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Oregon Running Back Thomas Tyner avoids MSU d-back R.J. Williamson for the game's first score.

SPARTANS-DUCKS: Home Team Always Wins; Does Long Travel Have An Effect?

September 9, 2014       Leave a Comment
By: Dave Rogers

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Michigan State has played Oregon in football five times.

Each time the home team has won.

The last game, last Saturday night in Oregon, the Spartans led 24-18 at halftime, tacked on 3 points on a field goal in the third quarter, and...then collapsed, losing 45-27.

Why?

Sportswriters and pundits are tearing their hair out, not to speak of the frustration of the MSU coaching staff. Did the loss end the Spartans hope for the playoffs? Can they repeat as Big Ten champs?

In spite of the 90 degree heat, way above what northerners are used to, Michigan State was more than holding its own, especially in the second quarter when it racked up 24 points. (Word from insiders is that Coach Dantonio had jacked up the heat in the East Lansing practice building to prepare the team for the super-heated West Coast atmosphere.)

Then there was the infamous Autzen stadium that causes crowd noise to be amplified, just an unavoidable environmental factor. Dantonio said crowd noise affected his defense's ability to communicate necessary adjustments against the Ducks' high-powered offense.

But there must be more to it; Michigan State isn't that bad and Oregon probably isn't that good, in this reporter's judgment, despite the preseason hype about QB Marcus Mariota's Heisman level skills.

Does the fact that the visitor travels 2,400 miles through three time zones prior to the game have anything to do with who wins?

Sports physiologists say yes!

"It is generally suggested that if more than 3-4 time zones are crossed, certain biological functions are disturbed and temporary impairment in performance may arise," states Dr. Ola Ronsen of the Norwegian Olympic Sports Center.

Therefore, if Oregon's football team (or any West Coast club) travels across three time zones to Michigan it may be physiologically at a disadvantage to the home team.

Conversely, if Michigan State's football team or any Big Ten school's squad) flies through several time zones to Oregon, it may suffer a dimunition of ability to perform.

The ill effects, physiologically, of traveling through time zones is nullified if the athlete has one day to become acclimatized for each hour of time change.

So, unless a sports team from the West Coast arrives three or more days ahead of the contest, chances are its performance will be adversely affected. And vice versa.

BTW, that was the case with the Rose Bowl, where MSU beat Stanford, since the team was on the West Coast nearly a week before the game and had plenty of time to become acclimatized.

Arriving on Thursday for a Saturday night game give a team just 48 hours to become acclimatized -- not enough for maximum performance, according to Dr. Ronsen.

The Spartans' vaunted defense was up to par for the first three quarters, holding the Ducks to just 56 yards rushing. Then it all fell apart. One theory was that the MSU squad just "ran out of gas." The heat and the jet lag finally caught up with them. Whatever. But there are reasons for everything and these can be analyzed until the cows come home.

The Ducks waddled for 117 yards in the fourth quarter, putting the game away.

"In sports where concentration and fine motor skills are crucial, the athlete's performance may be particularly susceptible to the physical and mental disturbances associated with jet lag," wrote Dr. Ronsen in a scholarly article named "Adjustments to Travel Across Time Zones."

Look at the record: the traveling team has lost every time. That can't be just a coincidence. And Michigan State appeared just as capable as Oregon of winning the game -- up to a point.

In the first game between the schools in 1979, the Spartans hosted the Ducks and roasted them 41-17 with Derek Hughes scoring three times, including a 100-yard dash to the end zone.

New Spartan Coach Muddy Waters returned the favor in 1980, taking a pasting in Eugene 35-7.

Oregon-MSU encounter in 1998, the Spartans suffered a 48-14 loss in Eugene. (Present Spartan coach Mark Dantonio was a defensive backs coach to Nick Saban for that game.)

"I guess the good news is that there are (millions of Chinese people who) really really don't know what happened over the weekend," Saban famously was quoted as saying after the game.

In the return game in 1999, the Spartans erased a 10-point deficit, and with the help of Amp Campbell's fumble return, came from behind and won, 27-20.

I'm just saying, wait for the season to play out before writing off the Spartans. Maybe they'll get to play the Ducks again on a neutral field, say Indianapolis, or wherever.

###

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Dave Rogers

Dave Rogers is a former editorial writer for the Bay City Times and a widely read,
respected journalist/writer in and around Bay City.
(Contact Dave Via Email at carraroe@aol.com)

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