Sports offer many lessons about life, and “The Games People Play” certainly conveyed one important lesson to the Michigan State Spartans on Saturday: Don’t put yourself in position to get jobbed by something out of your control.
*
It is true that sports can be overrated as a teacher of life lessons. Coaches so reflexively refer to “character” and “courage” in sports that the value of those qualities is oversold within the context of Saturday competition between the painted white lines. However, this does not mean sports can’t teach us powerful lessons about this human sojourn. The trick is to not go overboard. The lessons exist; they just don’t have to be oversold or over-romanticized.
The very simple lesson Michigan State encountered in Lincoln, Nebraska, is this: Don’t want to get screwed on a bad call by the officials in the final 20 seconds? Don’t allow a 38-26 lead to shrink to five. Don’t take the ball out of Connor Cook’s hands. Don’t be timid in the pursuit of a game-sealing first down in the final minutes of regulation. Don’t give the ball back to Nebraska.
Had Michigan State prevented all of those realities — the Spartans had it within their power to follow a different path — the reigning Cotton Bowl champions never would have had the chance to be wronged by the Big Ten officials. The Spartans never would have placed themselves in position to be done in by a ruling that a Nebraska receiver was forced out by a Michigan State defender. That interpretation from the on-field crew (which was not reviewable by replay; only the Nebraska receiver’s position when making the catch was reviewable) created the touchdown which felled Mark Dantonio’s team, 39-38.
*
This game recalled a pair of moments in college football history. First, the most famous late-game comeback from a 38-26 deficit was Texas against USC in the 2006 Rose Bowl. This 38-26 comeback salvaged Nebraska’s season and took a world of heat off the back of Mike Riley. More than that, however, it eliminated Michigan State’s margin for error by forcing the Spartans to beat Ohio State in a couple of weeks. Without a win in that game, Michigan State — as a result of this loss — will almost certainly have no share of the Big Ten East Division title, therefore making Indianapolis a no-go.
The second memorable event this game brought to mind: The 2009 Big 12 Championship Game. Much as Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook threw a pass out of bounds at the end of the game on Saturday night, costing his team a chance to kick a game-winning field goal against the Huskers, Colt McCoy of Texas did the same thing six years earlier. The difference? A railing inside AT&T Stadium stopped the flight of the ball before it hit the ground. That railing was the difference between the clock expiring and Texas kicking its way into the 2010 BCS National Championship Game against Alabama.
One could say that Nebraska is now even in terms of last seconds expiring on tardy throws at the ends of fourth quarters with field goals looming as distinct possibilities.
*
If you saw it once on the first Saturday of November, you saw it several times: After spotless Septembers and Octobers, teams that lived on the edge for much of the season finally fell off it. The sudden encounter with defeat has turned the final three weeks into a grimly urgent quest for redemption and survival, both thrown together in the arena of cutthroat competition. Michigan State’s season, once a joyful carpet ride with magical escapes such as the one at Michigan, is now very different following this gut-punch experience in the Heartland.
It isn’t fair, getting the short end of a terrible call. Yet, with better defense; a commitment to the passing game in the hands of a hot veteran quarterback; and a willingness to pursue victory with a maximum of boldness, Michigan State wouldn’t have been in position to suffer a piece of officiating-bestowed injustice.
*
Control what you can control. In football as in life, this lesson is paramount.
Michigan State couldn’t control a 12-point lead, a supremely advantageous situation midway through the fourth quarter against an opponent which had surrendered 55 points to Purdue the week before.
As a result, a controversial officiating situation controlled Michigan State’s fate in the final 20 seconds on another wild night in college football.
This sport — with its absurd plot twists, officiating nightmares, and constant volatility — regularly shows that the best way to avoid the full force of a brutal call is to lead by multiple scores or keep the ball away from the opposing team in the final minutes of a game. Michigan State batted 0 for 2.
The Spartans, unlucky but also unable to find a dagger in Lincoln, now know how high the price of failure can be.