Stanton, Hoyer, and Cousins

Last Sunday, three former Michigan State quarterbacks led their respective teams to victories: Kirk Cousins stepped in for an injured Robert Griffin III and helped Washington demolish Jacksonville, Brian Hoyer directed a dramatic, come-from-behind win for the Cleveland Browns over New Orleans, and Drew Stanton seized opportunity with the Arizona Cardinals as they defeated the hapless New York Giants.
 

It's excellent, positive publicity for MSU football to have these three former players enjoying so much success on the same day. 
 

Drew Stanton is one of my all-time favorite Spartans in any sport. He was, and still is, a great all-around athlete who was unfortunately saddled with some mediocre teams in the dark days of the John L. Smith era. I still wonder what might have happened if he hadn't been injured in the 2004 Michigan game, with MSU holding a significant lead.
 

I never understood the criticism Brian Hoyer endured from fans when he was MSU's starting quarterback from 2007-2008. He may have not been a dazzling athlete, but he always struck me as an intelligent, hard working player who helped build the foundation of Dantonio's program.
 

Hoyer passed the torch to Cousins, who ran with it to the tune of a 2010 Big Ten title, a near-title in 2011, and a 2012 Outback Bowl win over Georgia. Cousins will certainly go down in the all-time top five of Spartan quarterbacks.
 

Besides being Spartans, these three share in common the trait of perseverance. They never gave up. Best of luck to Stanton, Hoyer, and Cousins.

An anniversary, the Iowa game, and Brian Hoyer

Today is the 4th anniversary of this great game between Michigan State and that team southeast of us. Full disclosure: I was so angry about how Michigan had tied the game with seven seconds left in regulation that I stormed out of the house, took a walk up the street, and missed the overtime. Wonderful fan I am, eh?

Watching these highlights, it's clear that Kirk Cousins had not become the quarterback that we knew in 2010 and 2011. He makes two ill-advised throws that he would later learn not to attempt, and either tuck the ball or throw it away. It was Cousins the sophomore still learning to play at the college level.

Anyway, it was a memorable and exciting win for the Spartans.

Back to 2013 now. I have to admit I'm still not sold on this year's Spartan football team, but in fairness it takes me at least the first third of the season to warm up to any MSU football team. This Saturday's game against Iowa will tell us a lot: a win, and MSU could be looking at a very good year--maybe even despite the anemic offense, a loss and it's right behind the eight ball again. This really is a pivotal game.

I couldn't be happier for former Spartan Brian Hoyer, who is now the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. I never thought he deserved the abuse he received from some fans when he was at MSU, and he deserves praise for sticking with it in the NFL before finally getting his chance on the big stage.

If Hoyer is still starting for the Cleveland when the Lions play the Browns, it will be a rematch of the 2009 Capital One Bowl. Matthew Stafford led the Georgia Bulldogs to a 24-12 win over Hoyer's Spartans. I'll be rooting for the Lions against the Browns, but I'd like to see Hoyer have a big game. My ideal final score would be something like 35-31, with Hoyer throwing four touchdown passes with no interceptions; and only losing because the Browns' defense can't stop the Lions.

Back for a little spring housekeeping

It's been about two weeks since I last wrote in this blog. At that time, I was lamenting the fact that Michigan was playing in the national championship game, and considering the possibility of a life in hiding if they won. (Tongue firmly in cheek).

Well, lucky for me and most of Spartan Nation, the Wolverines lost. But I'm here to give the Wolverines their props for a great tournament run and peaking when it mattered the most. Congratulations Michigan on a great tournament (but I'm happy you didn't win the whole thing. Call me petty, but that's where I stand).

So now the college basketball season is over, and the college sports season as a whole is slowly winding down.

Overall, it was a good year for the MSU men's basketball team. Quite frankly, I thought they overachieved. I had no idea how they would perform without a great leader like Draymond Green, but the team exceeded my expectations. A game out of first place and a Sweet Sixteen finish in the tournament isn't too shabby. We already know that Gary Harris is returning for his sophomore season, and if Adreian Payne also comes back--this is still up in the air as I write--I can see the team being a definite Final Four contender in 2013-2014.

***

I had intentions of attending the MSU spring football game yesterday, but the weather was abysmal. Call me a bad fan, but I had no desire to sit in Spartan Stadium and suffer through mid-30 degree temperatures. The game was televised on the Big Ten Network anyway, so there was little need to schlep over to campus to see it.

It's very difficult to glean anything from the spring game, since it's just a split squad game with the quarterbacks not "live." (If the defenses look great, does that just mean the offenses are bad? The spring game presents that type of conundrum).

From what I could see, the defense looked good, which wasn't a surprise. The White team defense had an interception and a fumble recovery that both went to the house for touchdowns. Max Bullough looked beastly, and should be poised for a big season in 2013.

None of the three quarterbacks really stood out. All three had their share of good and not-so-good plays. The position is still up for grabs, as far as I can tell.

Riley Bullough looks like a viable option at running back, with this straight-ahead bullish running style.. Nick Tompkins and Jeremy Langford had a few nice runs, but this is yet another position with a giant question mark looming over it.

There also seemed to be far too many dropped passes by the wide receivers, and that was disappointing. But Keith Mumphery, Bennie Fowler and Aaron Burbridge all had some "wow" moments, and were the game's standouts at receiver. In addition, DeAnthony Arnett had a splendid touchdown catch in double coverage and A.J. Troup had a nice hitch-and-run for a touchdown. This is a position with talent, and there is hope that these guys will perform much better than they did last season.

Overall, the game left me (and probably most Spartan football fans) with more questions than answers. The one thing we can count on is that the defense will be outstanding once again.

I have to give a special mention to Kirk Cousins, who was the color commentator on the BTN broadcast. He was outstanding, and there really doesn't seem to be anything this guy can't do.

***

Last year, when basketball season ended, I had intentions of posting periodically during the summer. Of course, I didn't do that at all. I won't make any promises or guarantees this time, though I doubt anyone is waiting with bated breath for my musings. We'll see how inspired I am, and whether I can ever find an open computer in this house.

So, for now, so long. If I'm incommunicado during the summer, I'll definitely be around in the fall.

An incredible start to 2012!: Michigan State 33, Georgia 30

I don't know where to start.  I am enveloped in a warm golden glow after Michigan State's thrilling, stunning come-from-behind victory over the Georgia Bulldogs in yesterday's Outback Bowl.

I wanted Michigan State to win this game so badly, so desperately--although probably not nearly as much as the Spartan players and coaches themselves wanted to win.  I was awed by the urgency, resilience, grit, and guts that the Spartans displayed in the second half and three overtimes of that game.  This was, without a doubt, the most thrilling and exciting MSU bowl game I have ever witnessed.

This Spartan senior class deserved this win, and they went out and got it.  After a dreadful first half that saw them fall behind 16-0, and caused the knee-jerk emotional sports fan in me to doubt them and vent on Facebook about how the SEC is so much better than the Big Ten, the Spartans came back with a vengeance and played with a passion that was awe inspiring.

Will we ever see a better quarterback at Michigan State than Kirk Cousins?  He was perhaps not at his best yesterday, but he was brilliant when it mattered the most.  He displayed incredible composure and leadership in MSU's game-tying drive with only about 2:00 left in regulation and no timeouts left.  He will go down as one of the best leaders the MSU football program has ever had, and will be sorely missed.

After the game was over, and I had some time to digest it, it occurred to me that great special teams play is one of the key's to MSU's success under Dantonio.  Perhaps that's not an original thought, but it doesn't get nearly the attention it deserves.  The Spartans won that bowl game due in part to proper execution of the little things that are often overlooked in football, a perfect example being Brad Sonntag's brilliant placement of the ball on field goal attempts.  The Spartans had a backup long snapper, consequently many of the snaps were a little off, but Sonntag's calm under duress allowed kicker Dan Conroy to convert some critical extra points and field goals.  It's little things like these that win games, and these small details have vastly improved under Mark Dantonio's leadership.

Now a word about the defenses for both teams: awesome.  On a day where little defense was played in any of the other bowl games (the Rose Bowl and Fiesta Bowl in particular resembled basketball games on a gridiron) it was refreshing to see two teams bring it on defense the way MSU and Georgia did.  Georgia's defense was as good as advertised and maybe better, and the Spartans made some huge plays.  Will Gholston may be the best Spartan defensive end since Bubba Smith, and that's no exaggeration.

"Program win" has become a college sports cliche in recent years, but this bowl win over Georgia is truly a "program win" if there ever was one. The Spartans had gone 10 years without a bowl win, and as everyone knows by know, Mark Dantonio was 0-4 in bowl games at MSU.  This win, over a top-flight speedy and talented SEC team, validates Dantonio's program.

Now the question is, how will the Spartan football team do next year.  It's true that the Spartans are losing several key contributors in Kirk Cousins, B.J. Cunningham, Keshawn Martin, Joel Foreman, Keith Nichol, Brian Linthicum, Kevin Pickelman, Trenton Robinson, and probably Jerel Worthy.  But the foundation of a great football team is defense (despite the glorified track meets that so many football games have become these days), and with such players as Max Bullough, Denicos Allen, Darqueze Dennard, Anthony Rashad White, Johnny Adams and Isaiah Lewis returning next season, the defense should continue to be solid and set the tone for gridiron success in 2012.  There may be some drop off next year, but a regular season record of 9-3 is certainly possible.

I'm not worried about next year right now, I am too busy basking in the glory of this big bowl win.  2012 has gotten off to a splendid start for Spartan Nation.

This week in MSU football, rebuilding the Blue Wall, plus: Coming up, Wisconsin

I've meant to write in this blog earlier this week, but am just now getting around to it.

What a strange week it was for MSU football. Immediately following the Spartans win over Michigan, the "Blue Wall" was being reconstructed. Ancient Detroit sportswriter Jerry Green rose from his crypt and treated us to this column:

(The following URL is no longer valid. If you want to read this column--I don't know why you would, but if you do--find the Detroit News microform in a library).

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081025/OPINION03/810250452/1004

Then, fellow Detroit News scribe Rob Parker stated on Detroit TV that MSU backup quarterback Kirk Cousins was involved in a fight involving Spartan football and hockey players. His information was bogus, and he apologized in the middle of the week for getting the story completely wrong. (I will give Mr. Parker credit for at least apologizing for his mistake).

On Monday, I made the egregious error of listening to Grand Rapids sports talk show host Huge (aka Bill Simonson) while he went on a diatribe about how MSU still "hasn't beaten anybody" and ripped MSU and its fans for getting overly excited about beating a bad Michigan team. Ugh! I really wanted to get on here and write after listening to that nonsense. Let's just say that Huge showed us his true (maize and blue) colors.

On the subject of the Michigan game, I must admit that I did not actually start watching the game live until the Spartans went for it on 4th down late in the 4th quarter--and even then I thought I'd have a heart attack if State didn't convert. I'm sorry, fellow Spartan fans, I was a WIMP. I did, however, watch the replay in its entirety on ESPN 360, and I gotta tell you it's probably for the better that I didn't watch the game live because I definitely would have had a heart attack. Pylon Pete's phantom touchdown call, combined with Hoyer's questionable fumble (resulting in another Weasel TD) and MSU's unfathomable placekicking woes would have certainly put me over the edge. I'm glad we at least had the highlight reel of Blair White and Javon Ringer to fall back on.

By the way, I view the Spartans win over Michigan more as relief than triumph.

Today, the Spartans are taking on Wisconsin and I will be at the game. Folks, I have not witnessed a Spartan win in person since 2002, so I sure hope my luck changes NOW. The Badgers should give State all they can handle, but I'm hopeful for a Spartan victory this afternoon--finally putting to rest all that "Same Old Spartan" talk.

I have gone to at least one MSU football game every year for the last 16 seasons, and I'm really looking forward to today's game, not just for the contest on the field, but the whole spectacle and atmosphere of college football. I love the Spartan Marching Band, and hope I'm able to see them march from Adams Field, past "Sparty" and to the stadium. I'm also excited to witness the football team take the field, because I know they'll receive a wildly enthusiastic welcome from our fans.