Washington Redskins: The impossible rise of Kirk Cousins
By Ian Cummings
Ever the Underdog
Before Cousins signed with Michigan State, the Spartans were committed to another quarterback named Keith Nichol. For a time, it seemed as if Nichol would become the Spartans’ heir apparent at quarterback. But he would later back out of his commitment, leaving the Redskins to settle for the underdog. Kirk Cousins.
Cousins was no stranger to being the underdog at this point, and it was fitting that he came to Michigan State at this time in history. The Spartans were coming off two straight seven-win seasons, with their latest season ending with a bowl game loss at the hands of Matt Ryan’s Boston College Eagles.
The Spartans were better than they used to be. Mark Dantonio had righted the ship in his short time there, but the team was still viewed as an afterthought in the Big Ten, while other teams like Ohio State and Michigan set the standard for what it took to be a true power five team.
Dantonio came into 2008 with his mind on the future. His starting quarterback, Brian Hoyer, would be gone after that year, and he needed a quarterback to carry over and maintain the team’s winning culture, while it still lingered.
Dantonio didn’t believe Cousins to be that quarterback. No one did at first. But when the season ended, and the team needed someone to turn to, Cousins had separated himself as the best option. The team rolled with the underdog for 2009, and their Bowl streak only continued. Cousins threw 19 touchdowns and 9 interceptions in his sophomore season, extending his job security to 2010.
It was in 2010 that Cousins would help lead Michigan State to its winningest season on record. The team, behind Cousins’ leadership and Dantonio’s insight, would share a piece of the Big Ten title. They suffered a lopsided Capital One Bowl defeat at the hands of an Alabama team boasting a roster housing the likes of Eddie Lacy, Trent Richardson, Mark Ingram, and Julio Jones, and that defeat showed them that, while they were nearly free of their ‘underdog’ moniker, they still had more work to do.
Cousins spurned all talks of defeat, setting his sights to his final season. His dream of playing major college football had now come to fruition, but there was another dream that eluded him. The Parade of Roses. The warm Pasadena sun.
The Rose Bowl.
Before the College Football Playoff hijacked a number of high level bowl games, doing away with their conference designations, the Rose Bowl was the promised land for every Big Ten team. The dream that wore the crown as the most fantastical, the most sought after. The National Championship was nice, sure, but for Michigan State, at least, their most realistic, most attainable dream was the Rose Bowl.
That attainability only made Kirk Cousins hungrier.
But Cousins and the Spartans would never make it to the Rose Bowl. They lost the Big Ten Championship game to Russell Wilson and the Wisconsin Badgers, and they instead met Georgia in the Outback Bowl.
Earlier in his career, Cousins would have mourned the lost dream. But he had learned, over years and years of competition, preparation, and hard work, that a lost dream simply led to another one. And so Cousins and the Spartans committed to the Outback Bowl, and after four grueling quarters, with three overtime periods tacked on the end, they came out on top, beating the SEC titan 33-30.
It was a fitting end to Cousins’ storied college career. He’d started as a two-star recruit, and by the inevitable conclusion of his tenure, he had cemented a newfound winning tradition at Michigan State University. But he would not have time to stand on ceremony. Other, greater players were setting ablaze the college stage.