I became a big Michigan State fan when one of my brother's friends from high school chose to play football at MSU. After graduating high school, I decided to go to Michigan State and then convinced my best friend to go along with me. Months before school was to start, I changed my mind and went to a local university instead. Dumb mistake, but we all make them. 

While I bailed on my friend, I traveled to hang out with him and to go to sporting events when I could. One of Andrew's friends had an extra student ticket for a rivalry matchup against the #12 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and I wasn't going to miss it for the world. I drove my 1991 Plymouth Laser up to East Lansing from Kalamazoo for the game. 

Thank you for joining me as I detail #8 on my list of the ten greatest games I've ever attended. If you're new to this series, welcome! Please read the series introduction post here and #10 and #9 on my list.

Let's touch on the highlights of the game and then go into my experience, which if you've read the other articles in this series, then you understand that for me, the experience is often more memorable than the game itself. 

The Game 

It was a rainy day in East Lansing and the Spartans seemed to love the sloppy field, jumping out to a massive lead. Notre Dame quarterback and future NFL bust Brady Quinn was looking to recover after a rough start to the game. Quinn's interception for a touchdown in the second quarter gave Michigan State a 24-7 lead. At halftime, the Spartans led 31-14 and there were no signs of them slowing down. 

The rowdy and soaked Michigan State fan base was louder than usual for this primetime matchup that was aired live on ESPN. Both teams added a touchdown (MSU missed an extra point) in a lackluster third quarter before one of the most exciting fourth quarters I've ever seen in a football game. 

With their National Championship hopes barely still alive, Brady Quinn completed a short pass to now MLB pitcher Jeff Samardzija, which he took 43 yards for the score with just 8 minutes left in the game. 

After stopping Michigan State on defense, Brady once again led the Irish down the field for a touchdown, this time via a 14-yard completion to Rhema McKnight. The game was now a close one at 34-37, and you could feel the tension in the stadium. I remember thinking "this just can't happen" as Michigan State continued to fall apart. 

As Michigan State drove down the field with under 3 minutes left in the game, quarterback Drew Stanton threw a careless pass in the center of the field. The pass was picked off by Terrail Lambert and returned all the way back for a touchdown. 

Michigan State still had life left, but that was quickly taken away as Drew Stanton threw his second interception of the game with less than a minute left. 

My Experience 

With many friends who were both Notre Dame and Michigan State fans, this game meant something more to me than just another game. This was about bragging rights. This game was also a potential historic upset for the Spartans, who few people thought stood a chance against this Notre Dame team that would go on to win their next eight games and nearly earn a spot in the National Championship. 

As I mentioned above, I drove up for the game that morning and watched Michigan State fans get absolutely plastered before the game. With a student ticket, I had to wait in a line for hours to get the best seat possible. Watching people while waiting in line is always a treat, especially on a college campus. Half of the students couldn't even stand up as they were continuing to drink out of flasks and vodka put into plastic Coca-Cola bottles as the line dwindled down closer to kick-off. 

I got a chance to meet and make friends with Andrew's fraternity buddies. When it began to rain, one of them, another Mike, lent me a rain jacket. In return, I promised to buy him a rain poncho. This became a running inside joke for the next 10+ years "where's my poncho Mike?" I still have yet to buy him the poncho. 

Yesterday I sent Mike a message online to ask him about the game and confirm the details about the poncho. "Yeah that game was awesome. I'm sure the details of the game and the MSU choke job, you've got." It was a choke job indeed. 

Because of how early we got there and how long we waited, we sat just four rows from the field. We had a perfect view of all the action for the ups and downs throughout all four quarters. 

After the game was over, we dried off and went back to my friend's house. My day got a little worse as when I was ready to finally leave I noticed that my rear left tire was completely flat. After trying to take the tire off for twenty minutes (I'm not very handy with a jack and tire iron), I finally called a tow truck company to pay $75 for someone to replace my tire with my small and very inconvenient spare tire, which is also called a donut. Since the recommended speed while driving with a donut is 45 MPH, my drive home on a highway where the speed limit is 70 was long and frustrating. 

This was an incredible game, even if my team completely blew it, and I'm glad I had this great experience. Stay tuned for #7 on the list, which includes a big moment in my life and a special souvenir.