There’s never a home-happy top five when you’re the favorite by more than two dozen points and you wind up chewing on a loss. Hence this week’s top handful might turn some green.
1. MSU quarterback Rocky Lombardi: Lombardi proved to be Bombardi in this one, and it worked to perfection. He unloaded long shot after long shot. When the Wolverines’ cornerbacks weren’t committing penalties to try and stop the Spartans, they all-too-often gave up huge plays. Lombardi’s 323 yards passing, three TD tosses and average of 19 yards per completion destroyed Michigan’s chances.
2. MSU wide receiver Ricky White: While Lombardi remained untouched by Michigan pass rushers, White washed through U-M’s secondary like a tidal wave. He caught eight passes for 196 yards and a touchdown, making sure the Wolverines never grabbed a lead.
3. MSU linebacker Antjuan Simmons: Simmons made arguably the defensive play of the day, turning a potential seven points for Michigan into three — in what turned out to be a three-point game. He leaped high to knock down redshirt sophomore running back Hassan Haskins’ goal-line toss out of the wildcat, preventing a touchdown. Simmons also recorded a game-high 11 stops, with a pair of pass breakups.
4. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Joe Milton: Milton blamed himself for the loss and didn’t throw a touchdown pass. But if it wasn’t for him, Michigan might not have had any offense. He completed 32 throws for 300 yards, and ran a dozen times for an additional 59. He’ll enjoy better days, but he didn’t turn it over and had balls dropped.
5. Freshman wide receiver Roman Wilson: Wilson proved Michigan’s most productive yardage maker, among the non-Milton skill players. He snagged five catches for 71 yards and showed no hesitation in his first Michigan-Michigan State contest.
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