50 defining moments from the 2021 Michigan State football season: No. 47

Welcome back to the fourth edition of this series for Michigan State football’s 50 defining plays of 2021. Today will be Montorie Foster’s flea-flicker.

Welcome back, I am four days in, and my fingers are only slightly cramped. No worries, there are only 46 more articles to go. If you would like to see the previous articles in this series, use this link to my profile. For yesterday’s article, please use this link.

No. 47: Montorie Foster 52-yard TD reception from Payton Thorne

Game 10: 40-21 win vs. Maryland

I promised you that today would bring an exciting play, and was there any play more classic to the 2021 Michigan State football season than the flea-flicker?

Why No. 47?

This play was another flea-flicker touchdown call by Jay Johnson, giving Montorie Foster his first and only touchdown of the 2021 campaign. Foster was called in to replace Jalen Nailor after a hand injury against Michigan cost him nearly half of the season. This play gives us a glimpse of Foster’s speed, as he acted like a blocker and then tore down the field and powered through a corner in the last five yards to give the Spartans a 7-0 lead that they would never relinquish.

After the disastrous offensive performances over the last few years, having an impact player like Kenneth Walker III freed up the Spartans to make calls like this. As stated in the broadcast, “it’s the influence of No. 9, first and foremost.” Teams actively game planning around one player feels so nice after years of a basic game plan of hoping the Spartan defense tires out after being on the field for 45 minutes.

Additionally, as I stated in article No. 50, this was another touchdown that ended up helping Payton Thorne break the single-season record for touchdown passes. All these plays add up to a record, even if we did not know this at the time.

This being said, the Spartans won the game by 19 points as they manhandled the Terrapins most of the game. I cannot justify putting this higher when this was a game that the Spartans should have — and did — won easily. This set the tone for the Maryland game, but it was also the first drive. Other plays from this game that show up on this list were at more impactful moments.

Additionally, this game did not create a wave of momentum for the rest of the season, as the Spartans would trot into Ohio State the next week, and we all would like to forget that game.

If you like big plays, tomorrow will continue the trend of 50-plus yard touchdowns against overmatched teams.