Everybody Hurts

by KJ@theonlycolors on Sep 19, 2009 7:34 PM CDT in Michigan State Spartans Football

But does it have to hurt THIS much? In two consecutive weeks?

Hopefully, one of us will have the emotional fortitude to post our thoughts about the game later tonight or tomorrow morning.

Until then, wallow in the hurt.

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Lots of expletives come to mind...

That “will we ever win again” feeling comin’ on again….

(I know it’s ridiculous because we came oh so close, so we’re still a decent team, but there it is nonetheless)

by NoPoSparty on Sep 19, 2009 7:51 PM CDT reply actions

Too early to quit on the season.

Don’t be a SOS.

by CPT Hoolie on Sep 19, 2009 7:58 PM CDT reply actions

The hurt

Well, I hit the weights for an hour or so and took a shower, and now I must say that I’m not too disappointed anymore.

I’m still of the opinion that MSU was a couple of games lucky last year and that that gaudy 9-4 record and a New Year’s Day game raised expectations unreasonably. A return to a bowl game—any bowl game—for a third consecutive year would still be the kind of progress that MSU fans should applaud. Particularly with a coach in his third year who is still building a deeper team, a new starting qb, and a corps of freshmen in the backfield.

This game felt like progress to me. The CMU game felt nightmarish to me as I listened on the radio—a slow march into ignobility. That game would have been a disappointment even had MSU won it. This game felt more like a well-matched prize fight, with the two teams trading blows pretty equally. MSU made more significant mistakes (2 turnovers) and lost. But MSU was supposed to make more mistakes—MSU is the team with all the kids and ND is the team with the experienced line and backs. (How long have Clausen and Armando Allan been around? Man, it feels like 40 years with all I’ve heard about them, but I know that can’t be because I’m only 33.)

This was the return for the Iowa game last year. Last year MSU was lucky to get Iowa early in the season, before they hit their stride. And this year ND was lucky to get MSU early in the season, before MSU hits their stride. By December, MSU will be the better team. Cousins will learn not to make that pass, Ray will squeeze the ball better, and Dantonio will have them back in a bowl game.

I still expect a bowl game in December and I still expect 2010 and 2011 to look even better. And I expect MSU to win two of three to start the Big Ten season.

by njd on Sep 19, 2009 8:53 PM CDT reply actions

I know that we’re much better team and heading into a better direction but … the last two weeks feel like I’m reliving any November of the John L. Smith Era.

Fire Jim Leyland

And now at Beyond the Boxscore and Project Prospect!

by Mike Rogers on Sep 19, 2009 9:49 PM CDT reply actions

Concurrence ...

…It definitely feels like a JLS-type let-down these last two weeks, which has caused me to go from panic to consternation to a sort of melancholy resignation. Whereas going into the season I had been hoping for a New Year’s Day bowl, right now I’d be satisfied with anything better than the Pizza! Pizza! bowl.

Man looks in the abyss, there's nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character. And that is what keeps him out of the abyss. -- Lou Mannheim, Wall Street

by ChiSpartan on Sep 21, 2009 8:45 AM CDT up reply actions

I'm already over it

There were a few big plays which we didn’t make, but we played much, much better against a tough team on the road. I’m confident in our team’s fortunes under Cousins.

And, we’re winning next week in Madison.

"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 Sep 19, 2009 10:01 PM CDT reply actions

Our secondary got torched repeatedly. I didn’t see much of the first half, but in the second it felt like every other play for the Irish was “screw it, send ’em deep” and we couldn’t do anything that remotely resembled coverage. (Of course, ND’s receivers are better than we’re going to face in any other game this year, probably by a wide margin.)

Why was Nichol rotated in again anyway? Cousins had been tearing it up based on the first half stats, and we send out Nichol to start the second half (after Jimmah marches ND down the field) and it’s a quick three and out. That’s two close games that rotating our QBs has potentially cost us already. The QB battle should have been settled last week. I understand that switching things up can throw the defense off their stride, but it’s taking our offense out of rhythm even more. This needs to stop. NOW.

(That may sound excessively negative for as well as we played on the whole. But it’s hard not to be critical when the coaching staff so richly deserves it.)

by SpartanDan on Sep 20, 2009 12:13 AM CDT reply actions

Agree

I was sitting down to write a very similar post. I’m not really knocking Nichol or his abilities, but I wonder what our record would be if Cousins had all the snaps in the last two games. The only way to use Nichol at this point would be if he was strictly option and only brought in to change things up for one drive or so (or something or the sort) With his start in the second half we had an illegal snap and he handed the ball off twice. Great.

luttez pour les seuls couleurs, vert et blanc

by vert_et_blanc on Sep 20, 2009 8:29 AM CDT up reply actions

I was suprised by the QB rotation as well

Not sure why we are still rotating QBs. Cousins was very accurate, and lead (I think) all of our scoring drives. I’m not sure what more he needs to do to win the starting position. I do wish he had heaved that last pass through the end zone and out of play though.

I’m not that completely disappointed with the loss. We were competitive with an ND team that is, at least in theory, pretty good. Had they not been robbed by the refs of a TD, we probably would have needed a touchdown to tie the score at the end. In that context the INT would not have looked quite so bad. Our defense still needs a lot of work though.

I don’t know why ND was even trying to run the ball – they could have just heaved it up there all day long and blown us out. Our secondary will have to improve if we want to win games against teams with a decent passing attack. The offense, when Cousins is running it, looks ahead of where I expected it to be at this point, but the D looks worse than I would have thought possible.

by TheCrestedHelm on Sep 22, 2009 9:31 AM CDT reply actions

Rotation

At first, I was frustrated by the QB rotation as well. However, as I was doing the MSUFR — Offense vs ND (which will be up tonight, I promise), I recognized the chess match going on between Treadwell and Tenuta. ND had adjusted to MSU’s offensive gameplan by changing from a 4-3 set to a 4-2-5 set. Nichol went in as a countermove, adding a running threat. This move was successful — Nichol had two rushes for 14 yards on the touchdown drive capped by the trick play (abetted by two stupid, undisciplined 15-yard penalties by ND) and the second series with Nichol was looking like it would be equally successful — that is, until the Caulton Ray fumble. ND made a counter-countermove to adjust to Nichol, and Treadwell put Cousins back in as a counter-counter-countermove.

I kind of like the ability to change up; if the opponent adjusts to cover MSU’s 3-wide and 4-wide sets, or gets blitz happy, Nichol can run the QB draw or the sprint-out. As long as they don’t ask the quarterbacks to be the same — as long as Treadwell plays to their strengths — the occasional rotation can work. But this should be Cousins’ team, first and foremost.

by CPT Hoolie on Sep 22, 2009 11:08 AM CDT up reply actions