[pincemob]

This thread sets the right tone.  Michigan State played like a top-5 team, and so did we.  They took more risks on offense which paid off in part due to our dropped interceptions and some help from the officials.  I don't recall reading much about Bennie Fowler but his back-shoulder catch to set up their second TD and his long, dragging-Reynolds catch were impressive.  The officials were not our friends.  The end-zone PI and the hold on the Richards pick were enough to change the outcome, while as others noted, they permitted a lot of holding by MSU which hurt our pass rush.  On the Langford sweep TD their lineman tackled our end from behind.  I am pretty sure you can't do that.  With that said, they held our offense to 11 first downs so it's hard to say we deserved to win. 

Just a note for perspective.. even if we get the 1-yard at the end, it's far from sure we'd have scored a TD.  We were on our own 34 yard line.  Even with that yard, I'd have placed the odds of a TD at 15-20%.  That is why the one area I'd second guess Shaw was in kicking the field goal on the prior possession.  In the red zone, our TD percentage is around 50%, maybe more like 35% against good defenses.  That was our best chance of getting a TD, as opposed to a 75 yard drive (as it turned out without Montgomery).  Interestingly, there was loud booing in the Stanford section when he sent in the kicking team.  That really surprised me (I was definitely not booing, just kind of puzzled.  When is the last time Shaw was booed?  I didn't like it). 

[pincemob]

This thread sets the right tone.  Michigan State played like a top-5 team, and so did we.  They took more risks on offense which paid off in part due to our dropped interceptions and some help from the officials.  I don't recall reading much about Bennie Fowler but his back-shoulder catch to set up their second TD and his long, dragging-Reynolds catch were impressive.  The officials were not our friends.  The end-zone PI and the hold on the Richards pick were enough to change the outcome, while as others noted, they permitted a lot of holding by MSU which hurt our pass rush.  On the Langford sweep TD their lineman tackled our end from behind.  I am pretty sure you can't do that.  With that said, they held our offense to 11 first downs so it's hard to say we deserved to win. 

Just a note for perspective.. even if we get the 1-yard at the end, it's far from sure we'd have scored a TD.  We were on our own 34 yard line.  Even with that yard, I'd have placed the odds of a TD at 15-20%.  That is why the one area I'd second guess Shaw was in kicking the field goal on the prior possession.  In the red zone, our TD percentage is around 50%, maybe more like 35% against good defenses.  That was our best chance of getting a TD, as opposed to a 75 yard drive (as it turned out without Montgomery).  Interestingly, there was loud booing in the Stanford section when he sent in the kicking team.  That really surprised me (I was definitely not booing, just kind of puzzled.  When is the last time Shaw was booed?  I didn't like it).