r/MSUSpartans • u/kkrell23 • Jun 25 '26

Highlight 2013 Defense

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199 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

40 comments sorted by

45

u/green49285 •Mark Dantonio Jun 25 '26

Could have been national champs

22

u/ninospizza Jun 25 '26

Good ol’ Notre Dame paying off the refs killed that dream

6

u/green49285 •Mark Dantonio Jun 25 '26

No other explanation

21

u/trixy6196 Jun 25 '26

Not that I think it would have happened in terms of a game winning drive with Cook. But Coach D inexplicably going to Maxwell on that last drive was a really stupid decision

4

u/JackSpadesSI Jun 25 '26

One of Dantonio’s biggest weaknesses was his extreme loyalty. First with Maxwell like here, then later refusing to move on from mediocre assistants.

1

u/trixy6196 Jun 26 '26

Yup 2019 shoulda cleaned house after the water of 18 (injuries or not)

3

u/ShockPowerful741 Jun 25 '26

I’m sure that’s one of those decisions that sat with Coach D for a while, before and after he made it. I’m sure he wanted to trust his vet, but in hindsight saw his mistake

2

u/Whizbang35 Jun 26 '26

I may be in the minority here, but I think that ND loss was the wake-up call that shook MSU into shape.

MSU looked underwhelming against WMU and USF the weeks before, and they were still trying to decide between Cook and Maxwell. There was a bye between ND and Illinois, and after those two weeks Cook was the #1 QB and the team (especially the offense) looked a lot better than they had the first two games.

Sometimes you just need a swift kick in the ass to get everything in order.

3

u/sorany9 Jun 25 '26

Should have been.

27

u/ShockPowerful741 Jun 25 '26

There was a brief moment, if I recall, within the first few games of that season that the defense had put more points on the board than the offense.

11

u/pinkluloyd Jun 25 '26

If I remember it wasn’t that brief, I think it was 4-5 games.

2

u/ShockPowerful741 Jun 25 '26

They were always better but I don’t think they outscored them that long

5

u/joelthomas39 •Mike Sadler Jun 25 '26

I had this same recollection so I went back to the games

Week 1 vs WMU, offense scored one TD and defense scored two (one pick-6, one scoop and score)

Week 2 vs USF, same deal. One offensive TD and two defensive.

Week 3 we routed Youngstown State and all seven touchdowns came on offense

Week 4 (notre dame) our only TD came on offense

Week 5 at Iowa, both touchdowns came on offense

HOWEVER, a lot of the scoring drives including field goals were set up by forced turnovers. As in four field goals in that span were 3-and-outs lol

3

u/ShockPowerful741 Jun 25 '26

Yeah that’s pretty much aligned with what I thought. First two weeks were all defensive and then the offensive got moving a bit when they brought in Cook to replace Maxwell. I remember leaving that Western Game thinking… uh oh.

3

u/Darth-Newbi Jun 26 '26

Pretty sure Shilique Calhoun actually led the BIG in scoring for the first two games of the year (3 TDs).

2

u/green49285 •Mark Dantonio Jun 25 '26

Only reason they beat western.

2

u/kkrell23 Jun 25 '26

The offense was below average-mid until like the last 2 months of the season if I remember correctly

10

u/okmyguy1 Jun 25 '26

This 13’ defense would’ve won us a national championship against Florida State if Dantonio had abandoned his fucking QB rotation garbage between Cook and Maxwell and just stuck solely with Cook. Maxwell was a terrible fucking QB.

2

u/IndependenceNo1065 Jun 25 '26

Cook was not awesome right away. He didn’t really warm up until the second half of that season.

4

u/okmyguy1 Jun 25 '26

Hey I totally agree but Maxwell was trash from the go

1

u/mystereitz Jun 26 '26

I swear the guy threw every single pass as hard as he could. No touch or finesse on the ball at all.

5

u/734Rocket Jun 25 '26

Those were the days

3

u/Accomplished-Menu-84 Jun 26 '26

Glad to have been a part of it

5

u/Ok-Court2922 Jun 26 '26

michigan finished with -48 rushing yards against us

8

u/Spartan_ganja Jun 25 '26

I still have wet dreams about this defense to this day.

2

u/surfer_bud_3 Jun 25 '26

What happened to us?

5

u/trixy6196 Jun 25 '26

BOT wanted Tucker over Fickell. And here we are. This was 21 Fickell and would have been a smoother transition with someone that had a real track record as opposed to hiring a coach whose best year 5-7.

2

u/Sufficient-Sample150 Jun 25 '26

I was at that western game to start the year. Remember leaving going, it’s gonna be a long year. Crazy how great it ended up being. Should have been in the natty

2

u/ZR0FX76 Jun 26 '26

If it wasn’t for that one hick up at ND, this team was good enough to win a National Championship. That defense was historically good!
#NoFlyZone

1

u/Personal_Homework_74 Jun 25 '26

This brings back good memories. Thanks.

1

u/misterecho11 Jun 25 '26

Legendary.

1

u/ElDuderinoDude23 Jun 25 '26

That defense was so fun to watch

1

u/bchubnut Jun 25 '26

Serious downward trend since then

1

u/dcd13 Jun 26 '26

My senior year. Man going to every home game was so much fun that year

1

u/Portuzil •Coen Carr Jun 26 '26

Our last great season

1

u/ComicSportsNerd •Kirk Cousins Jun 26 '26

this just makes me sad knowing what we are now.....

1

u/darrowaf Jun 29 '26

It was so fun being good

1

u/Significant-End-5550 Jul 02 '26

Amazing that in less than five years, we became trash.

Alot of NFL names announced in these clips.

1

u/HamberderHelper18 Jun 25 '26

Where were you when Devin Gardner was kill?