EAST LANSING - A win, viewed in person by few, appreciated by many, will be remembered by all who witnessed it.
Matt Coghlin’s 34-yard, game-winning field goal, which lifted No. 24 Michigan State to a 27-24 victory over No. 7 Penn State, took place more than seven hours after the game kicked off. When Michigan State closed out the latest great moment of the Dantonio era, Spartan Stadium’s lower bowl was less than half-full. But Spartan hearts over-flowed with pride for what this team did on this day and what it’s done this season, and what's yet to be written.
Michigan State improved to 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the Big Ten, setting up a showdown with Ohio State next weekend for the inside track to the Big Ten East championship. The possibility of returning to the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis in early December for a third time in five years remains very real, perhaps increasingly real, in light of MSU's continued stair-step improvement, and Ohio State’s thudding fall from excellence with its 55-24 loss at Iowa.
Those were the dreams that remained in the hearts and minds of Spartan fans who chose to wait out the weather delay in Wells Hall and Munn Ice Arena.
Lightning and threatening weather caused officials to empty Spartan Stadium for three-and-a-half hours, suspending play late in the second quarter with Penn State leading 14-7. The fans who returned did so while braving 40-degree temperatures and periods of driving rain.
There weren’t many in the stadium when the teams came back onto the field for the second set of pre-game warm-ups of the day. But they were loud and noticeable.
“Our guys, running out of the tunnel (to resume play), not knowing if there was going to be a single fan there … and there was a loud group of fans there,” said co-defensive coordinator Mike Tressel. “It brought extra juice and we appreciate it.”
"I want to thank our fans for coming back out there," said Mark Dantonio. "I mean that was amazing. It was very loud. Exciting atmosphere. I know it wasn’t packed after the three-and-a-half hour intercession but they came back and they were passionate. So I want to thank them out there and tell them go green.”
The first six or seven rows of the student section were filled with howling yahoos as the Spartans came back onto the field and ACDC’s “Thunderstruck” blared from the speakers for a second time, like a Beaumont Tower chime. Several Spartan players ran to the student corner of the field and stirred them into a further frenzy.
A half-hour later, another 20 rows of students filled in behind those who were first to return.
The usual crowd of 70,00-plus wasn’t going to be around to watch the last two-and-a-half quarters of football. But those that stayed were a different breed.
“I was really excited when we came out of the tunnel,” said senior co-captain Chris Frey. “There weren’t a lot of people there, but the people that were there were making a lot of noise.”
Michigan State seemed more energetic than Penn State in the final moments of the first half. The Spartans tied the game at 14-14, and then the teams left the field again for halftime. The fans continued to take on rain, and watched Zeke The Wonder Dog attempt to entertain with frisbee catching at midfield due to cancelation of the Spartan marching band's planned halftime show.
Zeke's completion percentage was once again below 50 percent. But Brian Lewerke, MSU's golden Arizona boy, was an eye-popping 33-of-56 for 400 yards, marking the second straight week he has hit the 400-yard mark, this time with a win.
“They were awesome,” Lewerke said of the crowd. “It’s hard to come back after a three-hour rain delay. (I’m) very happy for the guys that stayed. They were very loud and did a great job cheering us on.”
“I want to thank our fans for coming back out there,” Dantonio said. “That was amazing. It wasn’t packed but they came back and they were passionate.”
“It wasn’t huge,” co-defensive coordinator Mike Tressel said of the crowd, “but they were loud.”
“They were loud and they had an impact,” said co-offensive coordinator Dave Warner.
“Third downs, in critical situations, it was loud,” Frey said. “For us defensively, we struggled to get the call across the board because it was loud.”
It was loud for the Penn State offense, too - which is the whole point, and a point that most assumed would be stricken from MSU’s favor when the long delay became longer.
But the Spartans managed to maintain, and revel in, a true home field advantage, despite losing more than half of their fans to the elements.
“We were excited for the fans that really wanted to be there,” Frey said.
During the delay, players were told to rest and relax. Brian Allen said he took a nap.
“It was abnormal,” Dantonio said. “We just tried to make it as normal as we could.
“Periodically, coaches would go in and check on their guys,” Dantonio said. “I saw one guy come out of the shower. He said, ‘You have to be fresh, coach.’
“We let everybody relax and then we got our energy going again. I didn’t ask them to keep an edge for three hours. I said we’d get the edge back when we get ready to go.
“I thought we did a good job of adjusting. We talk about that all the time: Assess the situation and then adjust to it and then say, ‘Let’s go.’”
And there they are - back atop the Big Ten East standings, with about 20,000 fans who can truthfully say they were there to help write this chapter.