2007 Week 6

As QB C.J. Bacher ran it in from 8 yards out one minute into the second quarter, Dr. P was caught shaking his head. Fans were quiet, as the Northwestern Wildcats jumped out to a 21-7 lead on a Spartan defense that looked dazed and confused. With a lot of recruits on hand (including the #1 QB Alvarez), and with the possibility of dropping to 0-2, the Spartans woke up.

"I'm confident that if this was the old coach, this team would have packed it in when they were down by 14. We've instilled a system where we believe we can comeback from anything. We did it against Notre Dame, and we could certainly do it against a weaker opponent." grunted Dr. P.

The Spartans dominated from that point, and went on to score 28 straight points, shutting down Northwestern's offense in a 35-21 victory.

QB Brian Hoyer threw for 321 yards and three touchdowns on 24 of 32 passing. TE Kellen Davis had eight receptions for 111 yards.

By loading the box with defenders and pushing the safeties up, the Spartans were able to stop the tremendous speed of HB Tyrelle Sutton, and stop the draws/shotgun formations that the Wildcats had drawn up. The Spartans were caught off guard early, with the Wildcats often running despite using four wide recievers.

SS Tom Dance led the defense with two interceptions, while CB Travis Key added a third off of Bacher. With the win, the Spartans are now 4-2, and 1-1 in Big Ten play.