Back to .500: MSU-Illinois Postgame Thread

by KJ@theonlycolors on Oct 10, 2009 2:23 PM CDT in Michigan State Spartans Football Comment 12 comments

MSU gets the job done, taking Illinois down 24-14. Larry Caper leads the way with 139 total yards and a TD.

Two reasons for concern:

Getting outscored 14-7 in the second half by a team that showed a complete lack of offensive cohesion.
Injuries: Glenn Winston, Larry Caper, Caulton Ray, A.J. Jimmerson, and Keith Nichol all got dinged up. Winston's (sprained knee) and Nichol's (dislocated left elbow?) injuries looked particularly bad.

Still, our conference record stands at 2-1, which will be good for no worse than a tie for 3rd place in the league at the end of the day.

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Cousins

Hopefully Cousins is good to go next week. Our D has played well the last two weeks and the running game stepped up today. If we can add Cousins efficiency on offense we could do some damage the rest of the way in the Big Ten.

by Stones1981 on Oct 10, 2009 2:43 PM CDT reply actions

Agreed...

Our offense stalled in the second half due to Nichol’s poor passing ability. Felt like every pass he threw was off the mark — either too short or behind the receiver.

by MooTheKow on Oct 10, 2009 3:26 PM CDT up reply actions

Disagree on the D playing well today

If you go back and look at what Illinois has done against teams not from Normal, Illinois, you will see that they have scored a TOTAL of 26 points, including 17 against PSU while down by 35 in the 4th quarter. Inept doesn’t even begin to describe their offense. Yet they were still getting wide open looks against our DBs (although they dropped the vast majority). Once they got Juice in there, we looked like the same “bend but don’t break but if we do break our offense can hopefully bail us out” defense we showed during the 4th quarter of the Michigan game.

I still maintain that our D, and especially LBs not named Jones, are going to continue to be a weakness of ours.

"It's a trap!"

by AdmiralAkbar on Oct 10, 2009 4:20 PM CDT up reply actions

Worring to much about the D

The fact your worried about everyone is crazy. Anderson has stepped up big time since coaches called him out before Michigan, Worthy has been the best player on the whole D so far this season. The Dline is starting to get there. The secondary well not great has improved.

"There are no next times when you're competing for big things." - Tom Izzo
Go Spartans

by msufan23 on Oct 10, 2009 5:12 PM CDT up reply actions

My point is this: While we have looked much better against Illinois today, we have to take into account that their offense has been TERRIBLE all year, especially if you don’t count D1AA Illinois St (so far their only win). It is encouraging to see the D line play well for the first three quarters of this game, but with the small sample size of the last game, I don’t think its “crazy” to be worried.

Lets see how they do next week against NW, a team that has shown that they can score points this year

"It's a trap!"

by AdmiralAkbar on Oct 10, 2009 7:17 PM CDT up reply actions

Injuries

I’ll be interested to see how bad they are. I think Caper can pick up the slack for Winston, and Martin can return kickoffs.

More concerning is the QB injury situation. Cousins should be back next week, but if Nichol is out long-term, depth at QB suddenly is an issue.

by CPT Hoolie on Oct 10, 2009 3:55 PM CDT via mobile reply actions

I think with Winston out, we lose that big, bruising RB that really seems to fit in our offense. After he went out today our offense because noticeably less efficient and effective. Caper does a pretty good job, but he is not quite as good as Winston.

I am hoping that Cousins is back to 100% for next week and stays there. I think he is easily better than Nichol anyway, and getting him back will help us out quite a bit. I must admit, it is a nice luxury having a backup that is about 85% as effective as the starter though, and having that taken away stings a bit

"It's a trap!"

by AdmiralAkbar on Oct 10, 2009 4:23 PM CDT reply actions

Winston

Losing Winston definitely hurts b/c him and Caper seem to make a great combination in the backfield. Both are strong runners, with Winston packing a bit more bunch and Caper having a little more explosiveness. Hopefully Ray can step up in Winston’s absence.

I disagree though that Winston is a better runner then Caper. Here’s a stat comparison so far: Both have 60 carries, with Caper getting 275 yards and Winston getting 204. That gives Caper a 4.6 YPC and Winston a 3.4 YPC. Caper also has 5 TD’s to Winstons 2. Also, Caper is better catching the ball out of the back field and blocking pass protection.

by Stones1981 on Oct 10, 2009 5:12 PM CDT reply actions

Yeah, but Caper and Winston compliment each other well.

I don’t see Caper being as successful as an every-down back at this point.

"Do not cheat your team or your teammates. Know your plays. Block. Protect. Add to what we are trying to do."
The Only Colors

by LVS on Oct 10, 2009 5:25 PM CDT up reply actions

Losing Winston for the season hurts for sure.

I hope they get Baker ready to go. Caper isint an every down back and I dont see the talent with Ray, Anderson, Jimmerson, Leggett.

"There are no next times when you're competing for big things." - Tom Izzo
Go Spartans

by msufan23 on Oct 10, 2009 5:26 PM CDT reply actions

No Redshirt for Baker

Baker has to play now, he has to wait for the holes as Caper has learned. The O-Line seems solid and that will help. Tough luck for Winston, he was looking very good.

by MSU1978 on Oct 10, 2009 6:17 PM CDT reply actions