Biggies and Slappies: Northwestern
by LVS on Oct 27, 2010 5:00 AM CDT
in Michigan State Spartans Football
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Tougher to choose winners and losers this week, because there were so many up-and-down performances in an up-and-down game. So, fewer recipients than usual this time around. On we go:
BIGGIES
The entire receiving corps. Mark Dell, B.J. Cunningham, Keith Nichol, Bennie Fowler, and Charlie Gantt. Each of them made absolutely critical plays in the game.
- Dell had two touchdown catches to keep MSU in the game, including a more-difficult-than-it-looked catch on Cousins' fastball for the second touchdown.
- Cunningham had the catch of the year to give MSU the lead, and six of his other seven catches went for first downs.
- Keith Nichol made two enormous catches in long yard situations during the go-ahead 4th quarter drive: 18 yards on 2nd-and-20, and 14 yards on 3rd-and-15.
- Bennie Fowler did a fantastic job filling in for Keshawn Martin, and was a critical actor in two of the game's biggest plays: the 3rd quarter end around touchdown, and, of course, the 4th quarter fake punt reception.
- Charlie Gantt made a nice catch in traffic to convert a critical fourth down on the go-ahead drive.
Remarkable play from an incredibly deep position group. Biggies to all.
Tyler Hoover. MSU's best defensive player two weeks in a row. Hoover led the team in tackles, had two sacks, and was a general menace to Dan Persa throughout the second half. Oh, and made perhaps the biggest play in the game by forcing a fumble at the MSU one yard line. He was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for his performance, and deservedly so; he'll have to come up huge again this Saturday.
Kirk Cousins. Had some first half struggles, which can mostly be attributed to the nasty weather and poor pass protection from the offensive line. But in the second half, he was unstoppable, and his final statistics are eye-popping: 29-43 for 331 yards, 3 touchdowns, and no interceptions. Cousins went 7-8 for 98 yards (!) on the go-ahead drive. Cousins is becoming one of the best quarterbacks in school history right before our eyes.
Mark Dantonio. The gutsy fake punt call on fourth down seemed remarkable at the time, but is even more impressive after learning the backstory:
As it turned out, MSU was baiting the trap with its whole fourth-down charade. The Spartans had noticed on tape that NU junior cornerback Jordan Mabin, when he guarded gunners in "safe punt" situations, would chuck his man for about 10-15 yards and then peel toward the sideline to avoid having the coffin-corner punt bounce off him. [ . . . ]
Just as the Spartans figured, Mabin chucked Fowler for several yards and then headed toward the sideline to avoid disaster. That explains why Mabin couldn't find the ball and went in a circle as Bates lobbed a pass downfield to Fowler for a 21-yard gain and first down.
That is indisputably faaantastic. Dantonio also gets tons of credit in my book for leading a team that, when confronted with a major deficit for the first time this season, stayed calm, chipped away, and ultimately came up with all the answers. This is national coach of the year-type stuff.
Slappies, after the jump.
SLAPPIES
Dan Conr--ha, just kidding. The 100% record wasn't going to last forever. No worries.
The offensive line. This one's real, unfortunately. For the second consecutive week, MSU was unable to establish any kind of running game in the first half because there were absolutely no holes for our running backs to run through. That's sort of understandable against Illinois, which has a very good defensive line. While Northwestern's run defense was ranked decently high going into Saturday's game (48th nationally), every Northwestern blogger I spoke to last week (all 2 of them!) was scared that MSU's rushing attack was going to grind the Wildcats into oblivion. That obviously didn't happen. MSU hasn't had a bye week yet, and it may be that the o-line is simply banged up. But this week presents the season's biggest test, and a wildly improved effort will be necessary to pass.
As always, award your own Biggies and Slappies (or something in-between) in the comments.
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Cousins
Not only is Cousins becoming one of our best quarterbacks, I bet he will become one of our most successful NFL quarterbacks as well. Unless he’s drafted by the Lions, he’ll have a Super Bowl ring or two by the time he retires.
Flying Under the Radar
Obviously I’d love for him to have incredible success at MSU including back-to-back national titles, but for his long-term NFL success he’s probably right about where he needs to be. If he gets drafted between 10-25 by a good team with a solid but aging QB so there’s no rush to put him right in, he’ll do great.
For example – get drafted in 2012 by the Colts, Peyton Manning is 34 years old now, he’ll be 36 then and Cousins can learn for two years and then take -over when Peyton retires.
D-line
Biggie for passing downs. Persa had by far his worst game this year and we sacked him 8 times. Slappy for running downs. NW hasn’t been able to run on anybody, but they had good success against us.
I really don’t know what to expect from these guys against Iowa’s quality o-line. All year we’ve been pretty solid against the run until last game. We’ve also struggled to pressure the QB except for the last two games where we’ve put up 12 total sacks. On a related note, we return 7 of our top 8 defensive lineman for next year. If Hoover keeps on playing well and Gholston improves after a full offseason at DE we’ll be loaded. Those two plus Worthy could wreak havoc on opposing QB’s.
Getting Pickelman and Treadwell back will help the run D.
Those two guys platooning at NT become key to gap control (run defense) in the middle.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens. My unfounded wild-a** predictions:
- I think we’ll have a “disappointing” day by the DL against the quality Iowa offensive line
- The DL will occupy the Iowa O-line and any pressure will come from blitzes
- We’ll all wring our hands about the lack of pass rush.
- Simultaneously and seemingly unrelatedly, Iowa will have an “off” day running the ball, as the MSU D-line does their job controlling the gaps.
Will Nardo install additional DB blitzes and zone blitz schemes against Iowa’s decidedly non-spready offense? Will he dial up additional delayed twists and blitzes by Jones and Gordon? I’m sure he’s got something up his sleeve. Dantonio has hinted that the MSU coaches watch a lot of film and are obviously reading and correcly exploiting opponents’ tendencies.
One thing’s for sure — no one can accuse MSU of looking past Iowa to Iowa….
I had a feeling Conroy was missig that kick
Between the shittyness of our play, the reverse curse by the guys calling the game, and the difficult angle I called a miss. That being said, I’m glad he finally missed. It will take the pressure off him, and he missed in a game we came back and won – I am sure it’s not eating away at him, as it would have had we lost by 2.
Definitely thought of the announcers cursing him as they talked about it being a possible record breaking kick. Glad I am not the only one mired in superstition. I also have wore the same long sleeve shirt and boxers ever since the Wisconsin game every saturday (I have washed them each week because it hasn’t caused a problem yet). My fiancee has wore the same zip up jacket also.
by spartanhockey89 on Oct 27, 2010 9:53 AM CDT up reply actions
I'd give Biggies to
Edwin Baker – he average 7.3 yards per carry. Even if you eliminate that final 25 yard run he was still over 5 YPC on the day and the lone bright spot for our running game.
Eric Gordon – the INT to seal the game and he had 6 tackles and one sack. Also Jerel Worthy for his bull rushing – I think he really got into Persa’s head.
I don’t think they deserve Biggies, but the secondary played OK – we held Persa to well below his season average for completion percentage. They did hurt us with their running game, but we kept their passing game in check better than I was afraid we would.
by TheCrestedHelm on Oct 27, 2010 10:43 AM CDT reply actions
Some issues
Your first two biggies there both had some problems.
Baker was mostly good, and I won’t fight you too much, but he did have that horrible fumble in the first half. And Eric Gordon was pretty mediocre I thought. Persa made him look silly on back to back plays. Both he and Worthy were regularly blocked, out of position, or missed tackles on Persa’s running plays. Gordon’s game sealing INT was a well under thrown desperation gift of a pass.
Also on Gordo's int
I was furious that Gordon actually tried to return that INT like he was a running back or something. Go down and the game is OVER! Why risk fumbling ESPECIALLY when you are not an experienced ball carrier?! To me that was worse than Baker scoring at the end (which still made me mad.)
During both Baker's TD
and Gordon’s INT, everybody in my section was screaming “GO DOWN!!!”
Of course, in the heat of the moment, when your whole life you’ve been trained to keep going until you are stopped, it can be tough to remember to go down. The ONLY time I can ever remember something like that is Brian Westbrook a few years ago for the Eagles going down on the 2 to preserve a 1 point win. And he was the epitome of a pro.
Thankfully, our guysheld on both times!
Boy you guys are hard to please
I think an INT, 6 tackles and a sack is a pretty good game for a linebacker. The guy effectively ends the game and all you can do is find things to complain about. As for Worthy, he got plenty of praise in the game thread and had 1.5 sacks for 12 lost yards plus a QB hurry.
by TheCrestedHelm on Oct 27, 2010 2:08 PM CDT up reply actions
Gordon
He had a good stat line, but how many missed tackles did he have? There were several times where he had guys (especially Persa) lined up for a TFL (or at least a very small gain), and totally whiffed on the tackle. I think he had a pretty mediocre day aside from the INT
"It's a trap!"
by AdmiralAkbar on Oct 27, 2010 2:26 PM CDT up reply actions
I thought we were all about stats here
I have no idea how many tackles he missed on Saturday. From my perspective, a lot of folks were missing tackles on Persa, Trumpy, and Adonis. I can’t say without going back over the game tape whether his missed tackle per opportunity ratio was higher than other LBs or defenders in general. I can say he had 6 tackles, one sack, and came up with one of the two turnovers the defense accounted for on the day.
He gets a biggie from me – those who disagree can soak their heads : )
by TheCrestedHelm on Oct 27, 2010 4:26 PM CDT up reply actions
Half-@$$ing it.
So the reason Baker keeps running and Gordon ran as well is because they are not doing the above. It is the difference between those who are content with what they are given and those who believe they can do more. If these two were panicked and thought they were about to lose the game they might have gone down… thinking they did just enough and the important thing was the W. I don’t know for sure what was in their heads, but I’m guessing they wanted more than what was given to them. If your whole life is college and football (with a tilt to football) and you believe in yourself and your team, you go for the end zone. If you’re going to call it a victory at the end of the 60 min, you go all in, give it your best and if you come up short so be it. If the other team beats you as a result of a risk you took, so be it. But if you didn’t even try… even if the rest of the team carried you through to a win, what would you say to yourself days, weeks, years later… many of us readers here know this by heart (and are maybe here instead of out there because of it), “What if?”
Personally, I hope Coach D. NEVER coaches this team or any in the future to play just well enough to win. I hope he coaches them to stay hungry, work their hardest and accept the consequences of their actions.
I think Vince Lombardi had a similar outlook in saying, “I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle — victorious.”
If you want leadership with the Spartans, you’ve got it. Don’t slam them for it. So far I think Coach D. has this team on an amazing track to be winners, no matter the scores at games’ end.
by Withshieldoronit on Oct 27, 2010 7:07 PM CDT up reply actions
You play to win the game!
Strategy should be dictated by that decision. If you take a knee you have a 99.999% chance of winning (basically, the only way you can lose is if you botch the victory formation). If you take it to the end zone the chance is significantly lower – still pretty high (probably 95% or so), but from a game theory perspective it’s so obviously the wrong play that you shouldn’t even need to think about it. Taking a knee there isn’t “not trying”, it’s the final act of a victory.
I guarantee you that the regret of costing your team the game if you fumble and NW scores (or, in Baker’s case, if NW scores after you gave them the ball back down 8) would be orders of magnitude higher than any you might feel for taking the sure one-point win instead of punching it in and getting a probable bigger win at some risk of not getting the win at all.
by SpartanDan on Oct 27, 2010 8:08 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
I'm with you Dan
Nobody was accusing our guys of not trying. And it’s not like everybody wasn’t super pumped when Baker punched it in. In the stands we were debating whether, up 7, Coach D should go for 2 to go up 2 scores, or kick the sure PAT to make NU still have to get a TD & conversion for a tie. But like Dan said, the football play to win the game is to take a knee.
I remember when Renaldo Hill intercepted an OSU pass in the end zone at the end of the 4th in the Horseshoe in ’98 to ruin the Buckeyes perfect season. He promptly ran it out to about the 2, instead of taking a knee. So we had to actually run a couple of plays instead of the V formation, or else be safetied. But we all still loved Hill for sealing the huge W!!!!!!
In defense of Baker
I didn’t realize the touchdown wasn’t the optimal decision until a minute after I stopped cheering. I can easily see how he’d keep going.
by Pete Rossman on Oct 27, 2010 8:42 PM CDT up reply actions
Oh, I don't mean to be incredibly harsh about it
It’s not something you think about except in that very last series, and it goes against your instincts a little bit. But it is worth considering, and frankly I’d expect it to be brought up during the NW timeout by the coaching staff. A very minor quibble compared to the things we did right, though.
We talked about that in the live game thread, too.
In the stands we were debating whether, up 7, Coach D should go for 2 to go up 2 scores, or kick the sure PAT to make NU still have to get a TD & conversion for a tie.
Especially after the offside penalty on NU to move the ball to the 1 1/2.
Hey! I'm tryin' to eat lunch here!
After the penalty, that's an interesting decision
Before that, I have to think we’re more likely to stop their two than make our own. But after, it actually might be the right call. (Then again, given our difficulty in 3rd-and-1 situations the past year and a half maybe we’d be better off with the try from the 3.)
Going for it.
Excellent point on the game theory side. Though I think with the passion and intensity at play the game theory isn’t always foremost in their minds. Also with the regret, you’re right that a fumble leading to a loss in that game would have been heartbreaking for anyone. But what is overlooked is the confidence such acts carry—the only people who thought these two acts might lose the team the game were in the stands.
As a team these Spartans believe in each other. Probably a lot of the team on the sideline knew the possible consequences of going for the end zone and knew the smart thing to do would be to take a knee. The only place these two Spartans are being berated though is here, out in the public by us watching from the cheapseats, not by the teammates on the field.
I think another grab from Vince’s speech may be appropriate, “Some guys play with their heads. That’s O.K. You’ve got to be smart to be number one in any business. But more importantly, you’ve got to play with your heart, with every fiber of your body. If you’re lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he’s never going to come off the field second.”
It seems we’re each backing either the view of more heart or more head is needed. My point is, neither player did anything wrong. By stat sheet or just thrill of the game they each did something very right.
For these reasons it disappoints me to read the fanbase here continuing to rail on them. (Not quite as much as the midgame comments from some, but that’s another topic for another time). I’m sure someone has already keyed them in to something to think about for the next game, which is still “Pound Green Pound” and for now includes, “Beat Iowa!”
Go State!
by Withshieldoronit on Oct 27, 2010 10:17 PM CDT up reply actions
Bennie Fowler
What a breakout performance, huh? I was wondering who was next in line in a deep receiver corps.
Although I would think Fowler is more Mark Dell’s heir-apparent, than Keyshawn’s.
Probably, though he played more because Martin was injured
And the end-around was a play designed for Keshawn, I’m sure.
PP-TPW.
The Only Colors
Bell and Baker
I don’t know why, but they seem to want to shove the ball in Bell’s hands just as much as Baker’s, and he just isn’t getting it done. It’s kind of a strange decision to me, I’d like to see Baker take over and Bell used a couple times a game as a change of pace. Despite his size, Bell is too tentative to even be counted on to pick up a single critical 3rd and 1.
"Too tentative...to even be counted on..." -- HUH?!?!?
Are you talking about the 3rd and 1 where MSU ran the zone stretch to the short side of the field, and NU controlled the gaps? [That’s more on the playcall and the O-line than on Bell.]
Or the one where he slipped on the wet, sloppy field and fell down? [That’s more on the field conditions than on Bell, he was trying to make his cut upfield.]
Or was there another one I missed?
Over the last 2 games, Bell has 18 carries for 25 yards.
In the same period, Baker has 18 carries for 96 yards.
They were both competing on the same field, and Baker has clearly separated himself. Despite that, they are getting the exact same amount of carries. You can’t chalk that up to just playcalling.
By the way
If you go to the open game thread and search the word “tentative” you will find it applied to Le’Veon Bell (and not by me) on two different occasions.
Being tentative with sloppy footing...
…especially after he fell down once already on a key 3rd down, is not unexpected — especially of a true freshman.
And you shouldn’t just look at the yards over the extremely small sample size of two games (18 carries each) and call them “separated”. Game situation, weather conditions, overall type of defense faced, defensive scheme used when Bell is in vs Baker….all of those things have an impact on yardage.
Bell may have some things he needs to work on, I’m not denying your point on that at all. But it is too hasty to say that Bell isn’t getting it done. The run game as a whole “isn’t getting it done” compared to the first 6 games of the season.
I'm not sayin Bell isn't a great player
I practically had a mancrush on him in the beginning of the season. I’m very excited about having him for 4 years. I just think they need to do a little Rick Porcello on him and send him down to the minor leagues for a bit to figure himself out.
Bell is the same runner he was earlier in the season.....
…..but earlier he was called “patient” rather than tentative. Bell did a good job early in the season of following his blocks out to the 2nd level. Now, those blocks and holes are disappearing more quickly as we go up against better teams with stronger & faster D-lines, so if Bell doesn’t hit the hole immediately, the play isn’t going anywhere. It’s something that he’ll learn with experience, when to duck your shoulder and GO, and when to string a play out and wait for a hole to open.
Baker should definitely be getting the bulk of the carries, as he’s faster and more explosive, and tougher to bring down. I expect Caper will see his role increase as well (when Caper has gotten the ball, he’s done good things).
by Spartan D on Oct 27, 2010 1:08 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
He's had a couple bad games
but he’s still averaging 6.4 yards per carry. I think it’s too early to give up on him, but it was obvious on Saturday that Baker was the guy bringing it. I think they should continue to split carries, but if one guy is really having a great day they should start sending most of the carries his way.
by TheCrestedHelm on Oct 27, 2010 4:29 PM CDT up reply actions
Bell/Baker
I agree Baker has been the better overall back of the two, but I think it’s premature to start saying he should be the every series, every down back.
I think a large reason he’s been successful is because of the rotation they have. It keeps all of them fresh. I think if the offensive line gets back to the way they played early in the season there will be plenty of success for all three backs.
Off topic
But I would guess it’s a topic our hosts don’t mind someone else bringing up. Anybody know where the Spartan tip off previews are being carried? I saw on Maple Street Press they were to hit newsstands yesterday.
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