Spartans’ Lombardi leads upset
ANN ARBOR, MICH. » Outside of Michigan State’s football program, few expected the Spartans to beat No. 13 Michigan.
The people who mattered, though, had all the confidence they needed to pull off the upset.
Rocky Lombardi threw for 323 yards, including 196 to Ricky White, and three touchdowns to help Michigan State stun the Wolverines 27- 24 on Saturday.
“I know we were threetouchdown underdogs, but everybody on this team knew going into the game that we had a chance and we had a good chance,” Lombardi said.
The Spartans ( 1- 1, 1- 1 Big Ten) appeared to be the better team all afternoon on both sides of the ball in Mel Tucker’s debut as coach in the rivalry.
Tucker became just the second coach to beat Michigan in his first attempt with the Spartans, joining Alabama coach Nick Saban, who did it in 1995. The former Colorado coach started his career as a graduate assistant for Saban at Michigan State in 1997.
“Just to be mentioned in the same breath with coach Saban is humbling for me,” Tucker said. “But it’s more about our players and our staff coming together.”
The Wolverines ( 1- 1, 1- 1) were favored to win by 20plus points and ended up needing a late score to avoid losing by double digits.
Jim Harbaugh’s team never led and didn’t appear to have much energy in front of family and friends in their mostly empty stadium that holds 110,000- plus fans when there isn’t a pandemic.
Running back
Hassan
Haskins scored on a 2- yard run with 37 seconds left to help Michigan pull within three points. The onside kick was recovered by Michigan State running back Connor Heyward.
Lombardi converted a fourth- and- 2 from the Michigan 36 with a sneak to seal the victory.
Lombardi completed 17 of 32 passes and Heyward caught two of his TD passes.
White, who averaged 24.5 yards on eight receptions against a shaky secondary, also scored on a catch in a breakout performance from a freshman wide receiver.