 Media Credit: Lindsay Rego Junior cornerback Ashton Youboty returns a blocked field goal for a touchdown on the final play of the first half Saturday.
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Angry and frustrated, yet proud and emotional, Michigan State coach John L. Smith took to the podium after his No. 16 Spartans fell 35-24 to No. 15 Ohio State Saturday in Ohio Stadium.
Predictably, Smith was grilled about his team's most glaring gaffe, a field goal attempt on the final play of the first half that the previously reeling Buckeyes blocked and returned for a touchdown that turned a double-digit Buckeye deficit into a much more manageable 17-14 score.
"It was a mess," Smith said. "It was a total mess."
The debacle started with 24 seconds left in the half and MSU up 17-7 and looking for more after a fumbled punt by OSU sophomore receiver Ted Ginn Jr. Coming out of a timeout, Spartan junior quarterback Drew Stanton was stopped for no gain on the play, and with no timeouts left for MSU, the clock started ticking toward zero. Amid mass confusion, the Spartan field goal unit ran onto the field to attempt the kick before the end of the half, but had only ten men lined up and another player racing toward the sideline to get out of bounds before the snap.
Smith said his team practices the "fast field goal" play all the time, but it did not go according to plan this time.
First, during the timeout, the Spartans, who were not in a fourth-down situation, had planned to spike the ball if the play ended with the clock running.
"We knew we were going to go up and spike the ball," Stanton said. "That's what the offense established."
Second, the call for the field goal came from a coach other than Smith, which was not what was supposed to have happened.
"The bottom-line call comes from the head coach," Smith said. "I'm the one that sends them on and that did not happen."
Smith did not name which coach called the play, but seemed miffed when discussing the play.
"Why would you send them on the field?" he asked rhetorically, momentarily gritting his teeth.
Third, the Spartans were not supposed to snap the ball unless the correct number of players were on the field. Junior punter Brandon Fields is the holder on the field goal unit and was in charge of the counting.
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