No. 7,6 | |
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Position: | Wide receiver |
Personal information | |
Born: | Lowell, Michigan, U.S. | December 24, 1988
Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
Weight: | 213 lb (97 kg) |
Career information | |
High school: | Lowell (MI) |
College: | Oklahoma (2007) Michigan State (2008–2011) |
Undrafted: | 2012 |
Career highlights and awards | |
Keith Nichol (born December 24, 1988) is a former wide receiver and quarterback. He played college football for the University of Oklahoma and Michigan State University.
Nichol attended Lowell High School in Lowell, Michigan. After a good freshman season, Nichol was promoted to the varsity team for the playoffs and saw some playing time as a cornerback in a blowout. Nichol had a breakout season as a sophomore. He threw for 2,125 yards and 26 touchdowns in Lowell's veer offense and led the team to a state championship. His success led to him being heavily recruited by several teams in the Big Ten Conference as well as the University of Notre Dame. In July 2005, Nichol committed to play for the Michigan State University Spartans. Nichol also participated in the ESPN RISE Elite 11 quarterback camp. After his commitment, the Spartans went 9-14 and head coach John L. Smith was fired. As a result, Nichol backed out of his commitment with the Spartans and committed to the University of Oklahoma, a school that expressed strong interest in him after his de-commitment. [1] In his senior year, Nichol passed for 2,225 yards and 31 touchdowns. [2] As a three-year starter, Nichol won 33 games with three losses. He passed for 6,550 yards and 76 touchdowns and ran for 3,100 yards and 58 touchdowns in his high school career. [3] He was an all-state selection three times. [4] Nichol was ranked as the sixth best dual-threat quarterback in the country out of high school by Rivals.com. [3] Scout.com ranked him the 22nd best high school quarterback overall. [5]
At Oklahoma, Nichol competed against redshirt freshman Sam Bradford and junior Joey Halzle for the starting quarterback position during spring practices in 2007. [6] After a scrimmage game, Bradford was named the starter. [7] During the year, Nichol was the third-string quarterback, playing in three games and completing two of seven passes for 15 yards. After the season, Nichol transferred to Michigan State, the school he had originally committed to while back in high school. By NCAA rule, Nichol had to sit out the 2008 season. [3]
Before the 2009 season, Nichol competed against sophomore Kirk Cousins for the starting quarterback position. [8] Cousins started the first game with Nichol receiving playing time in which he threw two touchdown passes in a victory over the Montana State Bobcats. [9] On October 10, 2009, Nichol made his first career start against the Illinois Fighting Illini. He completed 13 of 25 passes for 179 yards and one interception in a victory. [10] In preparation for the 2010 Alamo Bowl, Nichol changed over to the wide-receiver position, catching two passes for 11 yards and also scored his first career rushing touchdown against the Red Raiders, with a 7-yard run out of the wildcat formation in the third quarter.
He was an Academic All-Big Ten selection and appeared in all 13 games in 2010, including eight starts. Ranked fifth on the team with 22 receptions for 262 yards (11.9 avg.), caught at least one pass in 11 games, and also completed 4-of-7 passes for 62 yards and two scores. With Kirk Cousins and Andrew Maxwell sidelined with injuries vs. No. 15 Alabama in the 2011 Capital One Bowl, he took snaps at quarterback in the fourth quarter and hit 2-of-5 throws for 56 yards, including a 49-yard TD strike to Bennie Fowler, Keith also had three catches for 22 yards against the Crimson Tide. His 3-yard TD toss to Charlie Gantt with 8:31 left in the fourth quarter at Penn State gave MSU a 28–10 lead and proved to be the game winner as the Spartans held on for a 28–22 victory to clinch a share of the 2010 Big Ten Championship, caught three passes for 19 yards vs. Purdue, and set career highs in receptions (4) and receiving yards (51) at Northwestern, including two catches for 34 yards on MSU's game-winning touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. His career-long 42-yard grab from Cousins at No. 18 Michigan set up Larry Caper's 8-yard TD run late in the third quarter, hauled in three passes for 30 yards vs. No. 11 Wisconsin, caught two passes for 32 yards in the season opener vs. Western Michigan, including his first career touchdown reception, a 20-yard grab from Cousins early in the second quarter.
Nichol played an important role as receiver for the Spartans during the 2011 season. He caught a hail mary touchdown pass on the final play against No. 6 Wisconsin, securing the Spartans victory and went on to win the Big Ten Legends Division and will have a rematch against No. 15 Wisconsin in the 2011 Big Ten Championship Game. [11] He help lead the Spartans to a comeback win against No. 16 Georgia in the Outback Bowl.
Oklahoma Sooners | |||||||||||||||
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Season | GP | Pos | Passing | ||||||||||||
Comp | Att | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | ||||||||||
2007 | 3 | QB | 2 | 7 | 28.6 | 15 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Michigan State Spartans | |||||||||||||||
2008 | Ineligible due to NCAA transfer rule | ||||||||||||||
2009 | 10 | QB | 49 | 91 | 53.8 | 764 | 7 | 3 | |||||||
2010 | 13 | WR/QB | 4 | 7 | 57.1 | 62 | 2 | 0 | |||||||
2011 | 14 | WR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Career | 40 | 55 | 105 | 52.4 | 841 | 9 | 3 |
On May 3, 2012, Nichol joined with the Washington Redskins as an undrafted free agent on a try-out basis. [12] The next day, it was reported that he was attending the Redskins' rookie mini-camp, which reunited him with Michigan State teammate, Kirk Cousins. [13] Nichol was not offered a contract at the end of the mini-camp. [14] [15] He later attended rookie mini-camp with the Chicago Bears and worked out for the Detroit Lions, but wasn't offered a contract by either team. [16]
The Michigan–Michigan State football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the University of Michigan Wolverines and the Michigan State University Spartans. The teams first played in 1898 and have met 116 times. The game has now been played uninterrupted, every year since 1945. In 1949 Michigan State was accepted into the Big Ten conference, though it was not until 1953 that the rivalry became a Big Ten conference game, due to protests from the University of Michigan administration. Prior to 1958 all but 6 matchups were played in Ann Arbor. The winner of each year's game receives the Paul Bunyan – Governor of Michigan Trophy, a four-foot wooden statue of a lumberjack that was first presented in 1953 to commemorate Michigan State's beginning football competition as a member of the Big Ten Conference.
Spartan Stadium opened in 1923 in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It is primarily used for football, and is the home field of the Michigan State University Spartans. After the addition of luxury boxes and club seating in 2004–2005, the capacity of the stadium grew from 72,027 to 75,005—though it has held more than 80,000 fans—making it the Big Ten's sixth largest stadium. It has been nicknamed "The Woodshed".
The 2001 Michigan vs. Michigan State football game, sometimes called The Clock incident or Clockgate, was played on November 3, 2001 at Spartan Stadium.
The 1981 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan in the 1981 Big Ten Conference football season. In their 13th season under head coach Bo Schembechler, the Wolverines compiled a 9–3 record and outscored all opponents by a total of 355 to 162. Ranked No. 1 by both the AP and UPI in the preseason polls, Michigan lost to Wisconsin in its season opener, then defeated No. 1 Notre Dame the following week, and ended its season with a victory over UCLA in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl. The Wolverines were ranked No. 10 in the final UPI poll and No. 12 in the AP Poll.
The 2009 Wisconsin Badgers football team competed on behalf of the University of Wisconsin–Madison during the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Badgers were coached by Bret Bielema and played their home games at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. The Badgers finished the season 10–3, 5–3 in Big Ten play and beat Miami (FL) 20–14 in the Champs Sports Bowl.
Kirk Daniel Cousins is an American football quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He ranks fifth all-time in completion percentage with at least 1,500 pass attempts and is eighth in the NFL's all-time regular season career passer rating.
The 1979 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan in the 1979 Big Ten Conference football season. In its 100th season of intercollegiate football, the 11th under head coach Bo Schembechler, Michigan compiled an 8–4 record, lost to North Carolina in the 1979 Gator Bowl, was ranked No. 18 in the final AP Poll, and outscored opponents by a total of 312 to 151.
The 2010 Michigan State Spartans football team competed on behalf of Michigan State University in the Big Ten Conference during the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Head coach Mark Dantonio was in his fourth season with the Spartans. Michigan State played their home games in Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan.
The 2011 Michigan State Spartans football team competed on behalf of Michigan State University in the Legends Division of the Big Ten Conference during the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Head coach Mark Dantonio was in his fifth season with the Spartans. Michigan State played their home games at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan. They finished the season 11–3, 7–1 in Big Ten play to be champions of the Legends Division. They represented the division in the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game where they lost to Leaders Division representative Wisconsin 39–42. They were invited to the Outback Bowl where they defeated Georgia 33–30 in three overtimes. Significantly, the Spartans were able to give 19 of their 20 true freshman redshirt years.
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The 2012 Outback Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game, held on January 2, 2012, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, as part of the 2011–12 NCAA Bowl season. It was the 26th edition of the Outback Bowl, and was telecast at 1:00 p.m. ET to a national audience on ABC. It featured the Georgia Bulldogs from the Southeastern Conference (SEC) versus the Michigan State Spartans from the Big Ten Conference. Michigan State won, 33–30, in the third overtime period.
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