RECORD: OVERALL HOME AWAY
ALL GAMES (9-3-0) (6-1-0) (3-2-0)
DATE OPPONENT W/L SCORE ATTEND
------------ ------------------------ --- ----- ------
Aug 30, 2008 at California L 31-38 62956
Sep 06, 2008 EASTERN MICHIGAN W 42-10 71789
Sep 13, 2008 FLORIDA ATLANTIC W 17-0 70321
Sep 20, 2008 NOTRE DAME W 23-7 76366
Sep 27, 2008 at Indiana W 42-29 31832
Oct 04, 2008 IOWA W 16-13 77526
Oct 11, 2008 at #22 Northwestern W 37-20 32527
Oct 18, 2008 #12 OHIO STATE L 7-45 77360
Oct 25, 2008 at Michigan W 35-21 110146
Nov 1, 2008 WISCONSIN W 25-24 75121
Nov 08, 2008 PURDUE W 21-7 75522
Nov 22, 2008 at #7 Penn State L 18-49 109845
Quick 2008 Review
Michigan State is 1-2 playing against ranked foes. They are 1-2 against teams ranked in the final AP poll of the season. Their biggest win of the year came against Northwestern, but wins over Michigan and Notre Dame would have been much bigger deals any other season besides this one.
Quick Bowl History
Michigan State is 7-12 in bowl games. The Spartans lost to Boston College in the Champs Sports Bowl (in the same stadium they play the Capital One Bowl in) last season. The Spartans have split their last two bowl games - losing the last two.
Perhaps the most famous bowl win in recent memory for Michigan State came in this very bowl game. In the 2000 Florida Citrus Bowl (now the Capital One Bowl), Paul Edinger kicked a 39-yard field goal as time expired to give No. 9 Michigan State a 37-34 victory over No. 10 Florida. There were five lead changes in the contest as the two teams combined for 71 points and 767 total yards. Spartan wide receiver Plaxico Burress had 13 receptions for 185 yards and three TDs to earn Citrus Bowl MVP honors. Nick Saban coached Michigan State that day while Steve Spurrier coached the Gators.
Georgia and Michigan State have a bowl history of their own - the 1989 Gator Bowl. It was Vince Dooley's final game as head coach, and turned out to be his 201st overall win. The Bulldogs threw the ball more than they ran it, and took home a tight 34-27 win.
Michigan State
Cumulative Season Statistics
![]()
![]()
2008 Michigan State Football
Overall Team Statistics
All games
TEAM STATISTICS MSU OPP
--------------------------------------------------------
SCORING....................... 314 263
Points Per Game............. 26.2 21.9
FIRST DOWNS................... 228 209
Rushing..................... 88 84
Passing..................... 116 103
Penalty..................... 24 22
RUSHING YARDAGE............... 1661 1771
Yards gained rushing........ 2033 2085
Yards lost rushing.......... 372 314
Rushing Attempts............ 477 417
Average Per Rush............ 3.5 4.2
Average Per Game............ 138.4 147.6
TDs Rushing................. 23 16
PASSING YARDAGE............... 2568 2524
Att-Comp-Int................ 360-192-9 391-204-13
Average Per Pass............ 7.1 6.5
Average Per Catch........... 13.4 12.4
Average Per Game............ 214.0 210.3
TDs Passing................. 11 15
TOTAL OFFENSE................. 4229 4295
Total Plays................. 837 808
Average Per Play............ 5.1 5.3
Average Per Game............ 352.4 357.9
KICK RETURNS: #-Yards......... 48-938 50-1079
PUNT RETURNS: #-Yards......... 27-264 29-252
INT RETURNS: #-Yards.......... 13-216 9-87
KICK RETURN AVERAGE........... 19.5 21.6
PUNT RETURN AVERAGE........... 9.8 8.7
INT RETURN AVERAGE............ 16.6 9.7
FUMBLES-LOST.................. 21-12 17-9
PENALTIES-Yards............... 61-550 75-652
Average Per Game............ 45.8 54.3
PUNTS-Yards................... 68-2789 72-2960
Average Per Punt............ 41.0 41.1
Net punt average............ 34.7 35.2
TIME OF POSSESSION/Game....... 31:07 28:53
3RD-DOWN Conversions.......... 62/175 73/178
3rd-Down Pct................ 35% 41%
4TH-DOWN Conversions.......... 8/12 3/16
4th-Down Pct................ 67% 19%
SACKS BY-Yards................ 24-176 18-156
MISC YARDS.................... 0 20
TOUCHDOWNS SCORED............. 36 34
FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS.......... 20-25 8-12
ON-SIDE KICKS................. 2-2 0-2
RED-ZONE SCORES............... 84-100 84% 60-78 77%
RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS........... 56-100 56% 44-78 56%
PAT-ATTEMPTS.................. 34-34 100% 33-33 100%
ATTENDANCE.................... 1048010 694612
Games/Avg Per Game.......... 14/74858 10/69461
Neutral Site Games.......... 0/0
SCORE BY QUARTERS 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
-------------------- --- --- --- --- ---
Michigan State...... 61 89 70 94 - 314
Opponents........... 56 80 55 72 - 263
![]()
TOP PLAYER - JAVON RINGER
The Spartans' top player in running back Javon Ringer. Here is a close-up look at the year he's had so far. In MSU's three losses this season, Ringer was held to less than 100 yards rushing. Also, the Ringer was held below the century mark against Big Ten foes Iowa and Wisconsin. Still, the talented back has rushed for over 150 four times this season, including against Notre Dame and Michigan. He has accounted for nearly 2,000 all-purpose yards this year.
![]()
|---RUSHING---|
Date Opponent No. Yds TD Lg
Aug 30, 2008 at California.......... 27 81 2 10
Sep 06, 2008 EASTERN MICHIGAN....... 34 135 5 13
Sep 13, 2008 FLORIDA ATLANTIC....... 43 282 2 32
Sep 20, 2008 NOTRE DAME............. 39 201 2 63
Sep 27, 2008 at Indiana............. 44 198 1 33
Oct 04, 2008 IOWA................... 25 91 0 29
Oct 11, 2008 at Northwestern........ 35 124 2 13
Oct 18, 2008 OHIO STATE............. 16 67 0 16
Oct 25, 2008 at Michigan............ 37 194 2 64
Nov 1, 2008 WISCONSIN.............. 21 54 2 12
Nov 08, 2008 PURDUE................. 32 121 2 31
Nov 22, 2008 at Penn State.......... 17 42 1 9
Totals..............................370 1590 21 64
Games played: 12
Avg per rush: 4.3
Avg per catch: 6.4
Kick ret avg: 20.4
All purpose avg/game: 164.5
Total offense avg/gm: 132.5
Individual Statistics
![]()
RUSHING GP Att Gain Loss Net Avg TD Long Avg/G
----------------------------------------------------------------
Ringer, Javon 12 370 1688 98 1590 4.3 21 64 132.5
Anderson, Andre 10 26 116 19 97 3.7 0 32 9.7
Cunningham, B. 12 4 56 0 56 14.0 0 29 4.7
Martin, Keshawn 9 7 59 5 54 7.7 0 25 6.0
Jimmerson, A.J. 11 8 14 0 14 1.8 0 7 1.3
Leggett, Ashton 12 6 17 10 7 1.2 1 6 0.6
Winston, Glenn 7 3 1 1 0 0.0 0 1 0.0
Cousins, Kirk 4 2 6 8 -2 -1.0 0 6 -0.5
White, Blair 12 1 0 2 -2 -2.0 0 0 -0.2
TEAM 10 15 0 56 -56 -3.7 0 0 -5.6
Hoyer, Brian 12 35 76 173 -97 -2.8 1 19 -8.1
Total.......... 12 477 2033 372 1661 3.5 23 64 138.4
Opponents...... 12 417 2085 314 1771 4.2 16 81 147.6
PASSING GP Cmp-Att-Int Pct Yds TD Lng Avg/G
-------------------------------------------------------------
Hoyer, Brian 12 162-319-8 50.8 2235 9 82 186.2
Cousins, Kirk 4 28-38-1 73.7 274 2 32 68.5
Martin, Keshawn 9 2-3-0 66.7 59 0 35 6.6
Total.......... 12 192-360-9 53.3 2568 11 82 214.0
Opponents...... 12 204-391-13 52.2 2524 15 79 210.3
RECEIVING GP No. Yds Avg TD Long Avg/G
------------------------------------------------------
White, Blair 12 39 628 16.1 1 61 52.3
Cunningham, B. 12 35 476 13.6 0 52 39.7
Dell, Mark 10 31 618 19.9 3 52 61.8
Ringer, Javon 12 25 160 6.4 0 17 13.3
Gantt, Charlie 12 19 302 15.9 4 82 25.2
Martin, Keshawn 9 11 132 12.0 0 42 14.7
Hawken, Andrew 10 10 67 6.7 1 21 6.7
McPherson, Jeff 12 6 43 7.2 0 13 3.6
Curry, Deon 7 5 46 9.2 0 12 6.6
Celek, Garrett 11 5 42 8.4 1 18 3.8
Rouse, Josh 12 2 19 9.5 1 12 1.6
Hoyer, Brian 12 1 24 24.0 0 24 2.0
Smith, Fred 9 1 7 7.0 0 7 0.8
Duran, David 3 1 4 4.0 0 4 1.3
Jimmerson, A.J. 11 1 0 0.0 0 0 0.0
Total.......... 12 192 2568 13.4 11 82 214.0
Opponents...... 12 204 2524 12.4 15 79 210.3
PUNT RETURNS No. Yds Avg TD Long
--------------------------------------------
Wiley, Otis 23 234 10.2 0 78
Martin, Keshawn 3 1 0.3 0 7
Johnson, Jesse 1 29 29.0 0 0
Total.......... 27 264 9.8 0 78
Opponents...... 29 252 8.7 1 27
INTERCEPTIONS No. Yds Avg TD Long
--------------------------------------------
Wiley, Otis 4 84 21.0 1 53
Rucker, Chris L. 2 4 2.0 0 3
Fortener, Dan 2 37 18.5 0 21
Adams, Johnny 2 40 20.0 1 40
Ware, Jeremy 1 16 16.0 0 16
Weaver, Ross 1 35 35.0 0 35
Hyde, Marcus 1 0 0.0 0 0
KICK RETURNS No. Yds Avg TD Long
--------------------------------------------
Winston, Glenn 16 364 22.8 0 50
Ringer, Javon 11 224 20.4 0 33
Jimmerson, A.J. 9 214 23.8 0 30
Hawken, Andrew 4 33 8.2 0 18
Smith, Kyle 2 12 6.0 0 6
Martin, Keshawn 2 50 25.0 0 27
Rouse, Josh 2 27 13.5 0 26
Wiley, Otis 1 3 3.0 0 3
Pendy, Andrew 1 11 11.0 0 11
Total.......... 48 938 19.5 0 50
Opponents...... 50 1079 21.6 0 53
FUMBLE RETURNS No. Yds Avg TD Long
--------------------------------------------
Wiley, Otis 1 4 4.0 0 4
Total.......... 1 4 4.0 0 4
Opponents...... 4 168 42.0 2 69
![]()