Spartans hero: ‘It was pretty much pure pain’ after TD
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State’s newest celebrity sat in a wheelchair in front of reporters, describing a play that was part euphoria, part agony.
“I looked up at the clock to see how much time we had left. At that point I knew I couldn’t be tackled or didn’t have time to kick a field goal or whatnot, and I started running,” said Jalen Watts-Jackson, whose fumble return on the final play beat Michigan last weekend.
“I was actually going to dive into the end zone before I got tackled because I didn’t know if I was going to make it or not and who was behind me. After that it was pretty much pure pain.”
What was already a surreal finish Saturday took an even more bizarre turn afterward, when Watts-Jackson was taken to the hospital with an injured hip. He had surgery Sunday. On Wednesday, Watts-Jackson spoke to the media, saying he could tell his hip was hurt when he hit the ground — before his celebrating teammates piled on top of him.
“It felt like I was under there for an hour,” WattsJackson said. “After watching, I guess I wasn’t under there that long, there were just a lot of people on top of me. Definitely being under the pile of all those people, being about 190 pounds, it’s not that fun of an experience.”
His touchdown gave the seventh-ranked Spartans a 27-23 victory, their seventh in the last eight meetings with Michigan. It also kept Michigan State’s unbeaten season alive.
With 10 seconds left, the Wolverines were set to punt, but punter Blake O’Neill fumbled the snap, and the ball bounced to Watts-Jackson. Replays showed the clock expiring right as he reached the end zone, so he could have gone down earlier to set up a field goal that could have won the game. Instead, he cut back to the inside around the 10-yard line and made it across the goal line.
Watts-Jackson was treated at the University of Michigan’s hospital — another twist in the wacky weekend. He made a point of thanking the people there as he wrapped up his news conference.
Watts-Jackson’s injury prevented him from getting up and celebrating with his teammates, and it wasn’t until after his operation that he began to appreciate the magnitude of his touchdown.
“It first hit me after I got surgery, my family came and I was just in my room, the hospital room by myself, looking at ESPN,” he said. “They just kept playing it back and kept playing it back.”
Now comes the long road to recovery. WattsJackson says he has been told it will be six or seven months before he’s running again.
DEVELOPMENTS
Florida seeks kicker: Florida’s kicking situation is taking “open competition” to another level. The 13th-ranked Gators held a campus-wide tryout Wednesday afternoon in hopes of finding some help before next week’s game against Southeastern Conference rival Georgia in Jacksonville.
Coach Jim McElwain said 216 students applied for the tryout, which was set up after Florida (6-1, 4-1 SEC) lost backup kicker Jorge Powell to a seasonending knee injury at LSU on Saturday.
Starter Austin Hardin has a hamstring injury that has kept him out of three games this season.
Of the 216 applicants, Florida officials said 77 advanced to the actual tryout Wednesday. Of those 77, two were women. The Gators did not say how anyone performed or when they would announce whether anyone made the roster.
Briefly: Freshman Chase Hansen is the quarterback of the future for No. 3 Utah, but in the meantime, the former four-star recruit and 2011 Utah high school player of the year has moved to safety. ... A person with knowledge of the negotiations says Texas has reached a 15-year licensing and apparel deal with Nike Inc. The contract will approach $200 million for the university, according to the person, who spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity because the agreement must still be approved by the school’s regents. ... Purdue University officials plan to ask the board of trustees for approval on a $60 million football complex.