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.

The post-Oregon blog post

I think I've finally reached the point, perhaps for the first time in my life as a Michigan State football fan, that I now expect the Spartans to find a way to win big games. As much of a tense nail-biter as last night's 31-28 win over Oregon was--and who really expected it to be anything otherwise?--I didn't panic. Oh, sure, I thought for a few minutes that I might not be able to watch the pivotal 4th down play that determined the outcome of the game--but never did I expect the other shoe to fall, as I pretty much have since I started seriously following MSU football in 1977.  I wasn't stomping my feet, I wasn't cursing. I honestly thought that somehow, some way, the Spartans would find a way to win the game...and they did.

My knee-jerk, off-the-cuff reaction to the game was that it was far from a perfect game for the Spartans, yet they still beat the #7 team in the country. Yes, they gave up a lot of yards to Oregon's "basketball on turf" brand of football, but the Spartan defense made big plays when they had to (goal line stand in the first half, huge 3rd down sack late in the 4th quarter followed by the aforementioned 4th down incomplete pass) so most of the Ducks' yards were empty yards. About three quarters of Oregon's yards were through the air. The MSU defense wasn't allowing much of anything on the ground, so Oregon was forced to throw the ball a lot--and I'd much rather have it that way than the other way.

 So, as I write this on Sunday afternoon, I just discovered that the Spartans have risen to #4 in the rankings. Provided that MSU can remain focused and win all their remaining games until November, we will be looking at a monumental showdown in Columbus between the Spartans and the Buckeyes.

I watched most of ESPN GameDay yesterday. They were in East Lansing. I was extremely disappointed in GameDay. As far as I could tell (having not seen the entire show) there was exactly one feature about Michigan State, a brief live interview with Mark Dantonio. However, we were treated to the most sycophantic, fawning, and utterly nauseating feature about Jim Harbaugh that I have yet witnessed. It was so over-the-top that I swear the University of Michigan paid ESPN to run it. It had all the look of a commercial for Michigan football. As if MSU needed any more ammunition for the October 17 game against Saint Jimmy and the Wolverines, this could provide even a little more.

This week's football post

I've always wanted to make this blog more personal, and stray away from giving what I refer to my "two-bit analysis." What is the point of me trying to analyze these games when there are plenty of professional sportswriters out there who get PAID to do it. Who really needs to read what I have to say?

So, in the spirit of making this blog personal, I want to relate to you how this time of year makes me feel.

We moved into our current--and I hope "forever"--house on September 15, 2007. The only reason I remember that date is because I remember clear as a bell that Michigan State football played Pittsburgh. As the movers were doing there thing at our new house, I was out running some errand or other and listening to the Spartans put the finishing touches on a close 17-13 win. I'd be lying if I said that at I knew MSU's football fortunes were about to change for the better, but it seemed clear that Dantonio was definitely an upgrade from John L. Smith.

Anyway, I always associate this time of year with when we moved into this house and how it almost perfectly coincided with the start of Mark Dantonio's tenure as Michigan State football coach.

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About three weeks ago, while on vacation, I had a dream quite out of nowhere that Michigan State beat Oregon 45-41. I may as well stick with that prediction, though I'd love it if the Spartans blew the Ducks out.

I really have no idea how the game will go tonight, but I definitely like the Spartans' chances. It's at home, it's a night game, Oregon's new quarterback Vernon Adams is playing his first big road game, and the Spartans must have payback on their minds. Then again, J.T. Barrett played his first big road game of the year last year against MSU and we see how that went. Who knows how good this kid is, or the degree to which MSU's defensive backfield needs to improve. Well, here's hoping for the best.

The national champion Ohio State Buckeyes

It was a completely dominant performance by Ohio State in clobbering Oregon in the national championship game. Final score: 42-20. Not quite as close as I thought it might be.

 

The story of the game was athleticism and pure brute strength and physicality. Despite four turnovers, the Buckeyes relentlessly punished the Ducks in all other facets of the game. Ezekial Elliott, in particular, was unstoppable. Oregon's defense had no answer for him, (and neither did Wisconsin or Alabama. Elliott's rushing numbers in the last three games are mind-boggling: 76 carries for 796 yards).

On the other side of the ball, Ohio State's ferocious defense anchored by Joey Bosa put enough pressure on Mariota to render the Ducks' offense largely ineffective. Oregon also made more mistakes (dropped passes, false starts, holding calls) than they had all year--probably due to the fact Ohio State was the best team they'd played all year.

 

Last year, I ripped Urban Meyer something fierce. I'm still not a big fan, because I believe he will do whatever is necessary to win, ethics be damned. In any case, there is no denying the man is a great football coach. He's a master motivator, and it's remarkable that he overcame the loss of Braxton Miller and J.T. Barrett to direct the Buckeyes to a national championship. When your second and third string quarterbacks are better than they guy who was supposed to be the starter before the season began, then you know you have something special going on. The Buckeyes didn't miss a beat with Barrett or Cardale Jones.

 

I have to admit I had no idea who to root for in this game. On one hand, it's great for the Big Ten's national perception to win a national title, finish 6-5 in bowl games, and go 4-0 in January bowl games. On the other hand, it also meant having to pull for Meyer and OSU, which for me is just slightly better than rooting for Michigan.

 

In the end, though, I was approving--if not necessarily happy--with OSU winning it all. There are some that may argue that this isn't good for all the other Big Ten teams. Listen, Ohio State will get great players regardless of how this game turned out. But why can't other Big Ten coaches use this to their advantage by giving it a positive spin? Tell potential recruits, "hey, if you want a chance to play against some of the nation's best players in the conference that produced the national champion, the come to [name the school]."

 

I admit that there's a big part of me as a fan who is jealous of Ohio State. If not for a game against the Buckeyes at Spartan Stadium in November that took a radical momentum shift in OSU's favor just before halftime, maybe it's MSU in that position.

 

But there's no use in stewing, and it's a sign of how far Dantonio has elevated MSU's program that I can even wonder--with a straight face--what it'd be like if MSU had beaten OSU and was in the college football playoff instead of the Buckeyes.

Ohio State/Oregon

Before the national championship game begins, I'm popping in here with a quick prediction.

 

MSU played both of these teams, and though it's a close call, the Ohio State Buckeyes impressed me more than Oregon. So, with some hesitation, I'm picking the Buckeyes to beat the Ducks in a close game. Let's call it: Ohio State 41, Oregon 37.

 

Even with Cardale Jones at quarterback, who quite frankly has not been much of a drop-off from J.T. Barrett, I like OSU. They have the athletes to hang with Oregon's up tempo offense.

 

Now, this isn't to say Oregon has no shot. Far from it. Mariota is the best,most dynamic quarterback I've seen this year. He was much deserving of the Heisman. If he goes off, look out Buckeyes.

Back from my "bye week": Oregon post-mortem, and the upcoming EMU game

The Spartans had a bye week, and it turned out that I had my own bye week as well. I didn't intend on being away for so long, but so it goes.

As everyone already knows by now, MSU lost to Oregon way back on September 6. I wasn't surprised that the Spartans lost, but I was somewhat perplexed and disappointed with the way they lost. MSU got out of the gates slowly, had a tremendous second quarter in which they took the lead and appeared to have the Ducks on the ropes. This dominance looked like it was about to carry over into the second half, but then the game took an inexplicable and sudden downward turn.

Part of the problem for MSU in the second half was that Marcus Mariota remembered that he is a Heisman candidate and probable first round draft pick, and played like it. Unfortunately, some blown assignments by the Spartans secondary made the task easier for Mariota.

(There is a degree of historical irony in a Hawaiian quarterback wreaking havoc on the Spartans. In the 1950s and 1960s, Duffy Daugherty heavily recruited Hawaii, and had a "Hawaii pipeline" for several years. Players like Bob Apisa, Charlie Wedemeyer, and Dick Kenney--to name a few--were important contributors for the Spartans when Duffy was coach. I have a feeling that if Duffy were alive today, he'd be wondering how Marcus Mariota wasn't wearing green and white rather than green and yellow).

To paraphrase Mark Dantonio, football is about the inches: what team gets them and what team doesn't. MSU had a few opportunities to get those inches, but came up short. Oregon, on the other hand, converted when they had to do so. It all added up to a 46-27 loss.

Beyond the disappointment of the loss itself, what still irks me is the meaningless touchdown that Oregon scored with 1:25 left in the game. The Ducks can't really be faulted, it's not as if they threw the ball into the end zone for the touchdown. It was a simple running play that MSU didn't stop. Still, it changed what should have been a 39-27 loss to a 46-27 loss. (Yes, I know that a loss is still a loss, but perception is reality. Folks will look at that final score and assume the game wasn't as close as it actually was. That could end up haunting MSU at the end of the season).

So now a truly wretched Eastern Michigan football team heads into Spartan Stadium. The Eagles are so bad, they not only were hammered 65-0 by a rebuilding Florida team, but even lost by two touchdowns to Old Dominion. Now I don't know about you, but when I think of Old Dominion, I think of women's basketball and Justin Verlander (who played baseball for the Monarchs). I certainly don't think of football. Well, the Monarchs handled EMU quite handily.

I don't see EMU putting up much of a fight against what should be a Michigan State team itching to get back into action after the Oregon disappointment.

Duck season

I'm sitting in the sofa, half-watching ESPN College Game Day. Several minutes ago, I almost fell over when I heard Desmond Howard say...gulp...nice things about Michigan State.

The big game is today, and honestly I have no idea what to expect. I hope that, at the very least, it is a close game. As I wrote in my previous post, Marcus Mariota creates a big challenge for the Spartans (and as I write this, Game Day is playing a feature about Mariota's journey from Hawaiian high school player to probable first round draft pick playing college ball in Eugene, Oregon). On the other hand, it's not as if MSU has never been successful against a quarterback with a similar skill set as Mariota.

While all the focus has been on MSU's defense versus Oregon's offense, nobody seems to be talking about the Spartans' improved offense--though just as I write that, the Game Day guys have glowing words for Connor Cook. This Spartan offense is light years ahead of where it was last year. MSU should have the weapons to score points on the Ducks.

If MSU loses this game, it won't be due to lack of preparation. The Spartans literally cranked up the heat in their indoor practice facility to become acclimated to the unseasonably high temperatures expected in Eugene. To prepare for Oregon's uptempo offense, the Spartans had not one, but TWO offensive units on the field during practice. As soon as one play was over, the second offensive unit was already in place and snapped the ball almost immediately.

Well, younger son wants his computer back, so I'm signing off for now. If I don't make it back today, here's hoping the Spartans do some Duck hunting this evening.

The win over Jacksonville State, and the showdown with Oregon

I've meant to get back to this blog sooner than this, but I blame my absence to the start of the school year and a few other "real life gets in the way" situations that have kept me away from the computer.

When we left off, the Spartans were about to take on Jacksonville State in the 2014 season opener. I truly believed that JSU would put up a better fight than they did, and I was pleasantly surprised by the way MSU completely dominated the first half of the game. The Spartans had their way with the Gamecocks, taking a commanding 38-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The game really couldn't have gone better for MSU. The Spartans were able to sit Connor Cook and the other starters in the second half. Tyler O'Connor, Damion Terry, and a host of other backups gained valuable playing time in the second half. Consequently, the second half was a snooze. The teams traded touchdowns and MSU came away with a 45-7 win.

The Spartans take on Oregon in two days, and I honestly have no idea what to expect. Autzen Stadium in Eugene is a notoriously tough place to play, the Ducks have their usual "basketball on a gridiron" offense led by Marcus Mariota--a quarterback who has the speed and quickness of a Denard Robinson combined with size and the ability to throw the ball. He seems to combine all the best attributes of, say, Denard Robinson, Russell Wilson, Braxton Miller, and Taylor Martinez. Mariota may be the best quarterback MSU has faced in the Mark Dantonio era.

Obviously, an MSU win would be huge in a hostile environment against a quick strike offense in extreme heat. (Temps are expected to hit the mid-90s in Eugene, Oregon). As a fan, I'm trying to view this game philosophically. If the Spartans lose, I don't want to be as dour as I was last year after the Notre Dame game. This has the makings of an incredibly tough game, and as long as MSU keeps it competitive, it should be beneficial for the Spartans in the long run.