Michigan State Football: Two unsung heroes from Michigan win

Two Spartans who could have transferred as upperclassmen but stayed and contributed to Michigan State football defeating No. 13 ranked Michigan.

Prior to Michigan State defying the odds and upsetting Michigan on the road, the Spartans had a lot of question marks.

Even before the season began, two players were not looked at necessarily as starters, but more likely as backups or even players who may have considered transferring. The first game of the 2020 season was disappointing as Michigan State lost at home to Rutgers, committing seven turnovers in the process. Was it time to bench upperclassmen and play more freshmen and sophomores moving forward?

Many Spartan fans would have said yes but Mel Tucker continued to have faith in his upperclassmen — two in particular — and it paid off in a big way.

You never know how a rivalry game is going to end up and this rivalry is one of the best in the country. However, it appeared that Michigan would easily beat Michigan State at home. Tucker and the Spartans had other ideas and their plan was to shock the Wolverines. Many Michigan State players would end up greatly attributing to the victory and some receive more attention and recognition than others.

Ricky White had an outstanding game for the Spartans with eight receptions for 196 yards with a touchdown. He was referenced time and time again throughout the game as being the main target for Rocky Lombardi and the passing game.

On defense, Antjuan Simmons had an amazing game for Michigan State and many people noticed. He had 11 tackles with six of them being solo and he had two pass deflections as well. Even when he wasn’t making the tackle, Simmons was all over the field forcing Wolverines into bad positions on offense. He made a huge play where he broke up a pass intended for a Wolverine in the end zone that prevented a Michigan touchdown.

On special teams, kicker Matt Coghlin played well and contributed to the Spartan victory. After going 2-for-2 in the loss against Rutgers, Coghlin was solid starting the second half. He extended Michigan State’s lead when he connected on a 27-yard field goal to make it a 17-10 game but after Michigan scored to tie it up, he came up huge to give the Spartans back the lead when he hit a 51-yarder. He would end up missing his first field goal of the season after that but he had a good and productive game.

As good or even great as those three players played in the victory over archrival Michigan, there were two players who it appears to have not received the credit they deserve. One is a junior from Duluth, Ga., and the other is also a junior but he hails from Clive, Iowa.

Let’s take a look at these two unsung heroes and how they were significant contributors to Spartan victory over the Wolverines.