FanPost

Previewing MSU's Opponents: Jacksonville State (Week 1)

We are now within 40 days of the college football season beginning. While 2013 was one of MSU's most successful seasons ever, it is time to turn the page and start getting prepared for 2014. One way I'm going to try to help us get prepared for 2014 is by previewing all 12 (which we hope to be 14 or 15) games this season. First up is none other than FCS Jacksonville State.

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School: Jacksonville State Gamecocks
All-Time Series Record: First ever meeting
2013 Result: 11-4 (5-3 in OVC); Lost to Eastern Washington in the FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals
Head Coach: John Grass (1st year)
Returning Starters: 18 (9 offense, 6 defense, 3 specialists)
Fun Facts: The school is located in Jacksonville, Alabama, not Jacksonville, Florida ... They have won the Ohio Valley Conference three times - 2003, 2004, and 2011 ... Their all-time record is 498-340-40... Notable alumni: Todd Jones (former MLB pitcher), Randy Owen (lead singer of the band Alabama), Ryan Perrilloux (former LSU top recruit).

Overview: The Gamecocks are lead by their third different head coach in three seasons. After the 2012 season Jack Crowe was fired from the program. Bill Clark, 2013's head man, took the jump to UAB after his lone season in Jacksonville. It is now John Grass's team. Grass was the Offensive Coordinator of last seasons team, and before that was a wildly successful High School coach in the state of Alabama. So while this is his first head coaching job at the collegiate level, it isn't his first time being the leader of a team.

Grass's offense uses multiple formations and can beat you with both the pass and run. They averaged 5.7 yards per play last season, which would be about 60th in FBS last season. They were able to both pass and run for over 200 yards per game, despite having to play 3 different Quarterbacks due to injury. In 2013, the Gamecocks' offense was a record breaking machine, setting 49 school records, 13 Ohio Valley Conference records, and 3 NCAA records. The Gamecocks were a quick strike offense, having 24 drives end in a score in less than one minute. They return both their leading rusher - Damarcus James - and leading receiver - Josh Barge. At Quarterback, while they have a familiar name in Max Shortell (formerly a Minnesota Golden Gopher), it appears the dual-threat Eli Jenkins will begin the season as the starter.

On defense they are lead by co-Defensive Coordinators David Blackwell and Brandon Hall. They run a 5-2, which isn't exactly your typical defense run by a football team. They allowed 4.9 yards per play, which would rank inside the Top 25 in FBS last year. If you're going to beat the Gamecocks, it's going to have to be on the ground. In terms of Yards per Attempt (Y/A), their 5.7 mark would have been in the Top 10 in FBS. Their Yards per Carry (Y/C), however, was a mediocre 4.3, which would have placed in the 70s in FBS rankings. The biggest reason for their success in the passing game was due to their elite pass rush, which recorded 52.0 sacks last season. That mark would've been first in all of FBS last season, both as a total and as a per game mark. MSU's revamped offensive line will have to make protecting Connor Cook it's first priority in this game.

Final Analysis: If you study the numbers put up by Jacksonville State last season, you can see why Mark Hollis and Mark Dantonio wanted them on the schedule this year. The Gamecocks were a high paced offense who ran an average of 77 plays per game. The Spartans second opponent, the highly dangerous Oregon Ducks, ran almost 75 plays per game last season. Clearly, Dantonio didn't want his new-look defense to go into Autzen Stadium with almost zero experience against a high tempo offense. While the Gamecocks don't nearly have the athletes to compare to Oregon, schematically, the defense should be able to get a feel of what to expect for their Week 2 showdown.

It will be a good day for MSU if: Connor Cook kicks off 2014 how he ended 2013, looking like one of the two best Quarterbacks in the conference... the Offensive Line limits the damage done by JSU's pass rush and overpowers them in the run game ... the defense is playing the reserves by the middle of the 3rd quarter.

It will be a bad day for MSU if: Anyone suffers a significant injury, especially a key contributor (Connor Cook, Jeremy Langford, Shilique Calhoun, Trae Waynes, Kurtis Drummond, etc.) ... the starters are still playing deep into the 4th quarter ... we have a repeat of 2013 with the weather.

Bold Prediction: Damion Terry gets reps for the final 20 minutes of the game and dazzles with at least one run > 20 yards.

My Call: As with any FCS teams, MSU holds a clear athletic advantage. Both lines should dominate this game and the defense should slow down JSU's high tempo offense to below 300 total yads. I think the first string defense will still get time in the 3rd quarter simply to get reps against the scheme, but the score will allow us to be able to relax and celebrate by halftime at the latest. As with the past two years, the Friday night kickoff game results in a W for the guys in green. Michigan State 38, Jacksonville State 7.

This is a FanPost, written by a member of the TOC community. It does not represent the official positions of The Only Colors, Inc.--largely because we have no official positions.