The NFL draft (The "Did Connor Cook urinate in someone's cereal?" edition)

First of all, let me start with the good news. The Tennessee Titans traded up and selected Jack Conklin with the 8th pick in the first round. It's great to see the former walk-on from tiny Plainwell, Michigan make good. I know he'll work his tail off and I wish him the best.


What exactly has Connor Cook done to turn off so many people? I just don't get it. Yes, he has a quirky personality, but couldn't the same be said for Joe Namath and Jim McMahon (just to name a few "free-spirited" quarterbacks off the top of my head). And while on the subject of free-spiritedness, doesn't that often come with the territory when discussing quarterbacks?


I can understand why the Los Angeles Rams drafted Jared Goff with the first pick. He's a local kid from Cal who will sell tickets. And maybe he'll turn out to be a great quarterback. After all, he did play in the PAC-12. Clearly, he also has a big time arm with 4719 yards passing last season and 43 touchdown passes. But I'm not sold on Carson Wentz. North Dakota State? Yes, he has the size that NFL scouts look for in a quarterback, and his numbers were good--but I'm just not sold. Okay, I get it, North Dakota State won three NCAA Divison II national championships with Wentz at quarterback, but the Bison pretty much own Division II football. They've won 12 national championships. (Thank you, Wikipedia).


Maybe Connor Cook's stats aren't as eye-popping as Goff's and Wentz's, but 9194 career passing yards (in three seasons) with 71 touchdowns and only 22 interceptions is not too shabby. In addition to that, Cook led MSU to a 36-5 record as a starter, with two Big Ten championships and two bowl victories--three bowl victories if one counts the 2012 Buffalo Wilds Wings Bowl in which Cook took over for a struggling Andrew Maxwell. Though Cook's numbers in that game were pedestrian at best, he provided a spark that the Spartans needed to achieve that come-from-behind victory.


Not only was Cook a great player on the field, but he never got into any trouble. By all accounts, he was a good student and law-abiding citizen. Am I just looking at this through green-tinted glasses? I don't understand why Connor Cook is still on the board.

A sad way to start 2016

Where to start?

The best indication of how bad a game is for me is the relative lack of alcohol consumed by yours truly. I drank one Stella Artois in the first half of MSU's 38-0 drubbing, and then no more.

In fact, I barely paid attention to the fourth quarter. I'd say that approximately midway through the third quarter, I muted the sound on the TV to avoid the inevitable Alabama lovefest, and by the fourth quarter I was barely even watching the game.

It was only slightly less horrendous than the 2011 Capital One Bowl. At least in this game, the Spartans finished with a positive yardage total (26 carries for 29 yards).

Alabama deserves credit for what proved to be a brilliant game plan. When Derrick Henry didn't even touch the ball in the Tide's first possession, my initial reaction was that they were over thinking it and getting too cute. But quarterback Jake Coker executed the pass-first strategy to perfection and the Spartans never adjusted.

But defense actually seemed the least of their worries because the Spartans couldn't move the ball an inch on offense. And in what might have been the turning point in the game, MSU blew an opportunity to cut the Bama lead to 10-7 (or at worse, 10-3) when Connor Cook stared down his receiver and threw a momentum killing interception. The game went downhill from there.

So, in times like this, I need to remind myself of how far this program has come since the dark days of Bobby Williams and John L. Smith. This pain will pass, and may prove to be just another growth ring in this program's development.

No Connor Cook

No Connor Cook.

This is a tough position to place Tyler O'Connor and Damion Terry, playing against Ohio State at the Horseshoe. It may be on the defense to win this one.

Michigan State 24, Maryland 7: post game reaction

I was a little off on my 41-20 score prediction. I didn't anticipate Connor Cook missing the entire second half, and I underestimated both the ineptitude of Maryland's offense and how well the Spartan defense would play, and despite the obvious shortcomings of the Terrapins' offense, credit must be given to the MSU D for laying the lumber all afternoon.

In a game in which MSU's offense struggled all day, it was Riley Bullough's pick six late in the second quarter that set the tone for the rest of the game. MSU went up 14-7, and as it turned out that was all they needed.

Watching this game was, quite often, about as enjoyable as getting ones teeth cleaned at the dentist, but the Spartans got out with a victory. It remains to be seen if they have enough to beat Ohio State in Columbus, though. That'll be a tall order for the Spartans.

Knee-jerk early morning Spartan football insomnia blues

It's past 1:30 AM and I can't sleep.

The focus is on the blown call by the officiating crew that gave Nebraska the game-winning touchdown, but really the game was lost earlier.

The offense is the reason the Spartans were even in a position to win this game in the first place, and the offense should have been given the opportunity to WIN the game in MSU's penultimate possession, but instead the coaching staff got sucked into the standard conservative playcalling that didn't even come close to yielding a first down. To make matters worse, since Nebraska had two timeouts to burn, hardly any time came off the clock anyway.

Perhaps the Spartan coaching staff was under the impression that surely the defense could stop the Huskers with only 55 seconds left in the game and no timeouts left, but the defense had struggled all night. What made them think this would suddenly change?

So while much of the focus is on a blown call--and it was an egregiously terrible call--the Spartans' doom was already at least largely foreshadowed by the Spartans' missed opportunity to ice the game by picking up just one first down.

Anyone who has been following Michigan State football this season with any level of detail knows that this is a flawed team. The chinks in the armor appeared on the first day of training camp when Ed Davis, arguably the team's best linebacker, was lost for the season. Then the secondary took big hits early on when its best cornerback, Vayante Copeland, was lost in the late stages of the Oregon game.

So we have a team with a patched-together secondary and a kickoff coverage unit that has been, at best, mediocre all season. MSU's Swiss cheese defense and spotty special teams combined to keep a highly motivated and spirited Nebraska team in the game. So while we can all rightfully be pissed off about that blown call, it's far from the only reason the Spartans lost.

MSU's faults finally caught up with them, and the coaching staff's unwillingness to place the game in the capable hands of its senior quarterback further hindered the team's chances at a victory.

I hope that the MSU coaching staff learns from this. You have a great quarterback in Connor Cook and receivers like Macgarrett Kings, R.J. Shelton, and Aaron Burbridge who have proven time and time again that they can make big plays. Use them wisely next time.

Knee-jerk post game reactions (Michigan State 52, Indiana 26)

I'm relaxing on the couch, drinking a glass of wine, sort of watching USC/Utah (having changed channels after it became clear--or at least highly likely--Rutgers will not put up much fight against Ohio State).

My wife and I went to the MSU/Indiana game today. It was my 50th all-time MSU football game (I'm dorky enough to keep track of such statistics). It's probably more games than many, but completely dwarfed by anyone who has had season tickets for several years.

We sat in Section 4, Row 43, Seats 24 and 25; directly behind the small but boisterous Indiana section. The Hoosier faithful made noise throughout the game, but made a mad dash to the exits when the Spartans went up 45-26 late in the 4th quarter.

We saw and experienced about every kind of weather the Great Lakes State has in its arsenal, with the exception of snow. It was warm and partly sunny when the game started, then dark rain clouds moved into East Lansing and it poured for about 20 minutes or so. The storm brought a cold front and we shivered for the remainder of the game (though MSU's 4th quarter scoring barrage got me up, moving around, and slightly warmer).

Overall, it was a fun, albeit long, late afternoon and early evening at Spartan Stadium. Nate Sudfeld and IU's offense were as tricky as I expected, but the Spartan defense played much better in the second half and held the Hoosiers to only six second-half points. MSU was finally able to apply some pressure to Sudfeld and make him less effective.

I don't know what else can be said about Connor Cook. He just might be the very best Spartan quarterback I've ever seen. It's amazing to think how far he's come since replacing an ineffective Andrew Maxwell in the 2012 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, and then taking over the starting job for good after the 2013 Notre Dame game.

Cook carried the team on his shoulders today, though he was ably assisted by Aaron Burbridge, R.J. Shelton, Macgarrett Kings, L.J. Scott, and Gerald Holmes. Cook came only two yards short of tying Bill Burke's single-game passing record of 400 yards (against Michigan in 1999).

What's most important is that the Spartans survive this game, get the win, and enter a much-needed bye week at 8-0.

Meanwhile, I remain convinced that my "Gruff Sparty" hoodie and my old school "block 'S'" MSU are somehow lucky, and thankful that I made a last-minute decision to buy rain ponchos at Meijer.

For several reasons, the most satisfying win over Michigan in my lifetime

Yesterday was to be the day of the Jim Harbaugh coronation. The day in which the Michigan Wolverines would once again claim their lofty position as one of college football's elite. The stage was set, with ESPN College GameDay broadcasting from U of M's Diag, followed by a national broadcast of the game on ESPN.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the coronation, Mark Dantonio and the Michigan State Spartans knocked Harbaugh's royal carriage off the road.

I did a count last night, and Michigan State has defeated Michigan in football 16 times in my lifetime (though I really shouldn't count the 1969 game since I don't remember it). So of the 15 I remember, yesterday's victory was far and away the most satisfying one.

Let's do a rundown of the various reasons this MSU win over Michigan was so sweet:

1. The Jim Harbaugh hype. All we've been hearing about since late December 2014 is "the wonder and glory of Jim Harbaugh." The media would have you believe he's Bo Schembechler, Vince Lombardi, and God Almighty in khakis. The hyperbole involving this guy had become truly nauseating, so knocking him off his pedestal, in the most gut-wrenching manner possible, is incredibly satisfying for Michigan State fans.

2. The Michigan shutout streak. Hey, I'll hand it to Michigan, three straight shutouts is a splendid accomplishment--but come on, let's get real. People talked about this Michigan defense like it was the 1985 Chicago Bears. Two of those shutouts were at home and all three against teams that are, at best, middling. Michigan was hanging its hat on last week's 38-0 win over Northwestern, but after the Iowa Hawkeyes trucked the Wildcats 40-10 in Evanston, it's now quite clear that this "signature win" was a mirage.

Though Michigan's run defense was stout against the Spartans (and so, too, was MSU's against the Wolverines), Connor Cook was able to exploit Michigan's secondary all day long with Spartan receivers making plenty of big catches (though credit must be given to Wolverines' splendid defensive back Jourdan Lewis, who battled Aaron Burbridge all day long). So Michigan's shutout streak came to a resounding end.

3. Turning the tables on the free publicity. As I wrote, this was all set up to be Michigan football's 2015 debutante ball and Harbaugh's coronation as the greatest football coach in the history of the world (or something like that). In the most incredible and improbable way--certainly one of the greatest-ever ends to a college football game--the Spartans pulled the rug out from under Michigan. The fumbled punt snap returned for a touchdown suddenly became THE play that everyone was talking about last night. Social media exploded. The replay was shown ad infinitum on the Big Ten Network, ESPN, and probably every other sports television network. It was posted on Twitter and Facebook by everyone. Michigan State couldn't possibly have scripted a better way to win that game and capture the most attention possible.

4. At least temporarily silencing the Michigan fan base. Oh my, had they become annoying. Where do I even begin? There was the whole Harbaugh mania, there was the incessant criticism of MSU's close wins in comparison to Michigan's blowouts, and just the fact that they'd crawled out of the woodwork like cockroaches.

Now, let me make this perfectly clear, there is no doubt that Michigan football is much improved over where it was under Rich Rodriguez and most of Brady Hoke's tenure, and Michigan will most likely remain a strong program as long as Harbaugh is there; but before we prepare to crown Harbaugh, keep in mind that Mark Dantonio and Michigan State are still here and aren't going away.

My thoughts (or amateurish opinionated blathering) after watching the MSU/Oregon replay

I enjoy watching the Big Ten Network's replays of Michigan State football games because I always notice facets that I may have missed--due to nervousness, distractions, or adult beverages--when I watch the games live.

Montae Nicholson's stripped ball interception was beautiful. What a huge play early in the game.

Macgarrett Kings had a a great second effort after catching a pass, breaking a tackle and getting enough yardage for a first down and keeping a Spartan drive alive.

Vayante Copeland made one of the best and most important open field tackles I've seen when he brought down Royce Freeman in what was a touchdown-saving tackle. His absence late in the game was costly, and I'm concerned about his injury.

For all the yammering about MSU's perceived missed tackles, I noticed several that were extremely important. Riley Bullough had a huge tackle near the goal line that forced Oregon into a fourth down--a fourth down that the Spartan defense stuffed.

Tight end Josiah Price has a knack for making some big touchdown catches, He had one in this game, as well as another catch (after the goal line stand) that gave the Spartans a much needed first down.

Aaron Burbridge could be the next great Spartan receiver. He made an absolutely huge reception on 4th down and 6 that put the ball at the Oregon 6 yard line. L. J. Scott ran in for a touchdown one play later.

Madre London deserves as much credit for his outstanding pass blocking as for his ball carrying ability.

Connor Cook mainly had a good game, but for every time he threaded the needle, he also missed what looked like easier throws. He will need to tighten this up moving forward.

The Spartans may want to either hone the "cutesy" plays a little or eliminate some of them: for example the Damion Terry read-option play that killed momentum in the first quarter.

Chris Frey made what was probably the game's biggest play when he sacked Vernon Adams immediately after Adams missed the wide open receiver for what would have been a go-ahead touchdown for Oregon.

This really goes without saying, but MSU's special teams need to improve.

If there is a heaven, this must be what it's like

Michigan State finished its mission, begun as far back as the end of last season's Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl. They are not only Big Ten champions, they are Rose Bowl champions, and when the dust clears could finish as high as #3 in the nation. The Spartans survived an all-out bare-knuckled slobber knocker against a tough team from Stanford.

What a great time to be a Spartan.

It wasn't a perfect game yesterday by any means. Connor Cook made an uncharacteristic mistake on a pick six, and late in the game when MSU finally got the running game going, Langford fumbled the ball for the only time I can remember all season.

But, like they have all season, the Spartans showed resolve, determination, and guts. They never quit, and they got it done in the end. And was it not fitting that the player to make the game-clinching play (or at least make a major contribution in the game-clinching play) was Kyler Elsworth, the former walk-on, fifth-year senior who was making his first ever start in his final collegiate game (in place of Max Bullough).

Kyler Elsworth and Shilique Calhoun in the game-clinching fourth down stop (Lansing State Journal photo)

Right now, I'm trying not to worry about Mark Dantonio's future at MSU, or about next year. Right here, right now, I am in heaven. It simply doesn't get any better than this as a Michigan State sports fan.

Rose Bowl bound!

It couldn't possibly get any sweeter than last night. In my 45 years on this planet, I can not remember a bigger MSU football victory than yesterday's Big Ten championship win over Ohio State. Considering the opponent, and the stakes involved, it was the most important Spartan football game since 1966. I don't think that can be disputed.

Since the game ended late Saturday evening, I've been taking it all in and completely basking in the afterglow. I watched ESPN and the Big Ten Network late into the wee hours of the morning. I have watched the game replay twice, devoured the coverage in the Sunday papers. I can't get enough of it.

To not only win the Big Ten title, but defeat Ohio State and ruin their national championship dreams? And end Urban Meyer's 24-game winning streak while clinching a trip to Pasadena. How could it possibly get any better than that?

As I texted my brother immediately after the game, and I'm paraphrasing, moments like tonight are the reason we stick with MSU through thick and thin.

I have looked over some of my hysterical, sky-is-falling posts from the first month of the season, and I will go on the record right now and admit that I was a complete idiot. I'm particularly embarrassed by my post-Notre Dame post, in which I compared the MSU coaching staff to the Keystone Kops and questioned Mark Dantonio's competence and sanity. I admit I was dead wrong, although I am still puzzled by the decision to bench Connor Cook on the final possession against the Irish.

I can't believe how much this team improved from the beginning of the season until now. The coaching staff and players deserved a tremendous amount of credit for their hard work and determination.

This season has been an exciting and fun ride.

Reporting from vacation

I'm reporting from Warner Robins, Georgia. On our way to our family vacation in Orlando.

Naturally, I missed the Spartan football game, since we were driving. We were in Kentucky when the game started and had taken a restroom pit stop in Tennessee when it ended. Happy to see MSU took care of business.
 

Checked into our hotel room just as the MSU basketball game started, but it was nowhere to be found on the cable TV here, and honestly I'd have been too wiped out to watch the whole game, anyway. The Spartan hoopsters got the job done.
 

Yesterday was a great day to be a Spartan, and I've been proudly wearing my gruff Sparty sweatshirt.

Back to football, though. I admit I was wrong about Connor Cook. Early in the season, I (along with many others) doubted whether he could be an adequate starter. He has become more than just adequate, he's a leader of the Spartan football team.
 

Now the Spartans are Legends Division champions for the second time in three years. Now, many doubt whether they can beat Ohio State in the Big Ten title game. To paraphrase Robert Kennedy, "Some people ask 'why?,' I ask 'why not?'" Why can't MSU beat Ohio State? Just because the Buckeyes have won 23 in a row? That streak has to end eventually. All the pressure should be on OSU in this game. The Spartans, as the decided underdog, can play loose and with no worries.

MSU football has been proving the doubters wrong all season. Even the Detroit "blue wall" media have thrown up their hands, given up, and have written glowing stories about them. The Spartans can continue to silence the critics with a win over the Buckeyes. Why not?

"Letting the lion out of the cage." Michigan State 29, Michigan 6

I took the above quote from Mark Dantonio, who used it to describe how he expected his players to perform when the ball was kicked off at 3:30 yesterday afternoon. It was a great performance by the team as a whole, and the defense resembled lions on the hunt: constantly, relentlessly circling, stalking and eventually pouncing on their prey.

I'm still in awe of what I witnessed yesterday at Spartan Stadium. It was the greatest spectacle I've ever seen there, and the most dominating defensive performance from an MSU team in my lifetime, and that includes the 1987 Big Ten championship/Rose Bowl team.

As I told a few people yesterday, it was the game I'd waited my entire life to see. It was a thorough, methodical, and relentless annihilation of the Wolverines. Michigan's offensive line was completely over-matched, and as I hoped would happen, Devin Gardner's football life on that wet, sloppy field was made a living hell. To borrow the "Wild Kingdom" analogy once more, Gardner looked like a gazelle being relentlessly pursued by lions. He had absolutely no place to run before being pounced on by the predators in green.

As I mentioned in a previous post, this was the very first time I had ever attended an MSU/UM game in person, and it couldn't have been a more perfect one in terms of the result. The weather, on the other hand, was nothing short of horrendous: cold, rainy, wet. I told my wife that if MSU lost the game, I'd be pretty angry that I'd sat in such terrible weather for 3 1/2 hours. But the Spartans' dominating performance, and the almost Mardi Gras-like "Sparty Party" atmosphere in the waning moments of the game and the immediate aftermath, made the entire experience worthwhile. I have to admit I was practically in tears (or joy and happiness) in the final few minutes of the game. It was the resounding football victory over Michigan that I've been waiting for and longing for my entire life. I didn't feel the wetness or chill after the game ended, I was warm, giddy, bouncing up and down, and completely impervious to inclement weather.

There was also no worry of me ending up in a holding cell Saturday evening. I was on my best behavior, but there was little reason to get angry with anyone anyway. The game was such total domination by MSU, that one barely heard a boo from the smattering of Michigan fans in Section 19, where our seats were located. The only drawback was having to stand the entire game to see anything. I don't necessarily mind standing, since I'm used to the experience at rock concerts, but I felt bad for the folks behind me who wanted to sit. We had a couple sitting behind us, folks probably in their fifties, who didn't want to stand. At one point in the game, I apologized to them for standing but explained that I HAD to stand in order to see anything on the field. They didn't seem to mind. (I don't know if they lasted the entire game. They may have left early). But, for cripe sakes, it's the MICHIGAN GAME!! If you get angry about people standing through the whole game, go home and watch the game on TV!

Halftime was the only time I remember being actively annoyed by any Michigan fans. I ventured down to the concession stands in the concourse to buy some coffee in order to fight off the chill a bit. Two Michigan fans stood behind me in line, and spent the entire time complaining: "They didn't lay this [the concourse] out very well." "They don't even have TVs down here?!" I guess Michigan fans expect the Ritz-Carlton when they go to a college football game. I was a good boy and bit my tongue.

***

I just watched the replay of the game on the Big Ten Network, and MSU's complete defensive domination is even more profound watching the TV broadcast. I also had no idea how much Michigan's Taylor Lewan completely lost his mind during the game. I suppose getting destroyed by Shilique Calhoun all afternoon caused Lewan to completely lose his composure. Let's just say my already rather low opinion of Lewan just approached basement level. I hate to throw a college athlete under the proverbial bus, but there it is. I'm not a big fan of that kid. He has some growing up to do.

I'm impressed with how far this MSU team has come since the Notre Dame game. I don't remember ever seeing a Spartan defense this ferocious. (How appropriate, by the way, that the great Percy Snow, lynchpin of the 1987 "Gang Green" defense, was honored at halftime in a game in which MSU's defense dominated so completely). The offense is making strides, too. Sure, they had some difficulty in this game: Connor Cook and his receivers seemed to have some communication issues, some passes were bobbled, some receivers were both over and under-thrown. Overall, though, the MSU offense moved the ball and scored when it needed to. The touchdown drive to close the first half was beautiful, and Bennie Fowler made an incredible catch in the corner of the end zone, and Cook's pump fake was a thing of beauty. Connor Cook also had a brilliant completion to Fowler in the fourth quarter, when he was eluding Michigan's pass rush and connected with Fowler, who then dragged a few Wolverine defenders to the nine yard line. This set up a Spartan touchdown that made the score 22-6 and essentially iced the game.

So in conclusion, Michigan State's offense isn't great, but it's efficient...and it's slowly improving. Jeremy Langford and Delton Williams are a formidable running tandem. R.J. Shelton is making big contributions as a freshman, and MSU's kicker Michael Geiger displays incredible poise for a freshman. Josiah Price, though he bobbled a few passes on Saturday, is becoming a good tight end. Trevon Pendleton has also come on strong in the last few weeks and is becoming a multi-dimensional threat from the fullback position. I have to give major props to Dantonio and his staff for developing these players. They know their roles and play them perfectly.

And what more can be said about the defense? This has to be, if not the best defense in the country, definitely in the top two or three.

Now comes what I consider a perfectly scheduled bye week. The Spartans will have some time to absorb this win, get some players healed, and prepare for what I think should be a payback game against Nebraska. 

The Spartans have three tough but certainly winnable games coming up, and this 2013 season is shaping up as one that could be special.

A step in the right direction

I missed almost the entire first half of the MSU/Youngstown State game because my cable provider, Xfinity, deemed it necessary to not only show the Michigan/Akron game on the primary Big Ten Network channel, but on both of the overflow BTN channels. I'm assuming this was Xfinity's decision, or maybe it was the Big Ten Network. Either way, I found this to be disappointing. Still, I probably can't fault BTN/Xfinity too much, because the Michigan/Akron game was exciting and without a little homecooking that saved the Wolverines' hides, may have been the biggest college football upset this side of 2007's Appalachian State/Michigan game...(and Appalachian State was arguably a much better team than Akron).

Not having the MSU game on television forced me to do what I used to do in the old days, listen to the game on the radio. (At least the first half of the game, that is). So I had George Blaha and Jason Strayhorn describing the laugher at Spartan Stadium while Michigan was fighting for its life on my TV.

I don't know what the takeaway is from MSU's 55-17 win over Youngstown State. I suppose it was the best case scenario. Connor Cook, in his first start, played extremely well and, at the very least, saved Damion Terry's red shirt from being removed.

It was good to see MSU's offense with a pulse, and to see the receivers make catches. Yes, it was only Youngstown State, but it was still an encouraging sign.

After last year's CMU game, I lauded the play of Macgarrett Kings. For some unknown reason, Kings was not heard from again after that game. Against Youngstown State, Kings was the leading receiver and is, in fact, leading all MSU receivers in yardage. He has good hands and is shifty and elusive. At this point, the Spartans can use all the help they can get at receiver, and Kings provides hope at that position.

And hey, it turns out MSU has tight ends after all. They even showed up to make some catches on Saturday.

Next on the docket is Notre Dame.

I have absolutely no idea what to expect in this game. Is Notre Dame as mediocre as they have appeared in their first three games? It's hard to believe they are. Will MSU's offense continue to make the strides it displayed against Youngstown State? or is that performance, indeed merely fool's gold? It's still extremely difficult to gauge MSU's team, or have any sense of how much Notre Dame has dropped off since last year's strong season.

I've heard it said before that, for Michigan State, the result of the Notre Dame game is often an indicator of how the rest of the season will go for the Spartans. I think using this game as a barometer for the rest of the season is overstated. In 1986, the Spartans beat the Irish 20-15 at Spartan Stadium, but went on to a mediocre 6-5 season. The following year, MSU got run over by Tim Brown and ND, a game that started off badly and never got better--but MSU went on to win the Big Ten and go to the Rose Bowl. In 1998, MSU massacred the Irish 45-23 in East Lansing, but went on to a lackluster 6-6 season. In 2011, the Spartans were routed in South Bend, but ended up playing for the Big Ten title. So my point is, you just never really know.

That said, it's always great to beat Notre Dame, and MSU hasn't done it since the Little Giants play of 2010. With the Irish off the schedule for the next two years, it'd be awfully sweet for the Spartans to knock them off this season. I don't think anyone wants that more than Mark Dantonio.

So regardless of what happens this Saturday at Notre Dame, there's no point in getting either too high or too low.

Is it Terry time?

Well, it's Thursday and I'm finally posting in here.

At this point, I don't have much to add to what has already been said about MSU football and its putrid offense, which continued its...er, "offensive" ways against South Florida in a lackluster 21-6 win. It was a game in which, once again, the Spartan defense outscored the offense.

So, the quarterback carousel continues. Now, reports are that Connor Cook will get the start Saturday against Youngstown State, and freshman Damion Terry may get playing time as the backup quarterback.

I'd hoped that Terry would be red shirted this year, but I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures. And speaking of "desperation," it does seem odd to use that word for a team that HAS won its first two games--but this is despite the offense performing appallingly bad against two extremely weak opponents.

I don't expect Damion Terry to be the savior. That is expecting way too much from a true freshman. But if he could at least provide a spark, as well as a true passing and running threat, that could be a positive step. Maybe Terry can also inspire his teammates, in particular the wide receivers, to play better as well.

I don't have much hope for Connor Cook. Hey, I would love for Cook to start the YSU game and perform great and eliminate all quarterback questions, but based on how he's looked in the first two games of the season, there's no indication that will happen.

But really, the problem is more than the quarterbacks. This team has NO tight end, and has receivers that have a difficult time "receiving" anything. They continue to struggle to get any separation from defenders and even when they do, they can't hold onto the ball.

The thing is, the offense doesn't have to be great. It just needs to be adequate or average.  With MSU's defense, that's all that may be necessary in order for this team to have a good season.

There's a part of me that thinks that it would be just MSU's luck that, in the season they have one of their best defenses ever, they are saddled with possibly the most inept offense in program history.

A perfectly fitting, but perfectly happy end to the football season (Michigan State 17, TCU 16)

It was at various turns ugly, comical, inept, inspired, exciting, and electrifying. In short, last night's Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl was like the entire MSU football season in microcosm. But unlike most of the Spartans' regular season, the bowl game ended happily.

I have to admit I wasn't too terribly excited about last night's bowl. But in that, I don't think my feelings were unlike those of most MSU fans. Still, by the time 10:15 rolled around last night, I was ready for some MSU football. It felt good to see those guys I hadn't seen since the last weekend of November.

Of course, I was about to change my mind by halftime. The first half of the BWW Bowl was, to be charitable, not MSU football's finest hour. However, I decided not to bail on the team. I don't know exactly why. Maybe it was because I thought there was no possible way the Spartans could play worse than they had in the first two quarters. As it turned out, I was correct.

It was refreshing to finally see the breaks go MSU's way, as they did in the second half. None was bigger than TCU's muffed punt that gave the Spartans the ball at the Horned Frogs' five-yard line, with the Spartans scoring a touchdown two plays later and seizing the momentum. MSU's defense completely shut down TCU's offense and TCU's defense received a big dose of Le'Veon Bell (who most likely played his final game in an MSU uniform).

The bad Spartan fan in me, conditioned by the bad fortune the football team endured all season, kept expecting that somehow TCU would manage to win and deliver another heartbreaking blow to the Spartans. But that never happened. MSU made the plays and caught the breaks. Dan Conroy made arguably the best kick of his career to give the Spartans the 17-16 lead, and the defense stopped TCU in the final minute of the game. Victory for MSU.

Perhaps the most intriguing development of the evening was the benching of Andrew Maxwell in favor of Connor Cook. Cook, though he wasn't perfect, brought a definite spark and swagger to MSU's offense and made some big passes in the Spartans' final drive for the game-winning field goal. The 2013 quarterback competition will be interesting.

At 2:00 AM last night, I was a happy guy. Don't tell me that the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl wasn't important, because I was about as excited as I've been following an MSU victory of any kind. After what this team has been through, they deserved last night's win. Despite the ugliness of the win, and MSU's performance through most of it, I am optimistic (albeit guardedly optimistic) about the 2013 team.