Postgame Thread: MSU 31, Minnesota 24
by SpartanDan on Nov 5, 2011 2:51 PM CDT
in Michigan State Spartans Football
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Well, it's a win. Uglier than any of us imagined (and full credit to Jerry Kill, the Gophers aren't going to be a punchline for too much longer assuming that his health problems do not force him to step down), but the conference standings only record the fact that it was a W.
I don't have much good to say about this one. We got outgained by 14 yards against a team that lost to North Dakota State. We barely cracked 100 rushing yards against a defense that was allowing almost 300 a game. Far too many missed tackles, primarily from guys going for the spectacular hit instead of wrapping up, and we could not get pressure on MarQueis Gray for much of the first half, giving him all day to wait for a receiver to get open. Le'Veon Bell deserves some praise (15 carries, 96 yards, 2 TDs, plus an alert play on the was-it-forward-or-not pass that was, correctly, called back but could have been absolute disaster if it had been a lateral), as do William Gholston (9 solo tackles, 5 assisted, 2 for loss, and a forced fumble) and Trenton Robinson (two interceptions, including the game-clincher). Kirk Cousins turned in another solid day (23/34, 296 yards, 2 TDs, no turnovers) marred solely by taking a sack that knocked us out of FG range late in the 3rd quarter and a few short dump-offs on 3rd and long that had no chance of picking up the first down. But both sides of the ball will have to play much better if we are to come away with the win in Iowa City next week and keep in contention for a trip to Indianapolis.
I'm all for never speaking of this again, but if you must, here's the spot.
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I started drinking before I even brushed my teeth
That’s what watching MSU in Central Time will do to you.
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There are a few empty slabs
From the forest/brush fire back in the Spring (before I moved here to Austin) that haven’t been rebuilt.
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by PittsfieldIndex on Nov 5, 2011 5:11 PM CDT up reply actions
grades for this game.
MSU offense D-
Kirk Cosuins D
“Kirk Cousins turned in another solid day (23/34, 296 yards, 2 TDs, no turnovers) marred solely by taking a sack that knocked us out of FG range late in the 3rd quarter”
Penalty 15 yrads knocking out of FG and almost an INT in the red zone that was dropped. Not good if u are playing the second last game of ur career at MSU by a senior.
MSU Defense C-
Pass defense AWOL.
Will Gholston, Bullough, Marcus Rush, Trenton Robinson A+
Jerel Worthy- where were u? D
Special teams A
Coaching D.
Coach D : You are the defending Big ten champions. You have to get 4rth and 1 with Minny out of time outs. It is game over right there.
It looked like a john L SMith team there.
Oh, right.
I’d blocked the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty out because I’d mentally canceled it out with the equally idiotic one they’d called on Minnesota after the opening TD.
I've got this terrible pain in all the diodes down my left-hand side.
Bradley-Terry rankings for college football and basketball: because there aren't enough computer rankings already.
John L??
Whoa, let’s not say things we can’t take back….
by msuduster on Nov 5, 2011 3:05 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
Worst prepared game of Dantonio's tenure
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by PittsfieldIndex on Nov 5, 2011 3:06 PM CDT up reply actions
Didn't we say that after the LAST Minnesota game?
Minnesota football death spreads like a disease.
i had student section tix for Saban's last yr, and 3 years of Bobby Williams
i graduated when JLS took over..and I thought Bobby Williams was bad. JLS took it to another level.
worst Dantonio game was CMU vs MSU. Unfortunately, i come back to visit my pals and get tix for the stadium, just to see them lose in a bizarre fashion.
It was bizarre
They were poorly coached at the end of that game, but frankly, that was a team that was ripe for an upset as that was when the failed recruiting of John L really caught up to us.
The gulf in talent today was on display, and yet it was a 7-point victory. While it’s nice to see that this program is at the level where we can still win a game while unprepared, it doesn’t change the fact that the team was unprepared and had very few ideas on how to fix things.
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by PittsfieldIndex on Nov 5, 2011 3:21 PM CDT up reply actions
I really don't know that that's fair to Cousins...
For all intents and purposes, he played a pretty solid game. Say what you want about the mental mistakes, but they are not the equivalent of turnovers. The good plays he made FAR outweighed the bad. A C would be the lowest I’d give him, but it’d probably settle at a B- or B.
That said, he probably had the best grade of anyone. Gholston was very good, but outside of him and Trenton Robinson, I don’t know how you could say that the defense as a WHOLE was better than the offense. That Minnesota offense put together a lot of big drives that didn’t State couldn’t do anything to stop and Johnny Adams got picked apart all day. An absolute shocker of a game, that’s for sure…
Blech
We will take it, but the last 2 weeks don’t inspire confidence. Did we peak too early?
I didn’t see much improvement from last week.
And based on Roushar statements, if those passes short of the marker are checkdowns from cousins then yikes.
He just can’t seem to avoid taking bad sacks either.
(never thought I’d be so critical of a 7-2 football team)
by msuduster on Nov 5, 2011 3:03 PM CDT via mobile reply actions
7 wins against nobodies
And yes, I’m including Wisconsin and Michigan in that mix until either of them beat a team of some consequence.
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by PittsfieldIndex on Nov 5, 2011 3:05 PM CDT up reply actions
WI
Is good but still needed 2 4th qtr rallies before falling.
Down year for the big ten. Do we get 2 bcs bids?
by msuduster on Nov 5, 2011 3:23 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
One Bid
To the champion. I think there’s a good chance the title game contenders both have 2 conference losses, and it’s going to be hard to justify the loser of that game or a team that didn’t qualify gets an at-large bid given the mediocrity of the Big Ten this year.
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by PittsfieldIndex on Nov 5, 2011 3:28 PM CDT up reply actions
PSU would have to lose 2 of 3
but hosts UNL, then has @tOSU & @Wisc, so that could happen.
But I could see a B1G team getting an at-large, especially if say, a 1 loss PSU team goes down to us or UNL in the title game.
Unfortunately for us, I don’t see MSU getting an at-large bid if, say, UNL wins out and beats PSU or Wis in the title game. MSU just doesn’t have enough national cache to get an at-large bid as a two loss team.
PSU is interesting
What wins out? The negative stigma over their tire fire offense or
1) their only loss was to a national title contender
2) a retirement gift for JoePa, a la Osborne in 1997.
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by PittsfieldIndex on Nov 5, 2011 3:50 PM CDT up reply actions
Re: WI
They lost to a team that had 89 yards passing, not named GaTech or Navy, 40 yards of which was gained on the go ahead TD. And they had to come back to even make it to that point. You’ll excuse me if I don’t think they’re anything beyond mediocre.
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by PittsfieldIndex on Nov 5, 2011 3:32 PM CDT up reply actions
Wisconsin crushed Nebraska
So that’s ridiculously harsh to say they’re nobodies, but Michigan is pretty terrible and I’ve been saying that from day one.
Is Nebraska any good?
Who’s to say? They had problems with Fresno at home.
That’s the problem with the Big Ten: no signature victories that don’t involve another Big Ten team. What was the conference’s best non-con win? Michigan over ND? That was a fluke and everyone knows it. The bottom of the league lost to Rice, North Texas, New Mexico State and a 1-AA team. It’s not a good conference, and that’s only going to be the rule rather than the exception going forward.
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by PittsfieldIndex on Nov 5, 2011 3:37 PM CDT up reply actions
I don't disagree that B1G is a bad conference...
… They just tend to exist in a vacuum. To say they don’t have a big win is true, but it’s also true that none of these teams have had a big non-con game to be judged against.
Without any truly subjective stats, it’s tough to get a handle on ANY of these teams.
That's the criteria for a BCS at-large, though
And the Big Ten is lacking in those areas.
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by PittsfieldIndex on Nov 5, 2011 4:10 PM CDT up reply actions
Well, yeah. I agree with that.
I’m not arguing that the B1G will only get one at-large bid.
I just think it’s a little unfair to say State’s only beaten “nobodies.”
Minnesota....
… where college football fun goes to die.
I was absolutely certain this was going to be a unsatisfying game, was even happy at the beginning of the season knowing this was at home and wouldn’t go down as another road fiasco.
Weird early games
Indiana hung with OSU, um got screwed in Iowa (me likey), and our attempt at providing an upset.
Odds Nebraska goes down?
by msuduster on Nov 5, 2011 3:20 PM CDT via mobile reply actions 1 recs
100-1
Northwestern is a one-man band, and that man is recuperating from a major injury and doesn’t play defense. Nebraska at -17 at home was a bargain.
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by PittsfieldIndex on Nov 5, 2011 3:23 PM CDT up reply actions
So
You’re saying there’s a chance!
by msuduster on Nov 5, 2011 3:24 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions 1 recs
Well they're up 7-0 in the 2nd Quarter
Making me look like a fool
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by PittsfieldIndex on Nov 5, 2011 3:38 PM CDT up reply actions
Me and my big mouth.
I got Roushared!
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by PittsfieldIndex on Nov 5, 2011 5:09 PM CDT up reply actions
It feels like
The TE’s have completely disappeared from the passing game this season, really since the ND game. It was supposed to be a strength that would help open up the downfield game, as well as the run.
What happened?
by MSUDersh on Nov 5, 2011 3:34 PM CDT via mobile reply actions
I blame Roushar
In passing downs, we’re almost always in 4 WR sets, on PA passes we look for WRs deep.
Schadenfreude ist die schoenste Freude
?sims to fullback?
During the game, we were trying to remember passes Sims caught this year.
He has had some drops which touch his hands! If the ball is thrown and touches
your hands, yikes. Maybe it is getting worse because psychologically he is afraid he will drop another and sees it happening in his mind and he does. Is he a good enough blocker to become a fullback or tackle?
I’d stick with Lithicum and Celek at this point and unless Sims can go 180 in the offseason, develop the the young TE for next season.
Catch 22 for Sims and the coaches. You’d like to give him a chance to have some success, develop but usually when he is going to receive the ball, you really need him
to catch it (ie he is a check down or trying to go for some surprise route to get 3rd down or TD). He does have potential but hard to play him when it counts now. I would say though that among freshmen receivers, i remember BJ Cunningham having several drops where we would groan because the ball was there. They stuck with him, developed him and now he is so reliable, plus goes places to catch balls that most wouldn’t catch. Sims has potential.
by wifeofaspartan on Nov 7, 2011 5:46 AM CST up reply actions
In fairness to Sims
That drop yesterday was a poorly located pass. It was well above his head on a play where he was clearly supposed to catch it in stride.
Schadenfreude ist die schoenste Freude
400 yards to Minnesota is shocking
120 rush yards.
3rd down Minny 7/15.
Defense was bad but they saved the day for MSU.HEnce better grade than offense. Offense had chances to seal the deal and could not. Lower grade deserved.
Marcus Coker might run for 250 on us if we take this performance on the road. Remember Iowa still has Prater, Hyde our nemesis against Kirk cousins.
But couldn't you argue that...
… the only reason they had to “save the day” was because they dug the hole in the first place?
Look at it this way, Cousins took the team the length of the field at the end of the 1st half in less than a minute to get the lead back. That was a HUGE answer. They also rattled off ten points in the 4th to clinch it.
To me, it doesn’t matter WHEN the defense was good/bad, it matters that, over the course of the game, they were much more bad than good.
Overreaction?
MSU was missing starting OL, LBs, and a DB to injury. If people are wondering why this doesn’t look like the same MSU team – it isn’t. B1G football is a marathon, not a sprint. That’s why you have to grind out the tough wins like this is November. There’s a reason Dantonio’s teams have been so much better than past MSU teams late in the season. I congratulate the team for their mental toughness, and tell them to get ready to avenge last year in Iowa City.
MSU -28 was too high
But this was a team with a clear edge in talent, so I don’t use the injuries as an excuse (and Norman has had a poor season anyways) against a QB who can’t throw but ended up looking like Vince Young out there.
They had 106 yards of rushing against a team that was giving up 300/game. A team that also lost to New Mexico State and North Dakota (State?) at home.
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by PittsfieldIndex on Nov 5, 2011 3:49 PM CDT up reply actions
I think Gray
will have a very good year next year. I don’t think saying “he can’t throw” is fair to him. He’s no Denard.
program improving when 3rd string able to execute/Norman is having a good season
Plus with Gardiner hurt, you had former walkon Kyler E #41 in who did make tackles,
My thought during the game was that Norman would have tackled with less yards gained before down than Kyler E.
In fairness to coaches and program – My husband and I said that in past (postSabanera)
years, those injuries would have derailed the rest of the season and there would be no tackles being made because the third string player wouldn’t be fast enough or have practiced enough to be in the right spot. Lippett has taken signif reps w the offense as WR. So not only is he a freshman playing essentially the whole game for Dennard, he has even practiced 100% at that spot. He was a drop-off from Dennard but no big errors and a
definite improvement from M White who is sound but no where near as fast.
Basically, 3rd string Center, luckily experienced QB but again, in the past that would
probably have been a disaster and we would have lost. Is Nate Klatt gone for good due to injury? Supposed to be the center of the future but was injured. Jackson has improved over the season and i think Treadwell’s move to OL was from Klatt injury.
by wifeofaspartan on Nov 7, 2011 5:57 AM CST up reply actions
I hadn't...
…heard that Klatt was hurt, but I did see him suited up on the sidelines.
Very good points about depth. Lippett has done very well as a redshirt frosh, just like Good Dennard did last year as a true frosh.
The other thing that’s impressive is the highly-touted recruits who aren’t playing. We’ve lost a 4-star QB and a 4-star tackle to injury, had a pair of 4-star wideouts who’ve transferred. Oh and we’re redshirting the best high school player in the state last year, LB Lawrence Thomas, who plays at a position we only had one returning starting at.
Dantonio’s found quality depth.
Good game
Never know about conference games, they can go either way. MN’s freshmen are starting to build some confidence, hope we can bump Whiskey off at home and get the Axe. If get our starting offensive line and a couple of defensive backs healthy we might just do it. Good luck the rest of the way
Roushar has to go
Several inconceivable decisions during this game, plus the awful strategy he used last week (and the ND game). It’s clear he’s not a good OC, open the checkbook and hire someone with a resume.
Schadenfreude ist die schoenste Freude
by Seer on Nov 5, 2011 4:03 PM CDT reply actions 5 recs
Um, this
As much as I don’t want to bash Roushar, our offense this year has every weapon conceivable yet cannot move the ball consistently. I know Coach D likes to keep personnel close to home, but it’s time we made a change.
Now hold on a minute.
The MSU offense gained 402 total yards and scored 31 points, both above the season averages of 363.25 yards/game and 26.0 points/game. And that’s worthy of a D- and a “Roushar has to go”???? WTF, you guys? What would it take to get an A, 1000 yards of total offense and 78 points?
The MSU defense had a below average performance of 415 yards and 24 points allowed (previous average 228.75 and 15 points allowed). How is that Roushar’s fault? Where’s the calls to FIRE NARDUZZI?
Ultimately, the only number that really mattered was 7, as in 7 point margin of victory.
An A grade?
Maybe giving the ball to our RB’s more than 23 times would get a higher grade. Bell has momentum right now, imagine if he had gotten the ball 20-25 times over the last two weeks.
In the 2 losses and struggle yesterday, MSU RB’s have rushing attempt totals of 17, 22 and 23. Even the idiot BTN announces clearly saw that the minute things start to go pear-shaped, Roushar gets away from the run.
Offense is 53rd in passing yards, 85th in rushing, 67th in scoring and 104th in red zone efficiency. With that talent and against that schedule. It’s pretty easy to assign blame.
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by PittsfieldIndex on Nov 6, 2011 9:23 AM CST up reply actions
Really?
I remember a lot of runs for 0 and 1 yard. If you want to blame Roushar for designing poor run plays, I guess that’s ok. But it’s hard to just play RUNRUNRUN when it’s always 2nd and 10.
I wasn’t thrilled with the offense yesterday, but amazed there’s not much griping about how poor the defense looked.
Bell had over 6 YPC
That deserves more than ~12 touches.
O-line as much to blame for the minimal gain runs
as are the RBs. You can’t get yards if there is no push, and the first contact is in the backfield.
We have a bulldozer in Anderson
Whether the OL has improved or not is something that can be debated, but if it’s still a problem, I’d prefer to have a lead blocker the caliber of Anderson escorting my RB’s.
And yet we line up in Ace a ton and run stretch plays. We’ve been doing that since Youngstown State. It didn’t work that day, and it’s still not working right. It’s clear that formation is primarily run, since the TE’s are no longer part of the passing offense. And that’s the maddening part, this was an issue from the first game of the season and a coaching staff that has a history of being able to make the right adjustment hasn’t been able to maximize the talent at their disposal on offense: a senior QB, three RB’s who could start for any team in the Big Ten, a receiving corps of similar quality and an improving offensive line, and yet they’ve put up the offensive rankings I noted above against FBS defenses that average 48th in total defense.
This team is 7-2 because of the defense, and while their performance was certainly uneven yesterday, they’ve built up a high line of credit, as it were.
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by PittsfieldIndex on Nov 6, 2011 12:45 PM CST up reply actions
I love Anderson too
But a lead blocker on running plays is in there to take out the LB or SS at the second level. A big part of the OL issues is that they aren’t getting any push, & are letting our RBs get hit in the backfield.
If the first contact by the D is behind the LOS, the RB is at a major disadvantage. But of the OL can open a hole that the FB leads the RB through, then you have potential to bust a huge play, because now it’s CBs & FS left that have to take down a big RB who is moving full speed.
Oh NM I mis-read your post
At first glance, I thought you were saying that Anderson playing more would make up for the OL deficiencies, but your post is more questioning the wisdom of not lining him up enough, period.
And yeah I would like to see him more in the passing game, he is a terrific blocker in the backfield, plus has hands.
We sure as hell better do better than our season average against Minnesota.
The instant anything goes wrong at all, Roushar abandons the run. (As for Narduzzi, I’m not happy with the way this game was called either – where did our pass rush go? – but one awful game does not negate the many good ones the defense has had.)
I've got this terrible pain in all the diodes down my left-hand side.
Bradley-Terry rankings for college football and basketball: because there aren't enough computer rankings already.
Point is
People are rushing to jump on Roushar’s back for MSU only winning by 7. Had MSU won the game 31-3, guarantee you those same people would have said “that’s how you bounce back from a poor offensive performance”. Yet the closeness of the Minnesota game was on the defense, not the offense.
Narduzzi called a bad game too
But most of the offense’s success was in spite of play-calling.
Multiple times yesterday the team went for it on 4th down but made no effort to pick up at least short yardage on 3rd down to make 4th easier. Then there’s the 4th and 9 where Keshawn gets the ball 6 yards short of the markers and is tackled immediately. On the flip side, this staff passed on multiple opportunities to convert 4th and 1 on the worst rush defense in the conference.
And on that last note, Roushar continues to call slow developing plays and long passes without having the threat of running between the tackles because it’s obvious by now that MSU has no commitment to a power run game. (BTW, how Caper is getting the start over Bell is indefensible with how often he’s fumbling, and this is on Roushar and Dantonio)
Watching the game at the stadium, between fuming over only being up 4 on freaking Minnesota, I realized in the first half that MSU stopped themselves on offense to a far greater extent than Minnesota had, and most of that was coaching decisions and execution (I’m not going to excuse players here either, Kirk killed at least 3 pts by himself, Caper fumbled deep in our territory [again] and several receivers and pass defenders had big drops, plus the missed tackles that lead to the first Gopher TD)
Schadenfreude ist die schoenste Freude
Larry Caper...
has 1 fumble this year.
I am assuming you mean Edwin Baker getting the start. Ed Baker has a grand total of 2 fumbles.
MSU’s leader in fumbles: Keyshawn Martin. With 3. Yet I don’t see anyone calling for KMart to be benched or saying that it’s indefensible how KMart is getting the start over Bennie Fowler who has zero fumbles.
Fumbles are misleading and are generally random occurrences. They also occur a lot less frequently than we imagine. this season MSU has fumbled fifteen times. MSU’s opponents have fumbled sixteen times. Fumbles are luck (or randomness, if you prefer).
Finally, how is Caper (or Baker) fumbling on Roushar and Dantonio? Have you read Three and Out yet? Tate Forcier is described as carrying the football “like a sponge, waving it around like he’s washing a car”. Yet for all the coaching he receives, he won’t break the habit. And he still plays because he gives the team the best chance to win.
As for the power run game: We all know that the offensive line is a patchwork. How many starts prior to this year did anyone not named “Joel Foreman” have? Roushar could demonstrate that he’s “committed to power run game” by running the ball 40 times off tackle for 2 yards a pop, would that make you happy?
Don't prove your point with hypotheticals
Bell is averaging 5.2 a rush this season. A steady diet of Bell is unlikely to produce 2 yards per carry, particularly against Minnesota or anyone else on MSU’s schedule..
This team can run the ball. They did so yesterday when given the opportunity. They did so against Nebraska when the plays were called. The best drive against ND was power running setting up throws to the TE. The frustration is with the lack of commitment, especially when Dantonio believes that establishing the run is a priority. His OC’s behavior contradicts that belief. And it comes on the heels of the Nebraska game where Bell was again underutilized (12-60 against a team whose safety’s were just interested in playing cover-2 all day)
Glen Mason pointed out very early yesterday that it appeared State was abandoning the run for trick plays (the fake double reverse is what elicited the remark) and passing the ball more. It’s a long game, it was only 14-7 Minnesota at that point, there’s no need to lose one’s nerve. I was confident things would come together due to the gulf in class between the two squads (and it’s nice to be in that position as an MSU fans) and I’m sitting down in Austin, TX making that judgement. Surely Roushar has to be able to, but game pressure is a funny thing.
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by PittsfieldIndex on Nov 6, 2011 1:50 PM CST up reply actions
How come this team refuses to run draw plays?
I’ve watched every snap this season, as surely many on here have, and I can’t recall one time this season we ran a draw. Whether under center, or in shotgun, its just something that isn’t in the playbook this season.
Draws are a great way to keep the defensive backfield honest, as well as a fantastic way to neutralize an overzealous blitzing team.
Can anybody think of a reason this team has completely abandoned draw plays?
I've wondered the same thing
Seems like an obvious move to make last week against Nebraska’s cover 2 last week.
Schadenfreude ist die schoenste Freude
Given how much passing KC has been doing as of late
You would think it natural to throw in some draws, especially on passing downs.
The hypothetical was overly snarky, I'll admit.
But my point is that one can’t just say things like “need to run the ball more” and “not committed to the run” without looking at both the stats and the game situation.
In the victories, MSU’s run-pass balance was: 60%-40%; 61%-39%; 61%-39%; 50%-50%; 62%-38%; 51%-49%; and 45%-55%. In the losses, the run-pass was: 30%-70% and 53%-47%. Yes MSU went heavy in favor of the pass against Minnesota, but this is as much a function of the game situation: MSU trailed or was tied most of the game, only leading immediately prior to halftime and not again until the 4th quarter.
MSU still ran the ball more than passing in the loss to Nebraska. This despite these rushing results on first down: 6, 11, -2, 3, 2, 0, 1, 2, -3, 8, 11, 9, 4, 3. When faced with 2nd and 7+ on 8 of 14 opportunities, you pretty much have to throw.
I think the frequency of trick plays is an overblown stat too; we remember the one or two unusual events rather than the dozen mundane off-tackle runs.
One thing’s for sure: it’s nice to be in the position where we are complaining about a win. MSU is 7-2 when they shoulda-coulda-woulda been 5-4.
It's not how many, it's what type of running play
The non productive run plays have been off tackle and usually the left tackle. The sweeps to the right side of the line and between the tackles were very productive against Nebraska & the Gophers.
The timing of the run plays is an other issue. Productive run plays between the tackle were abandoned for several possessions against the Huskers and then resumed nearly towards the end of the third quarter, UN 17- MSU 3….WTF!
The offense must be scripted and doesn’t account for success or adjustments when results suggest continuing to run it.
Play-calling
I’m still in shock about the kerfuffle that happened on the 3rd offensive play of the game.
Opening kick was returned to our 48, and then Baker broke 2 rushes for 4 yards each. But on 3rd & short, and on MN’s side of the 50, the offense had to call a timeout! Really, on the 3rd play of the game?! At home?!?! Usually the first 10 or so plays of a game are scripted, meaning that they have been in place all week, and the offense should know them.
IMO, that is an example of very poor preparation by the coaches.
Timing of the trick plays is another key
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by PittsfieldIndex on Nov 6, 2011 4:31 PM CST up reply actions
Here's what MSU got running on first down yesterday
4, 15, 2, -4 (fumble), 3 (BJ), 1, 1 (TD), 0, 10, 1, 0, 6, 2, 2. I did this back of the envelope so I apologize if I’m wrong.
Take out the touchdown and BJ run, and the team averaged 3.25 yards per carry on first down. Against a crappy running defense. It’s not as simple as just saying “they are abandoning the run.” They aren’t being terribly effective while running, at least as a whole. They are being pretty effective when Bell runs. They may not think he’s ready for 30 carries a game. They might be wrong on that, I’m starting to think he should be getting all the carries myself, but that creates problems as well.
Take away the fumble and it's a 3.81 average
3 of those equals 11 and some change, in other words a first down.
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by PittsfieldIndex on Nov 6, 2011 4:30 PM CST up reply actions
Mistake on Caper
I meant Baker
I’m pretty sure yesterday was his third. He fumbled against Michigan (was this Caper and I misremembered?), Wisconsin and yesterday against Minnesota.
Recovering fumbles is random, committing them is less so.
And K-Mart probably should be taken off punt returns. He rarely is given a chance to return because other teams fear him but he’s also a liability to muff the high number of punts he sees.
Schadenfreude ist die schoenste Freude
You're right, Baker has 3
teamrankings.com stats were apparently not up to date. Still, Baker has the same number of fumbles as KMart in twice the number of touches,
Martin's fumble problems are maddening
but they’re primarily on punt returns, and his ability to make guys miss is something Fowler doesn’t really bring to the table. Baker doesn’t have any similar advantages over Bell, especially when the OL is having a hard time opening holes (that’s when you want a bulldozer-type RB rather than a shifty one).
I've got this terrible pain in all the diodes down my left-hand side.
Bradley-Terry rankings for college football and basketball: because there aren't enough computer rankings already.
I would like to show Roushar what happens when you attack a defense's weaknesses
just look at the NW-Neb game.
In commercial terms ...
MSU is a low-margin business. They don’t blow ANYONE out, but earn their bread and butter winning close games. That in itself is the polar opposite of “Same Old Sparty,” so I credit the coaches for changing the culture. But at some point, we need to become a team that DOES blow teams the F out. Otherwise we’re just a nice table setter for some good team’s bowl victory.
I think the defense can get there with its young talent, and Gholston is coming along so fast it’s scary. But our offense just isn’t efficient enough to rack up lots of points. Roushar, whatever else he can do, can’t choreograph a game plan with the rhythm and counter-moves that usually make a good play-caller fairly easy to spot. I hope we make a real change, and get someone with a strong recruiting rep as a quarterback guru. Cousins is a nice game manager if you don’t pressure him much, but we ultimately need a real playmaker at QB if we’re going to at least make a competitive game with the BCS clubs.
Next week is big
Wow, looks like the Iowa game could be for the division championship. Although after they way we played today and the way Indiana and NW played we could easily lose all three games :-(
And Nebraska loses to Northwestern
We’re all alone in 1st place
Wow
The conference shake-ups between this week and last week are nuts.
Are we in the seat for the Legends leader? Maybe. But after today’s performance, we’ll come out of Iowa City with our tails between our legs. Hopefully someone beats some sense into Roushar.
Blitz? Pressure?
I was at the game and I find it much harder to parse the game and identify trends in person – compared to watching at home. That said, what happened to the reckless abandon with respect to defensive play calling? On many, many occasions we ran the safety off the line of scrimmage – back 15 to 20 yards. We showed pressure but cycled out of it almost every time. I get that Gray is a mobile QB and that our DE’s couldn’t just run up the field, but this looked like a completely different defense today. Not an incompetent defense (Minnesota’s 400 yards of total offense aside) just not at all interested in pressuring the QB.
Coudn't Agree More
It felt like we didn’t send much pressure all day. That is one of the main reasons our defense has been so successful all year and we just forgot that today. Our d line was clearly not getting enough pressure by themselves and we needed to send help with the blitz.
3 man front allowed Gray too much time
30 front has been working for a couple seasons now, but today Gray was able to evade what rush their was and buy time. That’s a long time for the pass coverage to keep receivers in check.
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by PittsfieldIndex on Nov 5, 2011 7:34 PM CDT up reply actions
There seemed to be some decent pressure, but Gray was really slippery.
He moved around well enough to keep our pass rushers off balance and put a couple of them on their asses with juke moves.
I was really impressed with Gray today, but I don’t think the D brought their best effort. WTF was wrong with Johnny Adams today?
"Everyone who drinks is not a poet. Maybe some of us drink because we're not poets." - Arthur Bach
This game reminded me of Purdue last year.
Doormat smacks MSU in the mouth, we come out flat and finally start playing with some passion in the fourth. The game had the same kind of emotional flow to it.
That said, I think it’s precisely the game we needed before a trip to Iowa City. I think we’re gonna come out on fire down there and play our best road game of the year. My theory is we bounce back from the emotional hangover from NU, and we come highly motivated to deliver payback for getting blasted by the Hawks last year.
Now the one that scares me the most is at Northwestern…but I think we match up better against them than Nebraska, especially on defense.
I like our chances a lot, guys. Lots of hue and cry here for a team that’s 7-2, controls its own destiny, and gets a bunch of banged up guys back after what amounts to a bye week for them. Go Green!
I actually half thought Northwestern would have a shot at Nebraska.
The talk I’d heard from Nebraska fans was that their defense was really, really good against pro-style offenses but had serious problems with mobile QBs. And it’s not as though they’re ideally suited to attack the horrid NW secondary.
I've got this terrible pain in all the diodes down my left-hand side.
Bradley-Terry rankings for college football and basketball: because there aren't enough computer rankings already.
...
Dear Michigan State
Funny thing happened on the way to the B1G championship. I was just sitting here enjoying the drivers seat of this sleek little divison machine,and suddenly i got attacked by this crazy brainiac!! He beat the crap outta me,and my eyes are just too swollen now. Please,take over driving duties,i’m goin to the back seat to try to sleep this off
Thanks, Nebraska
by Omahusker on Nov 6, 2011 7:35 AM CST reply actions 1 recs
Dear Big Red,
We were almost as overconfident as youse guys. Penn State is the real unknown commodity. Do you think Alabama could have used our placekicker? All those 5 stars and a 1 star PK.
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