He looked left. He looked right. There was no pressure in the face of Clayton Thorson, yet he was apprehensive. And then he made his decision, turning to the right sideline and firing a bullet in the direction of Austin Carr. But the ball was released too late. It never reached the intended target. It wasn’t close.
Instead, Michigan State cornerback Justin Layne stepped in front of the pass and trotted 43 yards, uninhibited, into Northwestern’s end zone to extend the Spartans’ lead to 14-0 with 8:31 remaining in the first quarter. It was all too familiar. Northwestern marches into the state of Michigan with considerable momentum and is squashed by a big-name conference foe.