50 defining moments from the 2021 Michigan State football season: No. 45

Welcome back to day 6 of the 2021 Michigan State football series. Today is the first defensive play, coming from senior linebacker Noah Harvey.

Welcome back, today marks the sixth day of this series and there are now only 45 days until the Michigan State Spartans kick off against Western Michigan. As promised yesterday, today is the first defensive highlight of this series.

For those of you who missed yesterday’s article, please click here. If you would like to look at previous articles of this series, feel free to scroll through my writing profile.

No. 45: Noah Harvey’s interception of Taulia Tagovailoa

Why No. 45?

After a 27-point first half for Michigan State, it was feeling good heading out of the locker room to begin the second half. Maryland looked to seize all the momentum for themselves, as they drove down the field and into the Spartan red zone on the back of big plays and a pass interference call against Noah Harvey. He quickly atoned for this sin, with this play occurring directly after the pass interference.

This play makes my list as Maryland was looking to fight back into the game, as it was a 27-14 ball game at the time with the whole second half to play.

After this play, Michigan State would drive down the field in a balanced offensive attack and score, making it a 20-point deficit for the Terrapins. Additionally, this play stands out as Harvey was able to keep focused and respond in a big way after the penalty. With Harvey also stepping up for an injured Quavaris Crouch this game, it shows the Spartans’ preparation and focus as a team.

While this was a great play and helped keep the Spartans in possession of a healthy lead, I cannot rank this play any higher on my list as the final score of the game was still three possessions.

Much like Jayden Reed’s play that I highlighted yesterday, this play saved the game from becoming closer, but the result was still an easy Michigan State victory. Additionally, unlike the Xavier Henderson interception highlighted in my honorable mentions (at the end of defining moment No. 50), this play came against a Big Ten divisional opponent later in the season, as opposed to an FCS team.

Statistically, this would be Noah Harvey’s only career interception, which could not have come at a better time for both Michigan State football and the crowd at Spartan Stadium.

I firmly believe that these plays are the plays Michigan State would not get in the final years of Mark Dantonio. Whether this is the Spartans getting lucky or Mel Tucker having his players more prepared, that’s for you to decide.

Tomorrow marks the one-week mark of this series, and it will be a play by what will be the fourth different Michigan State receiver to be highlighted in one of my “defining moments.”