Thirteen years ago to this day, Michigan State football ran ‘Little Giants’ to shock Notre Dame and the rest of the nation.
Can you believe it has been 13 years since this play? I know I can’t. I still distinctly remember being in Spartan Stadium watching this play out live. Dan Conroy was a good kicker for us, but I was convinced he was missing this field goal as he lined it up. Instead of a game-tying field goal, Michigan State football won on the “call of the year.”
Let’s watch.
The significance of this play
This one play had so much impact not just on the 2010 season, but for our program as a whole. The 2010 season saw Michigan State win the Big Ten for the first time under Mark Dantonio. This was only the third time in program history we won double digit games in a season after finishing the season 11-2. Little Giants was the spark at the beginning of this season that propelled us to one of the best years in program history.
If Michigan State doesn’t call this play and we lose, there’s still a chance we finish with 10 wins and win the Big Ten. But I’d argue that without this play/win, we would not have seen the same success the rest of the season.
Little Giants also helped spring board our program for years to come as well. This play helped put Michigan State back on the map in college football. This was the “play of the year” in 2010 and had everyone talking about the Spartans around the country.
The 2010-2015 seasons arguably was the best stretch in program history. 2011 saw us go 11-3 and make the inaugural Big Ten Championship game. In 2013, the Spartans were 13-1 as well as Big Ten and Rose Bowl Campions. In 2014, we went 11-2 with our only two losses to the two teams that played in the national championship game. And finally, 2015 we won the Big Ten again and made the College Football Playoff.
All of this success during this stretch points back to this one play. In my opinion, the direction of our program would have been drastically different without this play. That is why Little Giants is my all time favorite play in program history.
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