Michigan State dominated Michigan in the scrum last Friday, and that made the difference in the game. The Spartans won 33-17 at Jackson Field in Lansing.
Michigan looked solid from the start, advancing deep inside Michigan State territory before settling for a Nathan Feldman penalty kick to lead 3-0. But some Michigan mistakes gave the Spartans multiple scrums near the Wolverines’ goal line, and they capitalized on two of them to take a 12-3 lead. Michigan took control again towards the end of the first half, but managed only one score–a Shea Loughnane penalty try in the corner–and trailed 10-12 at halftime.
In the second half, the Wolverines couldn’t escape the Spartan scrum. They scored three more tries (making five on the day) directly off the scrum, and a late Michael Ackerman try for Michigan was too little, too late. Every time the Wolverines conceded a penalty or knocked it on, the Spartans chose the scrum, and they rode scrum penalties all the way in for the try each time. The Michigan State scrum is surely the best in the Big Ten. It’s a frustrating loss for Michigan given that they looked superior or equal in most other aspects of the game.
Michigan’s second side fared much better. They rode tries from Lance Buescher, Emerson Kekhoua, Michael Ackerman, Devan Ekbote, Tom Southam, and Connor Gilfillan to take a 38-10 lead, although Michigan State battled back after some late substitutions to make the final score 38-24. Christian Irvine was four for six in conversions. Many of those names figure to see increased playing time moving forward.
With the loss, Michigan finished fourth in the Big Ten East. The team travels to Wisconsin this week for a Big Ten consolation semifinal game, and will play in the Big Ten’s fifth or seventh place game on November 12 in South Bend.
Kickoff on November 5 in Madison is at 12pm CDT, with the second side game to follow. There will not be a live stream, but you can follow along on our Twitter.
