When he got out of surgery, ESPN was still playing the replay and Watts-Jackson’s phone had frozen because of all the text messages and calls.

A Middletown native is a the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.

Michigan State played three of the ugliest games fans in East Lansing will remember (Oregon, Purdue, Rutgers) and yet the Spartans toughed it out and won despite injuries, weather and playing styles unfamiliar to a typical Big Ten opponent. And I think all parties understand what’s needed in those departments….

“You’ve got to kick it through the uprights and you’ve got to punt the ball, theres no doubt”, said Snyder. “I don’t mind at all”. The defense isn’t going to slow down the Spartans if they have their heads on straight, but the attack is good enough to keep the pace. Special teams remain the key area of concern for the No. 7 Spartans (7-0, 3-0 Big Ten), coming off a 27-23 win at Michigan on a 38-yard fumble return for the “Rangers” team on the final play and entering Saturday’s game against Indiana (4-3, 0-3). I’m reading the Bible, trying to go to church when I can’. It was insane though. He still tried to get the ball off and had it blocked by Michigan State defenders. “I didn’t know who was behind me”. - Mark Dantonio on injured safety Jalen Watts-Jackson, who scored the winning touchdown against Michigan. “It’s about speed and athleticism…this is a unit that you can use younger guys that aren’t playing as much”. Like we practice every day of the week, going through stuff, going through situations, stakes and everything. “It wasn’t as much luck as everyone says it was because everyone did their job”. It may have taken, literally, the entire game to do so, but their unbeaten season continues and another step toward the College Football Playoff was taken. But if the Buckeyes hold firm and play either game with the intensity seen over the past seven weeks, then the next time you see how pivotal and significant Watts-Jackson’s return was will be the week before October 29, 2016. Hoosier fans expect this to be a beatdown, but I don’t believe that’s going to happen.

So perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise that when Watts-Jackson did receive his first big name scholarship offer, it came by way of the summer camp circuit.

Cronin is getting touchbacks on just 18.4 percent of his kickoffs, compared to more than 65 percent a year ago. Do you remember what you thought about in those ten seconds? That’s exactly what he saw in Watts-Jackson, as he recalled the same apparent athleticism that Porritt spoke of. Yet despite all of that, despite rushing for a paltry 62 yards, despite passing for a mere 168 and failing again to connect on passes to open receivers downfield, despite defensive lapses that included allowing a 74-yard completion to a fullback, despite what seemed like more penalties and foolish plays than they had committed all season, the Wolverines not only put themselves in a position to win, they put themselves in a position in which they nearly couldn’t lose. You just can’t do that. “He’s got a long road to haul here”. She was actually a pretty cool lady. He said he has spent most of his time since then in the training room or in his apartment. My hip is messed up. It was a lot.

But as Watts-Jackson explained Wednesday, that run wasn’t as exciting to him as it was to everyone watching. “You can’t punt a line drive to the guy, it’s not good football”. We were just engaged in normal conversation.