All action flooded to the right as Northwestern quarterback Peyton Ramsey scrambled to buy time from Michigan State football’s pass rush. Xavier Henderson spotted one Northwestern player leaking out the other direction.
Rarely do safeties face such a do-or-die moment. One-on-one, no help to be found. A mistake would blow the lead Michigan State had just regained.
But with just over 3 minutes remaining on that third-and-10 play, the Spartans’ junior diagnosed what was playing out in front of him quickly.
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“We were in 3-deep, and I was playing the deep middle of the field,” Henderson recalled Tuesday.