By ANN ARBOR — Not all five-field-goal games are created equally.
Five against Toledo, nice. Five against Michigan, better. Much, much better.
"Yeah, for sure," fifth-year senior kicker Liam Boyd said with a shy smile following Michigan State's 15-6 win over Michigan at Michigan Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 7. "This means a ton. This game does.
"This is awesome. There's not really words for how I feel right now."
No worries. Boyd's boot did more than enough talking.
Boyd was 5-for-5 on field goals and accounted for every point as Michigan State pulled the upset, snapped a six-game losing streak and earned head coach Pat Fitzgerald his first Big Ten win in his first year with the Spartans.
Boyd was good from 21, 37, 38, 24 and 49 yards in the victory. Some of them, Fitzgerald could've gone for it on fourth down, but he played the situation game. Michigan State's defense was cooking — Michigan didn't score until there was 1 minute, 35 seconds left — and any points were going to be uber-valuable.
"I didn't want to kick any of those," Fitzgerald said afterward, to some laughter. "I told you guys I will be aggressive but not reckless. … I thought we had the upper hand defensively. … We were getting stops.
"If it was a shootout," Fitzgerald continued, "I'd probably play those plays a little differently."
He added, of Boyd, "Full confidence and belief in Liam."
From Boyd's perspective, he also stays with the mindset that he's going to get called in for the field goal, and even quipped that he gets a little disappointed when the offense decides to go for it on fourth down.
On Saturday, Michigan State decided to go with him, and he was prepared.
The team talked all week about how special teams would be a key.
"It's always a super tight game," said Boyd, who transferred to Michigan State this offseason, from Charlotte. "I knew going into it that myself and everybody in my room were going to have a big outcome on the game.
"I expect to make every kick when I go out there. I have that kind of conviction that it's going to go through."
Boyd got off to a fine start with Michigan State, making five of six field-goal attempts in the season-opening win against Toledo, including a 51-yarder. He hasn't had many chances since, going 6-of-8 the last seven games.
But his number (37, if you're scoring at home) got called over and over again against the Wolverines, and he led Michigan State to its first win in the rivalry since 2021.
His five field goals in a single game are one off the program record, set by Jonathan Kim in 2024. He's one of two Spartans to ever make five field goals in a single game twice, joining Paul Edinger, who also did it twice in the same season, in 1998. Edinger did it in a win against Northwestern. Nice. Then he did it the next week, in a win over No. 1 Ohio State. Better. Now, Boyd knows the feeling.
"I love this team and these coaches," said Boyd, who was 10-for-13 on field goals pre-Michigan State (at Charlotte and North Carolina), and now is 16-for-19 this season for the Spartans.
"It's just an awesome win for everybody."
tpaul@detroitnews.com
@tonypaul1984
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Liam Boyd's big boot brings Paul Bunyan back to Michigan State
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/liam-boyds-big-boot-brings-063446129.html
