds left. The Spartans had 11 men on the line of scrimmage—there was no return and no thought of a return. Michigan just had to get a decent punt off and stop one desperate, beyond-Hail-Mary-range pass to beat its rival for the first time in four years and climb into the playoff picture. Instead …
Instead.
You will not believe the “instead.”
The snap was low—the kind of bad snap that nobody notices if the punter fields it cleanly. But Michigan punter Blake O’Neill bobbled it. O’Neill could have just covered the ball and given Michigan State one chance to throw a deep pass for the win. And maybe if O’Neill grew up in the Michigan thumb or a Pennsylvania steel town or Texarkana, he would have done that instinctively. But O’Neill is Australian. This is only his second year of playing American football. O’Neill tried to punt. From the stands or on TV, you could tell this was a mistake. But even then, it was hard to imagine what would happen next.
The punt was sideways—the play had collapsed by that point. It went right to Michigan State’s Jalen Watts-Jackson, who didn’t even need to bend down and pick it up. Watts-Jackson took off for the end zone.
On the sideline, Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio looked up. He was hoping this meant his team could at least try a game-winning field goal (though with the state of his kicking game right now, no kick is a sure thing). Then Dantonio saw this:
0:00.
Michigan State would either score a touchdown or lose.
Watts-Jackson made it into the end zone. And apparently as he fell, he either dislocated or broke his hip. He was on his way to the hospital before his teammates left the stadium.
“I didn’t know what was happening, man,” Dantonio said. “I was with all of you. Some green, some blue … everybody’s mouths probably just dropped open.”
So Michigan State won, 27–23. The Spartans remain undefeated and in the national title hunt, though frankly neither team really looked like a national champion for most of the day.
​Dantonio said “life turned upside down” on one play, and nobody seemed to know if they should act like it was right-side up. It was a fluke play, by any measure. A gift. Sometimes, great, intense, close games come down to a gift. But Michigan State couldn’t really act like it had stuck it to arrogant Michigan again, and Michigan couldn’t just admit it had been outplayed. “A little numb,” Dantonio said. “It’s a good numb.”
He then added: “I very much respect the University of Michigan and what Coach (Jim) Harbaugh has done here thus far, and the direction they’re going. And they played a great game.”
And Harbaugh said: “What do you say about the final play? It was unfortunate. Didn’t get the result. They played really well played winning football, competed like maniacs, both teams did. It was a heckuva game. Played winning football, didn’t get the result. Welcome to football. Move forward.”
The teams can move forward, but the fan bases will remember this for decades. And it may be the start of the best years of the Michigan State-Michigan rivalry.
Like a lot of rivalries, Michigan-Michigan State was built on disrespect, both real and perceived. For long stretches, Michigan was the far superior program, and its fans could act like Michigan State was a second-class rival. But under Mark Dantonio, Michigan State quickly surpassed Michigan. Dantonio was 6–2 against Michigan entering this game, and each game seemed to follow a familiar storyline: Michigan would act like it was getting ready to “restore order” to the rivalry, Dantonio would use all the slights to motivate his team, and then Michigan State would outplay and outcoach Michigan. Most damning of all for Michigan was that Michigan State always seemed to be the tougher team. By miles. Before Dantonio, when Michigan State would beat Michigan, it would do so on a bizarre play, an otherworldly individual performance or a questionable officiating call. Under Dantonio, the Spartans simply kicked the Wolverines’ butt.
It is hard to find an era when both programs were consistent Big Ten contenders. This may be the start of one.
Unlike most of Dantonio’s wins over Michigan, this was not a butt-kicking, and he knows it as well as anybody. Harbaugh and his players can go to sleep tonight knowing that.
Of course, the Wolverines probably won’t be able to sleep.
And the Spartans won’t want to.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The snap was flubbed, and the football went flying. Jalen Watts-Jackson grabbed it with his right hand, cradled it to his body and ran a ball into the end zone that was supposed to be punted the other way.
In the 10 seconds it took for the clock to tick down, Watts-Jackson went from total obscurity to pulling off one of the most unlikely endings in college football as No. 7 Michigan State beat No. 12 Michigan 27-23.


"That's why football is loved so much in America," Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said. "It's because things like this happen. Every now and then, they happen."
He could take it in for only a moment. As Watts-Jackson lay on a maize "M" in the end zone, his teammates piled above him, he dislocated his hip in the ruckus. He was later carted off the field and taken to a hospital, barely getting a glimpse of the scene he set off.
No one will soon forget it.
A fan at Michigan Stadium had a heart attack on the final play of the game. Paramedics told ESPN that they transported the man to the hospital in stable condition.
Following the loss, University of Michigan police reported several small fires burning on off-campus streets. Police said the fires were extinguished without injuries or serious damage.
The game was seemingly over when Watts-Jackson found himself in perfect position to make the unbelievable play.
With the Wolverines up 23-21 and 10 seconds left, Michigan punter Blake O'Neill bobbled a low snap. As O'Neill spun around to try and make the kick, he was swarmed by Spartans, and the ball popped free.
Watts-Jackson caught it and raced 38 yards toward the end zone, taking advantage of Jermaine Edmondson's blocking and powering through Jake Butt's hit just before the goal line.
The last time an FBS game ended with a defensive or special-teams game-winning score with no time left was Nov. 30, 2013, when Auburn beat Alabama after returning a missed field goal, according to Stats LLC.
"You go from 10 seconds, a guy punting the ball, you're thinking OK this is done," Dantonio said. "And then all of a sudden, life gets flipped upside down."
Famous alums Magic Johnson, whose statue at the Breslin Center in East Lansing was defaced by vandals painting a maize "M" on it earlier this week, and Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell also got the last laugh on Twitter.
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh lamented that O'Neill didn't simply handle the ball after bobbling it and fall to the ground, probably leaving the Spartans with a heave into the end zone.
"A mistake was made," Harbaugh said somberly. "Mistakes were made. It's very unfortunate circumstances."
The fan who sufferd the heart attack was sitting in a section above the opposite corner of the end zone where Watts-Jackson scored the touchdown. Fans in the section started yelling for medical help, and someone performed CPR on the man, according to Kevin Zonca from Flint, Michigan, who was nearby.
"It was honestly a very sobering experience," Zonca said. "At the end of the day, it's a game. And I'm glad that people could come together to save a life."
Michigan spokeswoman Diane Brown says she didn't know if the fan had the heart attack before or after Watts-Jackson's return. The spokeswoman also didn't know if the fan was rooting for the Wolverines or the Spartans.
The Wolverines played their first game at Michigan Stadium in 1927, and there haven't been many that have ended this dramatically. In 1994, Michael Westbrook caught a deflection for a 64-yard touchdown on the final play to give Colorado a 27-26 win over Michigan. A loss to Appalachian State came in 2007, when Michigan's attempt at a winning field goal was blocked.
Michigan State (7-0, 3-0 Big Ten) has won seven of eight in the series. Michigan (5-2, 2-1) lost for the first time since opening the season with a setback at Utah.
"We could hang our heads, but I think we'll respond great because that's the kind of team we are," kicker Kenny Allen said.
Michigan was seconds or a first down away from sealing the momentum-building win after Sione Houma ran for two touchdowns, Allen kicked three field goals, and the Wolverines forced the Spartans to turn the ball over on downs with 1:47 left at its 45.
The Spartans had only one timeout left and used it after the next snap. Michigan had two, and Harbaugh used both, including one with 10 seconds left to set up the final punt and discuss all options.
"If you go for it, you leave them with a Hail Mary opportunity," Harbaugh said. "We could protect and throw a long pass. We ran through the scenarios and felt like the best decision was to punt. They didn't have any returners. It was a matter of punting it. We messed up."
Michigan State moved the ball up and down the field against a team that had shut out three straight opponents, picking up 386 yards, mostly through the air, and 20 first downs.
Connor Cook was 18-of-39 for 328 yards and a touchdown against the nation's top-rated defense, improving his record to 30-3 as a starter and perhaps helping him get mentioned more in the Heisman Trophy race. Aaron Burbridge had nine receptions for 132 yards for the Spartans.
Michigan's Jake Rudock was 15-of-25 and 168 yards and avoided turning the ball over.
In fact, both teams took good care of the football until the final snap.

Before the dramatic finish, it looked like a trick play was going to lead to a setback for the Spartans.
Dantonio, known for having the guts to call trick plays, called for a fake punt when no one was expecting it. Punter and backup quarterback Tyler O'Connor ran 7 yards on a fourth-and-8 from the Michigan State 31, turning the ball over on downs. Michigan took advantage, moving to a 17-7 lead early in the third quarter on Houma's 1-yard run.
The Spartans, though, made the most of an improbable opportunity to win in the end.
"Football is a crazy, crazy game," Dantonio said. "You can't really hardly explain it."
 

Michigan State's stunning victory over Michigan on Saturday was felt more intensely by some people than by others.
One Michigan fan had a heart attack and was hospitalized. Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell, a Spartan, exploded on Twitter.
Then there was Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, also a Michigan State alum. After watching the amazing finish, Gilbert tweeted this:
Wow! So a regular-season win against Michigan meant more to Gilbert than:
●— Drafting LeBron James
● LeBron returning to the Cavs
● The Cavs reaching the Finals in 2007 and 2015
● Becoming majority owner of the Cavs
●— Founding and selling the company that became Quicken Loans
● Michigan State winning the 2000 national championship in men's basketball
Sorry, LeBron. And sorry, Tom Izzo. Guess Michigan State actually is a football school, and Gilbert's first love is football.
Maybe if the Cavs finally win that first championship, it'll join that elite memory club of marriage, childbirth and an October win over Michigan.
Either way, LeBron likely isn't offended. Pretty sure he loves an Ohio State football scrimmage victory more than he loves Gilbert.