Michigan

Michigan State’s Jonathan Smith pumps brakes on overreacting to opening win

Published

1 year ago

September 2, 2024

Michigan State’s Jonathan Smith pumps brakes on overreacting to opening win

EAST LANSING – Tanner Miller snapped the ball and then created a massive opening up the middle at the left hash.

Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams took the handoff and sprinted through the hole for a 63-yard touchdown in the second quarter to give Michigan State a 16-0 lead.

That brought Spartan Stadium fans to their feet, at least those who already found their seats. Inclement weather resulted in a delay opening gates to spectators and lines outside the stadium remained – especially for the student section – until late in the first half. Those who weren’t inside when Lynch-Adams crossed the goal line didn’t witness a single point scored by the home team.

Michigan State topped Florida Atlantic 16-10 on Friday night in a stressful opener under first-year coach Jonathan Smith.

“Game ones, you’re going to learn a lot about your team and we’ve got a lot to work on,” Smith said. “What I did learn and was pleased with is that there’s a response in this group. We are going to play for four quarters. You win the game in the fourth quarter and we were able to do that.”

Season openers can be sloppy and that was the case for the Spartans, with a new staff and schemes and 61 first-year players on the roster. Michigan State committed three turnovers, 12 penalties for 140 yards and was a mess in the red zone. It was far from a clean performance but Smith, now in his seventh season as a head coach, pumped the brakes.

“I do think a little bit about Week 1 is kind of overreaction Saturday,” he said late Friday night. “The first impression, right, this is the first time that team’s out there. Well, then you begin to label, oh, they’re good on this side, they’re not good on this side. These guys can go to the playoff, these guys are out. It’s overreaction Saturday. We go back to work.”

So, no panic. That’s the measured approach but doesn’t quiet concerns about the product on the field. It was a shaky debut for quarterback Aidan Chiles, who completed only 10 of 24 passes for 114 yards, two interceptions and rushed for a score.

“I’m taking full responsibility for everything that happened today,” Chiles said amid frustration. “You always want to come out and play good football and do what you’ve got to do and I felt like I tried to do that and didn’t do what I’m used to doing. I play football for a living and I didn’t come out and perform to my best today.”

Chiles showed flashes of his talent but wasn’t sharp in his first college start. Amid an attempted revival for an offensively starved program, the sophomore needs other playmakers to stand out.

“He wants to play better,” Smith said of Chiles. “Well, I think the other 10 guys on offense want to play better. We’ve got to help the guy out.”

Smith’s Oregon State squad had the No. 1 red zone offense in the nation last season, scoring on 41 of 42 trips. The Spartans finished 1-for-4 in the red zone on Friday with a pair of turnovers while struggling to pound the ball inside the 20. Wipe out Lynch-Adams’ 63-yard score, he and starting running back Nathan Carter combined to average just 3.1 yards per rush.

“We’ve got to be able to run the ball and make the thing physical,” Smith said. “That will help red zone offense.”

On the other side of the ball, Michigan State’s defense keyed the season-opening win under new coordinator Joe Rossi. The Spartans limited the Owls to 248 yards and 3-for-13 on third down.

“We talk about response all the time,” defensive back Angelo Grose said after a team-high 12 tackles with an interception. “When things ain’t going our way, how are we going to respond, how are we going to go out there and still do what we need to do? I feel like we really emphasized that and that’s what we went out there and did.”

Although Michigan State’s defense got the stops needed to secure a win, penalties were a major problem. Starting safety Malik Spencer was disqualified for targeting and linebacker Jordan Turner avoided the same outcome after a review for his hit on Florida Atlantic quarterback Cam Fancher. And there were other errors to correct.

“We want to play with some aggression, but we’ve got to have some technique at the same time,” Smith said. “It’s not just, oh, it was a late hit. We got a horse-collar here, we’ve got to be smart around the sideline.”

Michigan State accomplished its overall Week 1 goal by picking up a win but needs to regroup quickly for the start of Big Ten play. The Spartans hit the road to face Maryland, which rolled to a 50-7 victory against UConn in the opener.

“We’re probably going to go in there with disgust,” Chiles said of watching film from the season opener. “We don’t want to go in there and watch that. We didn’t do what we were supposed to do, we didn’t do what we know we can do. It’s a new week, we get another opportunity. We won the game, go us, and we get to come back and do it again.”

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Michigan

Woman accused of driving at the bottom of an Oakland County ski hill near guests

Published

4 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Woman accused of driving at the bottom of an Oakland County ski hill near guests

Nick Lentz

February 28, 2026 / 11:18 PM EST
/ CBS Detroit

A 58-year-old woman is accused of driving a vehicle at the bottom of a ski hill near skiers and snowboarders in White Lake Township, Michigan, the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office said Saturday.

Prosecutors allege the Bingham Farms, Michigan, woman drove near guests of Alpine Valley Ski Area, including children, on Tuesday.

According to the prosecutor’s office, witnesses said they saw the woman smoking what appeared to be marijuana before the incident and wearing ski boots while driving. Officers attempting to perform sobriety tests reported that she “exhibited poor balance, slurred speech, and open hostility.”

Online court records show the woman is charged with operating while impaired for the third time. If convicted, she faces up to five years in prison, a maximum fine of $5,000 and “mandatory vehicle immobilization” for one to three years, the prosecutor’s office said.

“This defendant endangered children with her irresponsible actions,” Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said in a written statement. “There is no excuse to drive impaired, even once. If you’ve had too much to drink or are under the influence of marijuana or other drugs, call a friend, call an Uber, just don’t drive.”

The woman is scheduled to appear at a probable cause conference on March 12.

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Michigan

First Film to Depict a Robot Discovered in Michigan

Published

16 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

First Film to Depict a Robot Discovered in Michigan

A long-lost silent film that’s believed to be the first depiction of a robot in motion pictures was rediscovered in Michigan. And it’s a great reminder for film history fans that you shouldn’t give up hope just because a film has been deemed lost.

The film, titled “Gugusse and the Automaton,” is just 45 seconds long and was created in 1897 by French film pioneer Georges Méliès. It shows a magician named Gugusse turning a large crank to control Pierrot Automate, a child-sized robot. The robot grows bigger and bigger until it’s an adult.

Once full size, the robot does a little dance before hitting Gugusse over the head with a stick. Gugusse brings the robot down from his pedestal and then shows him what’s what.

Gugusse hits the robot over the head with a gigantic mallet, each swing making the mechanical man a little smaller until he’s back to his child-like size. Another swing makes the robot a small doll and then it’s just one more mallet slap before the robot disappears completely.

With that, the film is over.

It’s a short film with a goofy, slapstick premise. But it’s also an artifact that can be interpreted similarly to so much robot-focused media that would come later in the 20th century. The robot harms a human, the human needs to destroy the robot.

We see anti-robot stories pop up especially during difficult economic times, like the 1930s and 1970s, something I’ve written about before at length. And if you’re wondering whether there were hard economic times in France during the 1890s, there certainly were—in the form of a double dip recession, no less.

But putting aside the potential message of the film (and the risk of taking it too seriously as a sign of broader social frustrations), the story of how this film was rediscovered is fascinating.

Bill McFarland of Grand Rapids, Michigan, drove a box of films that belonged to his great-grandfather to the Library of Congress’s National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper, Virginia so that experts could take a look at what he had.

McFarland’s great-grandfather was a man named William Delisle Frisbee who had worked jobs as a school teacher and a potato farmer in Pennsylvania, according to a blog post from the Library of Congress. But he also worked nights as a “traveling showman,” according to the Library.

“He drove his horse and buggy from town to town to dazzle the locals with a projector and some of the world’s first moving pictures,” the Library explains. “He set up shop in a local schoolroom, church, lodge or civic auditorium and showed magic lantern slides and short films with music from a newfangled phonograph. It was shocking.”

Frisbee died in 1937 and two trunks of his possessions were passed on through generations until they made their way to McFarland, who was unable to screen the movies from himself because of their condition.

The Library posted a video to Instagram talking about their acquisition of the film and how remarkable it is that such an old film was found. It’s estimated that as much as 90% of films made before 1930 are lost to history.

Other films in the trunks included another Méliès film from 1900 titled “The Fat and Lean Wrestling Match,” fragments of a Thomas Edison movie called “The Burning Stable.” Library technicians scanned the films in 4K to preserve them for future generations.

The word “robot” wasn’t coined until 1920 for the Czech play R.U.R. by Karel Capek. But visions of artificial men date back centuries. And it’s incredible to see a robot from the 1890s depicted on film for the first time. Even if it’s just 45 seconds long.

Don’t give up hope if you’re longing to watch some movie that’s believed to be completely lost. You never know what someone may have in a dusty old trunk in Michigan.

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Michigan rolls past Illinois to win Big Ten title outright, boosting No. 1 seed hopes

Published

1 day ago

February 28, 2026

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Michigan rolls past Illinois to win Big Ten title outright, boosting No. 1 seed hopes

Kylan Boswell (4) scored 15 points for the Illini but Yaxel Lendeborg (23) scored 16 in Michigan’s win. Geoff Stellfox / Getty Images

Feb. 27, 2026 11:17 pm EST

Michigan has left no doubt about Big Ten superiority — the No. 3 Wolverines’ 84-70 romp Friday at No. 10 Illinois gives them an outright conference championship with two regular-season games remaining.

The win gives Michigan its first outright title since 2021, and it’s another top-shelf win that gives Michigan (27-2, 17-1 Big Ten) a boost in its pursuit of the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 seed. This matters for the Wolverines because they would be lined up for a potential Final Four matchup with the No. 4 seed rather than either of the two teams that are also in contention for No. 1 — Duke, which beat Michigan last week to gain the inside track, and Arizona.

Friday’s lone meeting of the regular season between two purported national contenders left Michigan looking much the part, and Illinois looking a tier lower. This was domination, a comfortable second half for a Michigan team that led by as many as 21.

Michigan sophomore big man Morez Johnson Jr., who transferred from Illinois in the offseason, heard a lot of jeers from fans at State Farm Center and responded with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Big man Aday Mara also scored 19. Yaxel Lendeborg, the star of Michigan’s jumbo frontcourt, had 16 points and seven rebounds.

That interior helped the Wolverines to a 42-32 edge in points in the paint and 22 second-chance points. Keaton Wagler had 23 points to lead Illinois (22-7, 13-5), which projected as a No. 2 seed in Tuesday’s Bracket Watch but has lost two straight games and four of six. The Illini are trending in the wrong direction and potentially heading to the three-line.

The No. 1 seed also gets to choose its tournament path, and Michigan has requested Philadelphia as its first-weekend site. Otherwise, the Wolverines will likely be placed in Buffalo, which is closer to Ann Arbor.

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Feb 28, 2026