East Lansing -- The Michigan State Spartans needed something special to happen to keep their special season going.
Naturally, that had to start with one of their seniors. Not just any senior, but Chris L. Rucker, whose troubled time at MSU has been well-documented.
With his team trailing Purdue (Purdue?!?), 28-13, in the fourth quarter, Rucker saw his chance. Purdue quarterback Rob Henry's pass was in the air and there didn't seem to be any receiver there to catch it. So Rucker decided to take it, helping the Spartans rally for a 35-31 victory.
"I just focused on it, caught it, came down with it, tried to return it as far as I could," Rucker said. "It definitely set up our offense with good field position. We went in and scored. That was a big turning point of the game. There was a lot of emotion on the sideline after that. Everybody picked it up."
The offense needed just five plays to go 20 yards for the touchdown. Kirk Cousins found B.J. Cunningham for a five-yard touchdown and Dan Conroy kicked the point after, cutting the Boilermakers' lead to 28-20 with 10:55 left in the game.
Purdue kicker Carson Wiggs knocked a 52-yard field goal through the uprights, pushing the lead back to 11.
Cue another senior, receiver Mark Dell.
Dell hooked up with Cousins for a nine-yard touchdown and the two-point conversion, cutting the lead to 31-28.
It was a great catch," Dell said. "It was actually a choice route, and I went over top and I wasn't sure if Kirk made the same read as I did. I was just taking a gamble, but by the time I looked up, the ball was right in my numbers.
"It was a great pass along with the two-point conversion. He put it right where the defender couldn't get it and it made my job easy."
The seniors did need some help from the underclassmen (like junior Cousins). Redshirt freshman Denicos Allen had perhaps the play of the game when he blocked Cody Webster's punt with 5:19 left in the fourth. Sophomore Johnny Adams recovered the ball at the 3-yard line.
"I was sitting on the far sideline and I just had this weird feeling we were going to block this punt," senior Charlie Gantt said. "I didn't see the ball come up, then everybody started going crazy. That was a huge momentum change."
Cousins had come out of the game earlier because of a sprained shoulder and a sprained ankle but that did not prevent him from taking the ball himself when his receivers were covered. His 3-yard run proved to be the winning score.
"Kirk is just a phenomenal player, and you can see the drive and toughness he came out with," Dell said. "With a banged-up ankle, he showed how much toughness he has and showed he is a leader for this team and helped us with the win."
Purdue still had 4:24 left and got the ball to MSU's 20-yard line. Then it was senior Greg Jones' turn to shine. He deflected Henry's pass on third down, pressured him into one incompletion and finally hit him hard on fourth down, forcing him to throw an interception to sophomore Chris Norman.
After the emotional comeback victory, the seniors reflected on what this season has meant to them.
"It's meant everything," Gantt said. "It was a real emotional day. It's hard to explain. Just to cap it off like this was a dream come true. I came in as a freshman, things were rough and to end it like this as a senior, it's an amazing feeling."
Said Rucker: "It was just exciting. But at the same time, it was a little sad, me knowing this would be my last game at Spartan Stadium. I didn't really want it to end. But it definitely felt good to get the win, especially because we were down in the beginning of the game and we had to fight our way back into the game."
Linebacker Jon Misch said he couldn't come up with a good way to describe his emotions.
"I can say that going undefeated at home, being a part of this team that has so many records set this year or doing something for the first time has been amazing," Misch said. "I'm so happy to be able to share it with people that are so close to me 'cause this team is so close, all best friends.
"Charlie Gantt's standing right next to me, my roommate, best friend, to be able to share this with these people has meant so much."
The Spartans, who remain in a three-way tie with Ohio State and Wisconsin atop the Big Ten, still have work to do. They finish the regular season next Saturday at Penn State.
"All I can tell you is we're a 10-win football team -- 10-1," coach Mark Dantonio said. "We know we're going to play in a major bowl. We know we've got a chance to be Big Ten champions next week if we win, regardless of what goes on.
"We got a chance to at least be co-champions. That's special. I'm so happy for our seniors. It was emotional for them. They leave here being the winningest team in 14 years."
Nov. 20, 2010
