The 2006 Michigan State vs. Northwestern football game featured the biggest comeback in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) history.Spartans stun Cats for biggest comeback in I-A history
, ''ESPN'' (October 24, 2006). The Spartans rallied to score 38 unanswered points to beat the Wildcats 41–38 after falling behind 38–3 with 9:54 left in the third quarter.

First quarter

Michigan State started the game with a 66-yard drive that ended with a

Brett Swenson Brett Swenson (born February 10, 1988) is a former American football placekicker. He was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2010. He played college football at Michigan State University. Early life Brett Swenson was bo ...

32-yard field goal. Northwestern's first drive ended with quarterback C. J. Bachér finding Ross Lane for a 5-yard touchdown that gave the Wildcats a 7–3 lead.

Second quarter

The Wildcats' first drive of the second quarter resulted in Bachér rushing for a 2-yard touchdown. The Spartans were forced to punt on the ensuing drive. Northwestern's Joel Howells kicked a 30-yard field goal on the next drive. On the following drive, Michigan State was once again forced to punt. After the punt, Northwestern scored another touchdown on a Brandon Roberson 18-yard pass to Shaun Herbert. Michigan State's woes continued on their next drive, when they fumbled the football. However, Howells missed a 36-yard field goal at the end of the first half.

Third quarter

Northwestern began the third quarter with an 80-yard drive that resulted in a Bachér 22-yard touchdown pass to Lane. On the first play of the next drive,

Drew Stanton Drew may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places ;In the United States * Drew, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Drew, Mississippi, a city * Drew, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Drew, Oregon, an unincorporated community * Drew County, Arkansas ...

was intercepted. Northwestern capitalized on the great field position with Herbert catching a 5-yard touchdown pass, giving Northwestern a 38–3 lead. Michigan State began the comeback with a nine play, 65 yard drive that was capped off with an 18-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Stanton to running back Jehuu Caulcrick. Following a Northwestern punt, Michigan State scored again, finishing an eight play, 53-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run from A.J. Jimmerson. On the ensuing drive, the Wildcats had gained 69 yards in only 5 plays when Bachér was intercepted at the goal line by Michigan State middle linebacker Kaleb Thornhill. The quarter ended with the Spartans down 38–17.

Fourth quarter

Michigan State's chances of completing the comeback appeared to be finished early in the fourth quarter when backup quarterback Brian Hoyer had his 6th pass of the drive intercepted by Northwestern a minute in. However, after failing to convert a short third down at midfield, the Wildcats had their punt blocked by Devin Thomas and returned for a touchdown by Ashton Henderson. Northwestern's next two drives also ended in punts, and each ensuing Spartan drive resulted in a touchdown. With the score tied at 38, the Wildcats had the ball on their own 15 yard line with 3:32 left in regulation. On the first play of the series, Bachér was intercepted by the Spartans' Travis Key at the Northwestern 40. The interception was returned to the 30 yard line. The Spartans ran the ball for the duration of the drive, advancing the ball to Northwestern's 11 yard line with 18 seconds left. MSU kicker Swenson hit a 28-yard field goal to give the Spartans the lead. The Wildcats would get the ball one more time, returning the ensuing kickoff to their own 37 yard line. Following an offsides penalty which moved the ball to the 42 yard line, Northwestern's final play for the end zone was unsuccessful and the Spartans won 41–38.

Fallout

Michigan State had started the season off 3–0, including an impressive win over

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

. In their next game against Notre Dame, they lost despite leading by 16 entering the 4th quarter. Their next 3 games were losses to

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, and

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

. The comeback was thought to save John L. Smith's career at Michigan State, but on November 1, 2006, the university announced that Smith would not be brought back after the season as the Spartans finished with four more losses after this game. Northwestern, by contrast, had already fallen out of bowl contention. The Wildcats would play a competitive game against Michigan the following week, and would defeat the bowl-bound Iowa Hawkeyes two weeks later (who later came close to upsetting

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

in the

Alamo Bowl The Alamo Bowl is an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game played annually since 1993 in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Since 2010 it matches the second choice team from the Pac-12 Conference and the secon ...

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Michigan State vs. Northwestern football game 2006 2006 Big Ten Conference football season vs. Northwestern 2006 vs. Michigan State 2006 October 2006 sports events in the United States 2006 in sports in Illinois