50 defining moments from the 2021 Michigan State football season: No. 5

Today makes it only five days until Michigan State football is back on the field. Today, Jayden Reed’s most crucial and electrifying play of 2021 is up.

Welcome back to the 46th article in my series going over the 50 defining moments of the 2021 Michigan State football season. This article, No. 5, marks the start of the five best plays of the season, and I cannot be more excited to write these.

Jayden Reed made plays all year for the Spartans, and his final moment in the series comes today.

Before we begin, I would like to thank my family for providing me with the motivation for writing these articles and for sticking with them. To my grandparents, parents, sister, and brother-in-law, thank you.

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. 5: Jayden Reed’s 62-yard punt return TD vs. Nebraska

Why No. 5?

Last year was a bounce-back year for Michigan State football, with dynamic playmakers breaking records left and right. Additionally, droughts were broken, and streaks were started. Jayden Reed broke one of the more infamous Michigan State football droughts, that being the time between punt return touchdowns for a Spartan.

On this play, Michigan State was up to some trickery. After a second half that had resulted in zero Spartan first downs, Mel Tucker and Ross Els looked to dial up something on special teams. Jalen Nailor and Reed both went back deep to return the Nebraska punt. One player was meant to be the decoy while the other hoped to get some free yards or at least take advantage of Nebraska defenders splitting between the two players.

Little to Michigan State’s knowledge, Nebraska called a directional punt on this play towards Nailor. In a moment all too common for the 2021 Cornhuskers, the punter gaffed on this play, sending it directly towards Reed. With the Cornhuskers expecting the directional punt at Nailor, the entire team bought into the fake while Reed was left with yards of space and an end zone to run to. Reed took full advantage of this, taking off with only a few cuts to make.

By the time any Cornhusker realized that the punt had gone awry, Reed was in full stride. Backup running back Jordon Simmons and Kendell Brooks picked up the only blocks needed, and the game was tied at 20 apiece.

This play broke a nearly decade-long drought for a Michigan State football punt return touchdown, dating back to November 2011 by Keshawn Martin. To put things into perspective, Martin had graduated, been drafted, had an NFL career that involved being a member of four different teams, and had been out of the league for nearly four years in that span. Reed put up the first Spartan punt return touchdown since Reed himself was 11 years old.

Nebraska had punting woes all game, with former Michigan State walk-on (and starter) William Przystup and Daniel Cemi each shanking a punt during the game. I recall hearing “Przystup is still helping the Spartans” in the student section a few times when the punter came onto the field on fourth down. Cemi had a better game statistically, averaging 37 yards per punt this game. That said, that is not a good mark, especially in Big Ten country. Additionally, Cemi was the punter behind this gaffe, and Scott Frost made sure to mention this in his press conference post-game.

On this play, a few parties receive some credit for this game-saving play. To begin, Nailor did an excellent job at playing decoy. Not once did he dip his eyes to see if the fake was working, instead perfectly looked in a ball that did not exist. This bought Reed all the time he needed to make a play.

Secondly, Brooks and Simmons made excellent blocks here. When returning the ball, Reed faced a few Cornhuskers between him and the end zone. Simmons and Brooks each picked up these crucial blocks without drawing a penalty or slowing Reed down too bad, letting the Naperville product cruise into the end zone. Without these blocks, the Spartans might not have had a chance for any of my aforementioned Nebraska moments to take place.

Finally, Reed deserves a ton of credit here. Yes, he was gifted by a punter completely missing the play’s assignment, but Reed acted completely out of the play until the last second. He caught the ball mid-stride but still had to run and cut through a few defenders to score. Reed did so perfectly, making this play the saving grace for the Spartans.

I find it ironic that the Cornhuskers blew their 2022 debut in spectacular fashion yesterday, as this is another situation of a few Scott Frost and co. gaffes costing Nebraska the game. In fact, Nebraska blowing yet another game helped me decide on this play being ranked at No. 5. Nebraska did not just blow a game to the Spartans in 2021, they gave that hospitality to nearly everybody. As I mentioned yesterday, the Cornhuskers are also not as intimidating or a big stage game when compared to Michigan and Pitt from last year, so ranking this moment here makes the most sense.

The play breathed new life into the Spartans, but their offense still did not generate a first down until the overtime period. Without this play, Michigan State football emerges from that cold September night 3-1. However, all four of the upcoming plays have that in common: the Spartans absolutely cannot win without them. As a result, here lies the last play against Nebraska.

Finally, I would like to credit Reed who was phenomenal the entire year. From Youngstown State to Miami to this game to Pitt, the receiver made play after play after play. He gave his all on every play and was deserving of all of the accolades that the postseason brought, and so much more. The Big Ten better not sleep on Reed this year. Even fully aware of him, I feel confident that Reed will put some more hardware on the Michigan State football shelves at the end of the season.

Statistically, this was the first of Reed’s two punt return touchdowns last season. The other also has its own article featured here. Additionally, this was Reed’s second touchdown of the game, the other coming on a flea flicker broken down here.

Tomorrow, Kenneth Walker III’s amazing day against Michigan is again highlighted, with him breathing new life into the Spartan offense at a critical moment.