Error processing SSI fileLynn Henning: Burning questions
With one game, it all changes for U-M, MSU
U-M linebacker Prescott Burgess chases MSU running back Jason Teague, who gained 72 yards on eight carries.
Why U-M won
Why did U-M beat MSU?
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EAST LANSING - Burning questions in the wake of Saturday's chiller at Spartan Stadium - a 34-31 victory for Michigan over Michigan State ...
Q: What changed for Michigan in winning a game Saturday the Wolverines stood to lose?
A: Everything.
College football is the most psychological of all games. Anyone can see Michigan's swagger is back after winning a game Saturday the Wolverines could easily have coughed up. Now they take a winning record into back-to-back home games against Minnesota and Penn State. Now they have Michael Hart back. Now they look a little more like Michigan. Had they lost to MSU Saturday, this U-M team definitely would have been reeling.
Q: How bad did a single defeat hurt MSU?
A: You can make a case that 4-1 is the kind of start John L. Smith's team would have killed to have after five games. The tough part is a trip in two weeks to Ohio State. Back-to-back thumpings would take some steam out of a fast start. And that can make the rest of the season dicey when MSU closes with road games at Purdue and Minnesota ahead of the regular-season wrap-up at home against Penn State.
Q: What person or moment won it for U-M Saturday?
A: Michael Hart. He set the tone with a 45-yard run on Michigan's third play of the game.
In the fourth quarter, he had a 64-yard run on the series following MSU kicker John Goss' first missed field goal, a 23-yarder that would have put Michigan State on top, 27-24. Hart's running turned the Wolverines into an entirely different team Saturday. U-M's kiddie corps in the offensive line didn't look so young when Hart was running for 218 yards.
Q: How did MSU's offense avoid scoring an offensive touchdown in the second half?
A: Tentativeness in performance, not to mention mysterious play-calling in a red-zone situation (first-and-10 at Michigan's 12 in the waning moments of the third quarters), the kind State normally takes by the throat.
It spoke to a team that hasn't yet learned how to win - big games, anyway. And that's common for any program or team that is fighting to get over the hump.
Q: Why was Chad Henne's pass that Domata Peko returned 74 yards for a touchdown ruled a fumble and not a forward pass?
A: Ask the Big Ten's review official. Nobody was providing much enlightenment afterward, but Henne's obvious forward throwing motion will be a discussion point between Lloyd Carr and the Big Ten office. The point of contention will be whether Henne was, in fact, attempting a throw or tucking the ball. But this ruling is going to be chewed on at length.
Q: What will Michigan State do about its kicking game?
A: Sweat. Saturday's mess-ups weren't necessarily a surprise. MSU had hoped a big game wouldn't come down to a big field-goal moment. But it did Saturday, and now the Spartans have a real headache.
Minus a confident kicker, you don't have a confident team. And the self-doubts seemed to afflict the Spartans late Saturday as they realized this game could come down to a field goal.
Burning questions You can reach Lynn Henning at (313) 222-2472 lynn.henning@detnews.com.
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