Hello, is there anybody out there?

Hi folks, I don't know if I have that many (if any) people reading my goofy blog, but if you're out there, I'd like to hear from you. What, if anything, do you like about the blog? What can I change? What else do you want to hear or read?

From the outset, I've wanted this to simply be a fan's observations of MSU sports, and I suppose in that I've been successful. This is not a place to go for recruiting information or in-depth analysis. It's just one guy's look at MSU fandom.

I apologize for the fact that I don't seem to have much time to devote to the blog, so the "Spartan attic" part of my mission has largely gone to the wayside. I have had ideas that I've wanted to expand upon, but haven't found the time to do so: such topics as games from my past that had an indelible impression; favorite Spartan athletes from the past; and maybe a few essays on the pieces of Michigan State memorabilia I have in my possession.

Anyway, if you're out there, let me know what you think. If you are at all interested in this blog, and there's a topic you'd like me to explore, or have any ideas whatsoever, feel free to let me know. I'm open to feedback from all one or two of you out there.

Spartans knock off the Hoosiers, and I was there in person!

No sooner had I lamented the possibility that I may not attend an MSU football game in person than I was the lucky beneficiary of a ticket to yesterday's Homecoming game between the Spartans and Indiana. I have my brother-in-law to thank, who found himself with an extra ticket early Saturday morning and rang me up.

So my relatively modest streak of consecutive years attending at least one MSU football game has been extended to 21 seasons. It was also a privilege to be physically present for the 500th game in Spartan Stadium history.

The weather in East Lansing was glorious yesterday, with temperatures in the 70s and only one small cloud in the sky that I could see. It was certainly the most beautiful Homecoming I've seen in several years, and definitely better that last year's rainy, cloudy, wet day that also featured a disappointing loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Against Indiana, the Spartans played a good, if not great, game. The Hoosiers did manage to break a long touchdown run on their first possession, taking a quick 7-0 lead. The Spartan defense, however, got things straightened out and did a good job containing Indiana's no-huddle offense. Of the the four touchdowns that the Hoosiers scored, two were the result of MSU miscues: With MSU up 14-7, MacGarrett Kings fumbled a punt return late in the second quarter and Indiana took over in great field position and scored to tie the game at 14-all. Then, late in the fourth quarter and up 42-21, the Spartans gave the Hoosiers the ball on a bizarre interception that deflected off an MSU receiver's hand and into the arms of an Indiana defensive back. The Hoosiers had possession inside the MSU 40-yard line and quickly punched it in to cut the score to 42-28. The final score is deceptive, as I don't think the game was quite as close as one would assume by looking at the box score.

In any case, it was a good win against a much improved Hoosiers team, and I'm encouraged by the strides the offense has taken in the last three weeks. I feel a little ridiculous freaking out as I did after the Notre Dame game: perhaps I should have had a little more confidence in the coaching staff's ability to get it straightened out and find the right players to fit in the correct spots.

Time to take a time out and watch a little Staudt on Sports to relive yesterday's game. I will try and get back to this later, with the operative word being "try" because you know how that goes.

A big improvement, and a big win

I need to write my post-game observations earlier--i.e. immediately after the game--rather than wait until two days later when the inspiration isn't quite there anymore.

My stress-o-meter for this game was high, and it reached dangerous levels when Iowa took advantage of the Darqueze Dennard/Isaiah Lewis collison (temporarily knocking Dennard out of the game) to score a touchdown, and quickly followed that up by throwing a touchdown pass that Dennard misplayed. In a half in which Iowa had been thoroughly outplayed, the Hawkeyes took a 14-10 lead into the locker room. I can't repeat the language I blurted at my TV screen--but by now you probably know me enough to guess that it was deeply emotional and contained a few choice four-letter words.

I calmed down in the second half, and the Spartans took control and played perhaps their best 30 minutes of football this season.

Yes, I know that Iowa isn't Alabama. They aren't even in the top 25. But Iowa has been a constant thorn in MSU's side going back decades--particularly at Kinnick Stadium. Going on the road and knocking them off is an important win for the Spartans, I don't care what the naysayers believe.

I also have to give the MSU coaching staff credit for the offense's vast improvement between the Notre Dame game and the Iowa game. Like a lot of fans, I freaked out after the Notre Dame game (read post below), but it looks like the Spartans are working things out on the offensive side of the ball.

Remember when I wrote that the Notre Dame isn't always a good litmus test for how the rest of the MSU football season will go? The opposite is true with the Iowa game. The Spartans tend to play the Hawkeyes in September or October (I don't why that is). If one looks that the years in which MSU defeated Iowa, the Spartans have almost always gone on to have at least a winning season (1987, 1989, 1993, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2008, and 2011 for example).

***

My modest streak is in jeopardy.

Since 1993, I have attended at least one MSU football game each season for a total of 20 consecutive years. It looks like that streak will end this year.

I should have bought tickets for one of the non-conference games, but for whatever reason (still in a baseball mood, perhaps? Not excited to spend good money to watch an inferior opponent?) I didn't pull the trigger.

The final home game against Minnesota is one I could easily attend and not break the bank in doing so, but I will be driving home from Disney World that day.

I'd love to see the Michigan game, but I don't have an extra 300 bucks (or so) floating around waiting to be spent on a football ticket.

The Purdue game could be a possibility, but I'm scheduled to be at a family event that Saturday, so that's probably out. The only legitimate possibility is this weekend's Indiana homecoming game, and I'm still trying to figure out if I can make that happen. We'll see. But chances are, I don't see an MSU football game in person this season--and it's breaking my heart.

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.

What in the H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks is going on with MSU football?

Mark Dantonio and his koaching staff? (or is this the officiating crew at the MSU/ND game?)

I'm not sure if the above picture is that famous incompetent police force, the Keystone Kops, or the MSU football coaching staff (or should I say, koaching staff). In any case, they both have the same degree of expertise--at least in recent weeks. And the same can be said for the officiating crew that worked the Michigan State/Notre Dame game.

I've had a few days to stew over the latest head-scratching, gut-wrenching Michigan State football loss. The more I think of it, the angrier I get.

What in the hell is going on with this team. More specifically, what in the hell is going on with this coaching staff? Has Mark Dantonio lost his mind? I never thought I'd be so critical of Mark Dantonio, but he has really bungled this 2013 team from the spring game until now.

Yes, the team is 3-1; but it's the rockiest, ugliest 3-1 I've seen in quite some time.

Why in the world was Andrew Maxwell thrown into the game on the final drive, only to inexplicably run out of bounds on 4th and 20, sealing MSU's fate. Did Maxwell forget the down-and-distance? Even if so, it doesn't look good for him to make such a huge mental error in a pressure situation. It didn't look good for the coaches to throw him into that situation in the first place. And was Connor Cook really playing that badly? I don't think so. The team was only down by four points!

The coaching staff is in serious danger of alienating all of the quarterbacks and dividing the team if this dog and pony show continues.

And don't get me started on some of the offensive play-calling, specifically the ridiculous R.J. Shelton trick play, which destroyed a promising Spartan drive in which MSU was gashing Notre Dame on the ground.

But not all of what happened on Saturday was MSU's fault. I don't like to crow too much about bad officiating, but the pass interference calls against the Spartans were some of the worst officiating decisions I've seen since last year's Nebraska game. When poor officiating has a direct impact on the result of a game, there is a problem. This was definitely the case in the Notre Dame game.

That's all I have for now. I think I need to take some prozac and decompress.

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.