Does this Spartan football team even have a pulse?

Another week, another disappointing loss. The Spartans get shot down by Northwestern, 54-40.

Once again, this was a game that demonstrated that Michigan State is weak in almost every facet of the game. They have an offensive line that can neither run block nor pass protect with any consistency (Exhibit A: Freshman quarterback Brian Lewerke getting hammered at the goal line for a safety). They have a defense that cannot get off the field, and cannot seem to ever get a third down stop. This is a team that is capable of getting off to a quick start, but completely incapable of maintaining a lead.

I really don't know what to add to this. What more is there to say about a season that feels like it has gone completely off the rails?

At this point, I'm really not sure how much I'll be tuning in to the MSU football season. I watched the Indiana, BYU, and Northwestern games in their entirety and I don't consider it as time particularly well spent. There's a strong possibility I'll be bailing on the Maryland game. Who knows, maybe me not watching will be a good thing for the Spartans.

Can this football season be salvaged?

I went to the MSU/BYU game on Saturday, extending my streak of attending at least one MSU football game per season to 24 years. The way this game went, it may be my last MSU football game of the season. I don't know if I want to witness football played this poorly.

For the good news: The weather was glorious, with mostly sunny skies and game time temperature above 60 degrees and actually feeling much warmer in the sun-drenched bleachers of the north end zone. As usual, the Spartan Marching Band was in excellent form and at least in the beginning the day was everything that is wonderful about college football.

Even the game seemed to go well in the early going, with the Spartans mixing passing with running to deliver a long drive capped off with a touchdown. Even though the rest of the first half was a snooze, it was at least reassuring that the defense had kept BYU out of the end zone and the Spartans maintained a 7-3 lead.

Then the bottom fell out.

The Spartans struggle in every single facet of the game. The offensive line can't block, the quarterbacks struggle to make plays and lead the team (no doubt not helped by the offensive line's struggles), the defense can't get off the field on third down, the kicking game (particularly field goal kicking) is inconsistent at best, and to top it all off the offensive coordinator inexplicably abandons the passing game after the first drive of the game.

There are years when a team can mask one or two deficiencies by excelling above average in other areas. In 2012, MSU's excellent defense compensated--to at least a small degree--for its anemic offense and the team finished at 7-6. Last season's high-powered offense made up for a sometimes spotty defense and dodgy special teams to lead the team to a college playoff berth.

This year, it seems that the Spartan football team excels at nothing, and the result has been a three-game losing streak and 2-3 record.

Based on what I saw Saturday, I don't where or when MSU will win again. Northwestern is at least on a par with BYU, so that game will most likely be a struggle, and Maryland on the road looks like a loss. I definitely do not see the Spartans beating Michigan. If I'm being completely honest, with the way this MSU team is playing now, I only see two games remaining on the schedule that the Spartans can and should beat: Illinois and Rutgers. That means that, barring some kind of miraculous improvement, the Spartans are looking squarely at a 4-8 season.

Someone may need to wake me up when basketball season starts.

Football seaon excitement may NEVER hit me

Last night's MSU/Indiana game was simply terrible. So bad, in fact, that I don't even know where to start.

Stupid penalties kill this team in a way I haven't seen since the John L. Smith era, although we may have seen it in 2009 as well. Perhaps the most glaring was a "leaping" penalty on Indiana's first field goal attempt in overtime. Some on message boards felt it was an obscure penalty that may have been mis-applied in this case, but it was the icing on the cake of what was a mistake-filled, uninspired MSU performance.

The only time MSU had any fire under its collective butt was when they were down 21-14. They  finally ran the ball with some aggression and sense of purpose, with Gerald Holmes looking much better than a somewhat listless L.J. Scott.

Then there's Tyler O'Connor. He looks like Andrew Maxwell with mobility. There is little touch on his throws, and I don't sense much in the way of leadership on the field. Although he wasn't necessarily bad last night, he just seems to lack something. Perhaps I/we were spoiled by by Connor Cook more than we even imagined.

I don't know if it has to do with youth, injuries, complacency, lack of leadership, but this entire Spartan football team has taken several steps down this season. I expected a dip this season, but certainly didn't anticipate such a precipitous downturn.

Added to the unease is the great start for that school down the road. Michigan State fans will need to buck up and listen to a lot of boasting and chest-thumping from the blue-and-yellow clad hordes.

My conclusion: It looks like a long year for Spartan football.

Football season excitement hasn't hit me

I'm having a hard time getting into football season this year, and thus the blog has suffered as a result.

Maybe it's because I don't like the way I've fallen so deeply down the rabbit hole in the past, at the expense of other interests and activities, and am trying to avoid that because it's not healthy.

Another aspect of my disinterest is the MSU football team itself. They are an enigma and hard to get excited about so far. The Wisconsin game was a complete disaster. There's no way to sugarcoat it. The worst home loss in almost seven years.

Does anyone have any idea what to expect tonight against Indiana? My fear is that the Hoosiers are due to win the Old Brass Spittoon one of these days and the Spartans could be vulnerable enough to comply. On the other hand, MSU could come out angry and ready to make up for last week's horror.

On (to) Wisconsin

I've been seriously negligent towards this blog so far this football season.

When will I, or anyone else for that matter, stop doubting Dantonio or MSU before a big game?

In fairness, nobody knew quite what to expect from the Spartans after the completely "meh" Furman game, but as I wrote in my last post, Dantonio likes it that way. Why would MSU want to go all out against Furman when they don't have to, and show its hand to Notre Dame?

So the Spartans went out and steamrolled the Irish for three quarters, before letting up a bit on the gas pedal and making the game somewhat close. However, when the Spartans absolutely needed to make plays to seal the victory, they did so.

Of course, we still don't know exactly how good Notre Dame is. But the fact remains: any time a team plays and defeats the Irish in a night game under the outstretched arms of Touchdown Jesus, it is a big win.

In a little over an hour from now, MSU opens up Big Ten play against Wisconsin, another team that is difficult to get a read on. On one hand, the Badgers beat LSU, on the other hand they struggled a bit with Georgia State last week--and the Badgers start a redshirt freshman quarterback today.

If this game goes according to almost every other Michigan State/ Wisconsin game, it'll be decided by less that ten points either way.

I'll go ahead and pick the Spartans to win, 24-17.

Notre Dame game day

I've been putting this off for two weeks, but seeing as how it's game day, I can't procrastinate any longer.

Well, the Furman game wasn't quite what I expected. Though I never felt the Spartans were in danger, it was closer than I'd have preferred and it was not an enjoyable game to watch whatsoever.

Nobody knows what to think about this MSU football team, and Mark Dantonio prefers it that way. They enter Notre Dame Stadium this evening as a total enigma.

It's important to not allow the result of tonight's game completely color our expectations for the rest of the season. It'll be a difficult environment for the Spartans, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if they lost. I'm not trying to be pessimistic, just realistic.

One thing I've learned over the last nine years, however: doubt or question a Mark Dantonio team at your peril.

If the Spartans lose, they can still go on to have a great season, as happened in 2011 and 2013.

Not quite ready for football, but getting there

It still feels like summer around here.

It's been humid almost every single day since, heck, the beginning of June (certainly since July at the very least. I don't know. It's been muggy for so long I can't even remember when it started. Probably after it was hot and dry, which was probably June).  It's been hot for so long that it's scrambling my brain.

Anyway, the point is the weather has not one single hint of autumn. This makes it difficult for me to get into a football frame of mind.

I'm still very much in summer mode, though truth be told I'm tired of summer. The unrelenting sultry weather is wearing on me.

But, though this probably not an admission I should make on a presumed "MSU Spartan sports blog," I'm reluctant to take my inevitable "dive down the rabbit hole" that occurs about every single year on or near September 1. Now, what'll happen is that a few months from now I'll read this post and wonder what the hell was wrong with me.

Whether I'm ready or not, MSU football begins the season in two days against Furman. I will be planted in front of my TV, beer in hand, watching all the action. Though it's impossible to get a gauge on where the football team is now, having lost quite a few players from last year's team, I imagine it should be a fairly comfortable win for the Spartans. They will likely look rusty in the first half, but their depth will wear down the Paladins in the second half and the final score should be something in the neighborhood of MSU 41, Furman 10.

I'm sure I'll have a lot more to say when the game is over.