Quote:Missed FG on opening drive after great Phillips kick-off return (-3 pts.)
This wouldn't have changed the momentum/mentality of the game. MSU was going to be yelled at the same way, same shame of letting the guy run 70 yards. They still stuffed us with pretty much no gain on that drive in their territory to feel good about. Wouldn't have affected field position or time on the clock. This ALONE? Wouldn't have affected the mentality jack-squat at halftime. MSU rolling the better part of the 1st half would have had the same mentality at halftime and the whole game. But we would have cut the lead to 7 in the 2nd half for a little while, instead of 10. We would have lost by 10, not 13. Would have looked better at the end of the game. The INT in the end would have stung worse for us in "what if", even though it'd still be a 2 possession game. Because getting an onside kick would have only required a FG, not a TD.
Quote:Braverman dropped pass (-7 pts.)
I comment on this next because this too, wouldn't have affected time on the clock. Assuming special teams handled kickoffs OK, it would have given MSU better field position, that's it. However, with that said, at this point in the game, it would have just made MSU score quicker in return than they did, if anything. Our team would have been more jacked. So one can't say "OH, MSU would have really turned it on!" Well, they were at this point in the game anyway, but would have had at least a 1st down or two's shorter field. This combined with the FG is not out of this world. Pure mistake on our part. It would have been 27-20 at the half. MSU would have still poured on the heat that they did in the 1st half.
So how would it have affected the 2nd half? Well, MSU would have still definitely marched on the 1st drive and scored a TD, making it 34-20. Their D was NOT playing soft during the game, no matter what anyone will tell ya. They were rushing the QB -- they weren't playing prevent-D or anything weird like that. Our optimism? Would have been there. MSU's sense of dominance scoring a TD quite easily while soaking up clock? Would have still been there on us. Same stuff would have occurred.
MSU on their 2nd possession of the 2nd half was NOT letting up on us. They were pounding the ball down our throats, and doing it well most of the game. With Cook being not A-game, and throwing only ~50%, why not, right? They would have been within the 10, pounding it. Would all of this above have made them score a TD instead of a FG? No. Same score going into our 2nd possession in the 2nd half. Except it's 10 pts closer.
Quote:Final INT in endzone, Davis gave up on ball too early or he was gassed (-7 pts.)
Yeah, our hurry up and sense of urgency when tired at LEAST contributed to that. Let's say he didn't do that, and the above 2 things that wouldn't have affected field position or time in the game happened (10pts closer on 2 plays). But instead of 37-24, it'd be 37-34. We'd be REAL PISSED and banging our heads against the wall about that. It'd be less "what if", it'd be more like "WTF". However, you could say we could have been More Nervous on that drive... jitters, who knows. MSU may have been doing things a bit differently on D -- although their D getting to our QB was still affective anyway. But all in all, say we didn't get the TD but didn't get the INT, and kicked an easy FG. We got a tie game with about 50 seconds left. OOOOH, baby. That alone would have been sweet.
Quote:Flukey INT off helmet leads to MSU's first TD (-7 pts.)
Now THIS would have changed the FLOW of things, in the 1st half. Would we have drove down the field quite well? Maybe. You can't assume we'd score points though. But deep in our own territory, MSU wouldn't have scored quickly. So more MSU time on the clock. Technically, this could have been OK -- making MSU take less time on the clock, as opposed to us, say, driving to the 50, punting, and giving MSU a long road to drive. Given how the 1st half unfolded? Would have worked in our favor, assumptively. Would have changed how things panned out in the 1st half.
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What if...
