Michigan State coach watches upset win — from hospital

Michigan State Coach Mark Dantonio had to sit out his team’s 34-24 upset win over 11th-ranked Wisconsin on Saturday.

Still recovering from a Sept. 19 heart attack, he was supposed to watch from the Spartans Stadium press box. Instead, he watched on television from a hospital bed.

Michigan State announced before the game that the coach had been admitted Thursday after a routine examination revealed a blood clot in a leg.

Cardiologist Chris D’Haem, who initially treated Dantonio by putting a stent in a blocked blood vessel, said in a statement released by the school that a clot was “not uncommon� after such a procedure.

In the same statement, Michigan State Athletic Director Mark Hollis said Dantonio “remains in control of our football program. He was able to attend meetings and practices earlier this week, and since his hospitalization, he was been in regular contract with his coaching staff as well as the team captains and other team leaders.�

Offensive coordinator Don Treadwell is 2-0 running the team in Dantonio’s absence; the Spartans defeated Northern Colorado last week.

Some advice, coach: Don’t rush back.

Next up for Michigan State is rival Michigan and quarterback Denard Robinson.

And Robinson is enough to make any opposing coach feel ill.

Him again

Robinson wasn’t feeling 100% healthy, either, Saturday.

But, as he operated on a gimpy left knee, who could tell?

In the Wolverines’ 42-35 win over Indiana, Robinson completed 10 of 16 passes for 277 yards and three touchdowns and ran 19 times for 217 yards and two touchdowns, including a game winner with 17 seconds left.

“He’s just a great athlete,� Indiana Coach Bill Lynch said. “Some athletes are just different.�

That’s one way to put it.

Crazy-good is another.

In a little more than four games — he was injured and sat out most of a Sept. 25 game against Bowling Green — Robinson has passed for 1,008 yards and seven touchdowns and run 98 times for 905 yards and eight touchdowns.

Speaking of crazy-good. Indiana’s senior quarterback, Ben Chappell, also had that kind of game. He set three school records, completing 45 of 64 passes for 480 yards.

Sinking feeling

Somebody finally sank Navy.

The Midshipmen had a 15-game winning streak against other service academies before losing to Air Force, 14-6.

“We’ve never had this feeling before, losing to a service academy,� said quarterback Ricky Dobbs, who was held without a rushing touchdown for the first time in his 17 starts.

Air Force also dealt Navy its last service academy loss, in 2002.

To do it, the Falcons did what they do best: run. Jared Tew had 111 yards in 17 carries to lead a 292-yard rushing attack.

Air Force went into the game leading the nation in rushing.

Wait a SEC

No doubt the Alabama-Florida game was a big one. Very important. Crucial and all that.

Consider: Each program began Saturday with a record of 30-2 since 2008, each suffering one of its losses to the other.

In 2008, Florida defeated Alabama and won the Bowl Championship Series title. And in 2009, Alabama turned the tables.

So, wrote a Miami Herald reporter this week: “The games between Florida and Alabama could be considered the most important, not only in college football but in all of American sports.�

Now that’s big.

Close enough

Miami defeated Clemson, 30-21, staving off a fourth-quarter rally by the Tigers.

The three previous Atlantic Coast Conference games between the teams were all decided in overtime.

In Saturday’s game, Leonard Hankerson had seven receptions for 147 yards and three touchdowns, the most scoring catches by a Hurricanes receiver since Santana Moss had three in 1998.

State of despair

It has to be tough being a college football fan from New Mexico, no matter which of the state’s two largest universities you favor.

New Mexico is 0-5, having been outscored, 263-61.

New Mexico State, coached by former UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker, is 0-5 and has been outscored, 184-47.

Extra points

Columbia beat Princeton, 42-14, marking the first time in the 79 games between the schools that the Lions have won consecutive games in the series. ... Texas is on the verge of dropping out of the Associated Press poll for the first time since Oct. 15, 2000. The Longhorns have been ranked in 162 consecutive polls, but had fallen to No. 21 before their 28-20 loss to Oklahoma.

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