Look out for my archive blog posts! I know you can't wait!

I'm here to announce a new project that might be of interest to all two or three of my readers--and I don't know why this didn't occur to me before--I'm going back and re-publishing all of the old MSU sports posts that originally appeared in my Brainsplotch blog. These all were published between August 2008 and October 2011. I don't know how long this will take, but I've already started with two of my very first MSU sports blog posts from August 2008. So, if anyone is interested, click on the year "2008" in the far-right side bar if you're interested in my ramblings from six years ago. I hope that eventually this blog will run uninterrupted from 2008 to...whenever I stop doing it.

Michigan State 56, Wyoming 14

The Spartans rolled over their final non-conference foe Wyoming, 56-14.

 

Overall, it was a good performance by MSU, but there are some areas of concern, namely the safeties, who continue to get burned for big plays. This was a glaring problem against Oregon, and even Eastern Michigan has some open receivers, though Eagles' quarterback Rob Bolden had no time to throw the ball and when he was able to throw, his receivers dropped the ball almost every time.

 

It's not fair to expect "No Fly Zone Mach II," but there is definitely room for improvement.

It was also odd to see how many holding penalties the offensive line had, and the tough day had by Travis Jackson. I hope that's just a blip on the radar screen.

 

Despite those holding calls,the good news is the offense is clicking, albeit against subpar competition. This may end up being a year in which the Spartans win with a great offense and a serviceable defense, a reversal of last season.

 

Wyoming presented a much tougher opponent than Eastern Michigan. They are hardnosed and well coached--just outmanned.

 

Next week, the competition is ratcheted up considerably with Nebraska. This is the first Big Ten game of the season for Michigan State and we will know more about the Spartans, and the Cornhuskers, when it's over.

Jimmy Raye and "Raye of Light"

When I was a kid, with two parents who were students at MSU in the mid-sixties, I grew up hearing stories of the Michigan State football teams of that era, particularly the 1965 and 1966 squads that compiled a 19-1-1 record, two undefeated Big Ten championship seasons, and--depending on what poll one consults--two national titles. They were among the greatest teams in college football history, led by a colorful coach and an astounding collection of incredible athletes.

When I saw photos of the mid-'60s Spartans teams, I saw plenty of black faces, but as a youngster I thought nothing of it. After all, the football I grew up with was fully integrated, with white players playing alongside black players. It wasn't until the late 1980s--or perhaps even as late as the 1990s--that I realized how unique MSU's 1960s teams were. During a time of segregation, when African-Americans were refused admission to Southern colleges and universities, MSU coach Duffy Daugherty, fearlessly and without apology, recruited African-American players to the Spartan football program. Consciously or not, Duffy was a Civil Rights pioneer.

Left to right: Clinton Jones, Bob Apisa, Bubba Smith, Coach Duffy Daugherty, Gene Washington, George Webster

Yesterday, I attended a presentation at the downtown Lansing library featuring author Tom Shanahan and the first African-American collegiate football player from the South to start at quarterback for a national championship team, Jimmy Raye of Michigan State. The two have collaborated on a book, Raye of Light, that details and illuminates the important role MSU had in the integration of college football, and the journeys of such players as Raye, Gene Washington, Charles "Bubba" Smith, Charles "Mad Dog" Thornhill.

Jimmy Raye as a Spartan

Jimmy Raye is an impressive person. He possesses a quiet, yet driven intensity that comes through in his bearing and his words. (With his shaved head, grey beard, and wire rim glasses, he looks a bit like a combination of blues singer Taj Mahal and former basketball great Bill Russell--if one can imagine that combination), I was sitting in the back of the auditorium, but I could swear that Mr. Raye was looking straight at me and his eyes were practically burning a hole through my body. Now, I know that may sound a bit overly dramatic, but that is the power that Jimmy Raye possesses. He radiates intensity, and has a deliberate, measured, and deeply thoughtful style of speaking.

The more I heard Jimmy Raye talk about the challenges he faced and the journey he has taken over the years, the more I disappointed I became that this man never was given the chance to be a head football coach. If only attitudes in the 1970s, 1980s, and even 1990s had been different, Raye would have received the opportunity he so richly deserved.

For the young Jimmy Raye, seeing Sandy Stephens lead the Minnesota Golden Gophers to the 1961 and 1962 Rose Bowls was the first inkling that playing quarterback at a major university was a possibility.

Sandy Stephens, Minnesota Golden Gophers quarterback

Although Jimmy Raye initially wanted to follow in the footsteps of Sandy Stephens and attend Minnesota, he ended up in East Lansing. However, Before Raye arrived on MSU's campus from Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1964, he was concerned that he would not get the opportunity to play quarterback, since other MSU players, originally recruited as quarterbacks, had been converted to other positions. They discouraged Raye from coming to MSU, but he came anyway. (I was a little unclear as to how or why he changed his mind--probably because I was sitting in the back of the auditorium--but I'm sure it will all be illuminated in the book).

In his freshman year, Raye played on the freshman team and was voted most valuable freshman player. In 1965, his sophomore year, he was Steve Juday's backup on Duffy's first national championship team. When Steve Juday was ineffective in the 1966 Rose Bowl, Raye entered the game in relief and nearly led the Spartans back to at least a tie.  It was obvious that MSU's loss to UCLA in the Rose Bowl--the only MSU loss in two years--still weighs heavily on Jimmy Raye--as it does his teammates--as he recounted the failed two-point conversion attempt that would have tied the game. Raye wishes that instead of handing the ball off to Bob Apisa, as Coach Daugherty instructed, he'd faked the hand off and ran it in himself because, as he put it, the path was so clear he could have "run all the way back to Fayetteville." As Raye saw it, since Daugherty had requested that the ball be placed on the left hash mark, UCLA's defense knew that the play would run to the right and that Apisa would be the ball carrier. The Bruins' defense was prepared to focus on Apisa, and UCLA's Bob Stiles tackled Apisa short of the goal line. (He paid for it by getting knocked out cold on the play. For his sacrifice, Stiles was named Rose Bowl MVP).

Jimmy Raye said that, as much as he loved and respected Duffy, the lesson he learned from that play was that sometimes coaches just need to let the players play and trust in the players' abilities.

1965 Michigan State Spartans football team

My vantage point from the library auditorium

Raye also recounted some funny stories about the lead-up to the Rose Bowl. The team was understandably excited to be in Los Angeles for the game. Some of them, however, spent a few days prowling the Sunset Strip and certain trendy nightclubs like the Whisky a Go-Go (famous hangout for Hollywood celebrities and launching pad for bands like The Byrds and The Doors, to name a few). When Duffy heard about this, he moved the team to a monastery in the San Gabriel Mountains. Despite the good times the team had in California, Jimmy Raye insists that this had nothing to do with the Spartans' loss in the Rose Bowl.

The 1966 season was another great season for Michigan State, as they reeled off nine straight victories and were undefeated headed into the November 19 "Game of the Century" clash against the also undefeated Notre Dame. Raye said that the black players on MSU's team were conscious of the significance of the game, which was to be televised nationally, and made a point of playing the peak of their abilities to prove to the nation what African-American players were capable of doing. In one of the hardest-hitting and most equally matched games ever played, the two titans battled to a 10-10 tie. Despite the unsatisfactory result of the game for the Spartans, their African-American players proved their greatness and capabilities to a national audience, and helped change college football.

Another amusing tale involves a time when players were made to stand up alone and sing a song to the rest of the team (probably similar to the scene in Paper Lion when each player stood up and sang his school's fight song). At the time, the team was divided along racial lines with white guys sitting with white guys and black guys sitting with black guys. Drake Garrett, an African-American player, stood up and sang the Beach Boys' "California Girls." The sight of a black player singing a "white" surf song cracked up the entire team, and from that point on the racial barriers broke down.

Naturally, I had to buy Raye of Light and got it signed by both Mr. Raye and Mr. Shanahan. I'm looking forward to reading it and hope to give a full report here in this blog.

Jimmy Raye, deep in concentration and intense even when signing books.

My weekly (and somewhat "weak") football post

Michigan State 73, Eastern Michigan 14. Looking at that score, one might assume that the Spartans had left their starters in maybe a bit too long, or perhaps tried to run up the score to impress pollsters...but nothing could be further from the truth. MSU emptied the bench in the first half, and four Spartan quarterbacks saw action.

That was the worst Eastern Michigan football team I've ever seen. They were terrible even by the low historical standards of the EMU program.

The first half of the game was such a mismatch that I felt sorry for the Eagles. That was not a football game, it was an annihilation. I have no doubt that Michigan State has had practices and scrimmages more challenging than what passed as a football game last Saturday.

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I'm back after several days of not being able to find enough computer time to write and post this.

So now the Spartans are on to the homecoming game against Wyoming. This is the earliest date I can ever remember homecoming arriving at Michigan State. Looking at MSU's upcoming schedule, I can see why homecoming is on September 27. October 4 would have been the more natural homecoming date, but it's a night game against Nebraska. Night games are no good for homecoming, and tough opponents like Nebraska are rarely homecoming opponents. MSU is then on the road for two weeks, with the final game in October against Michigan. Michigan is never the homecoming opponent (for reasons that should be obvious) and October 25 is way too late for homecoming, anyway.

The Wyoming Cowboys should be a big step up in competition after Eastern Michigan. (Then again, almost anyone would be step up compared to EMU). Wyoming comes to East Lansing with a 3-1 record and played Oregon tough at Autzen Stadium. Though they lost 48-14, the game was much more competitive than the score indicates. The way the Cowboys play the game is a mirror image of MSU, so this could be quite a battle in the trenches. Still, I see the Spartans pulling away in the second half and winning by a score in the neighborhood of 34-13.

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.

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.