Week 4 Blahs

This is a lot like the dog days of summer.  You know that scene in Bruce Almighty where "Bruce" is controlling "Evans" mouth?  aslkjdfaosfwjljalsflk sfjsaljfnvlkanfasf

 

(http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/bruce-almighty-gif)

That is how I am going to describe the MSU performance over EMU. Or as my dad pointed out, the Emu's.  Get it?  No? It's a play on words. 

There was not a lot of positive to take out of it, other than our defense played OK and that Bell and Sims are the only thing keeping us from being 1-3.  MSU looks like the 4th best team in the B1G right now.  Behind OSU, Northwestern, Nebraska.  Penn State might be as good as us as well, they can certainly pass the ball 100% better.  Michigan I would put right about next to us as well. 

-University of Michigan (no the) did not fair any better than MSU did against Notre Dame.  Denard Robinson looked lost (MSU wide receiver level lost).  Three of those picks were just plain bad.  From what I can tell, Denard had room to scramble more on some of those picks, and maybe should have.  Maybe that is the problem with trying to be a "Michigan" quarterback.  Just be Denard, the best player in the B1G.  Instead of Denard, the less good version of Braxton Miller (I went there).  Along with that, the UM line did not live up to what it was once billed to be.  That has a lot to do with the Notre Dame front seven being full on legit.  Being a mostly outsider looking in on UM, every time I see UM struggle on offense, I think: why don't they just let Denard run the ball and get the juices flowing?

-Seriosuly though, Ohio State?  Theye might be the biggest enigma in the B1G even though they appear, right now, to be the best team.  For a team that was supposed to have one of the best defenses in the B1G, they love giving up points to wildly inferior opponents.  Along with that, the offense is all Braxton.  Take away his gashing run plays, and they are much less dynamic.  I will break things if MSU loses next week.  

-Penn State looked good against Temple.  Temple is a solid Big East team (better than Eastern).  Allen Robinson, looks like the best wide out in the B1G.  McGloin still makes some bone headed passes/attempted passes but seems a lot more accurate when throwing down field. The running game is a bit up in the air right now. However, if the defense finally has turned it on, they could very well win the Leaders.

That was all the B1G I managed to watch. 

Did I mention that CBS is ripping off what Pat already wrote?   No seriously, Pat wrote this last Thursday.  Now if only we could get the readers they do.  

Define "Smiling"

Does anyone know what that saying means?  "Irish Eyes are Smiling"? They must have been smiling in that way people only smile when feeling a knowing, psychotic rage after witnessing miraculous Michigan come from behind victories in the final seconds of the last three matchups in this rivalry.

If you've read anything on the internet about the Michigan - Notre Dame matchup this weekend you have heard one fact reiterated again and again: Denard Robinson owns the Irish.  This, of course, is true.  From his Heisman like pose in the game in 2010 to his 4th quarter heroics last year, Shoelace has been downright cruel to Rudy lovers everywhere.  Can he do it again?  Please, Mr Robinson, Irish tears warm the cockles of my heart.

Mercifully, after waiting through spring, summer, fall and three football games finally we get some concrete information on the Wolverines and maybe how they matchup with the Spartans.  I'm sure MSU fans will have a keen eye on this game to help gauge where their team is at as well.  Overmatched Eastern Michigan probably won't provide much opportunity to learn more about your beloved Spartans.

I fully expect Notre Dame to come out gunning for Denard in an attempt to shut down his running opportunities.  Denard will need to beat the Irish through the air for Michigan to win this game.  Despite Michigan's defense having some question marks, the Irish offense doesn't seem to be a juggernaut.  The matchups in this game appear to be strength on strength (UM O vs Irish D) and ? on ? (UM D vs Irish O).

I'm torn on making a pick in this game.  If the game was in Ann Arbor I'd be confident in picking Michigan, but winning in South Bend is a tall order...

Yet how can a Michigan fan (or any football fan) pick against dreadlocks dancing in the dark beneath the lights of famous old Notre Dame stadium under the watchful eye of Touchdown Jesus and torturing Irish souls one last glorious time?

Michigan 28-27

Recap and Quick Hits: Week 3

Well that was far and away from a win.  Had it been played later it would have been a Sunday bloody Sunday.  Rudy is still a douche bag.

-I watched the majority of OSU with the sound off.  Braxton Miller is no doubt a stud.  He made some Cal defenders look foolish.  But man is that OSU defense underwhelming.

-Penn State put a whooping on Navy. Good for them, this was was pretty much necessary.  I am not one of those people that wants PSU to tank every game - that's how I feel about Notre Dame.  Robinson was making a lot of plays and looks like a legit threat for PSU. If they have anyone else on offense something good could start happening.

-Michigan ended the game against Umass about 10 minutes into it.  Funchess with a touchdown and then Denard with a touchdown and then again and again and again. Michigan made this game look easy, for exactly that reason.  It was easy.  Umass is new to FBS and they will have a few growing pains.

-Lastly, MSU played a real snore fest against ND. The final score was 20-3 but it felt like even less than that happened.  MSU played a good game defensively.  The touchdown in the first quarter to Goodman was a complete mismatch.* (that was not pass interference either, shit call by the refs).  Notre Dame managed only 300 total yards 122 rushing and 178 passing.  This is a highly skilled offensive team.  They are very dynamic with Wood in the back field and Golson's ability to run added a wrinkle that MSU did not seem prepared for.  The Spartan interior line has no push which created a lot of passing and running lanes for the Irish offense. Along with that, the Spartan offensive line has no push which created a lot of rushed passes and tackles for loss.  Both of these are issues need to be fixed immediately.  Along with that, the wide receivers looked terrible again.  Dropped passes plaged the receivers all game long.  I have to assume that Arnett might be getting more burn going forward.  Lippett dropped the ball and at times looked outmatched. Fowler dropped a touchdown pass on a leaping play; Larry Caper had a dropped screen pass as well.  I will say that Mumphrey looked good, he was the only player on offense making any plays.  Sims also had a quietly effective game.   If anything, this game created a lot more question marks.  A lot of MSU bloggers are mentioning how this happened last year and the team was able to win 11 games.  This is a much different team.  The talent different on offense is really showing.  Currently MSU is ranked 13th in total defense, at 250 yards per game that is also tops in the B1G.  But no matter how good your defense is, you need to score points.  After this game, I am not sure what to expect on offense.

 

(Until next year)

MSU vs. ND Prediction

You know when you wake up at 5 am after "falling asleep" on the couch.  You wake up a little confused, wondering where you are, but ultimately you manage to gather yourself and make it to bed.  You wake up finally just before college football starts but inside your head it feels like a cesspool.  That cesspool is Notre Dame.  The constant pain in  everyones head.  Always begging for your attention.  Sloshing around inside you ruining your afternoon.  But thankfully you can abort that pain with some Advil. 

OFFENSE: The front seven for Notre Dame is the strength of their team.  Michigan State's offensive line better come to play.  Along with that, Bell will need to have the best game of his career.  Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o will look to punish Bell and Maxwell.  Taking that aggressiveness and using it against them will be necessary for MSU. Look for the MSU offense to try to establish the run both between the tackles and on the edge.  This will set up play action passes where MSU will gain large chunks or yards.  After finally getting a catch last week, I see Arnett having a much larger impact in this game.  There is virtually no film on him in the MSU offense and that could help as no one is really sure how he will be used.  Look for this game to really be the Bennie Fowler coming out party.  He is a receiver that can use his big body and get down the field in a hurry.  Bennie should be tearing up the less than impressive Irish secondary.  The Irish will certainly try to make MSU one dimensional, though the air and these MSU receivers will make them pay.

DEFENSE:  Notre Dame is going with their more spread quarterback Golson.  He has a lot less experience than Reece.   MSU will look to attack early and rattle the inexperienced quarterback.  Spartan Stadium will be absolutely rocking throwing off some of the Irish timing and helping the MSU defense early in the game.  Defensively the corner backs, Dennard and Adams, will need to  be in lock down mode.  Narduzzi will be dialing up blitzes, like usual, from all over the field.  This will also help to stymie their great running back who is making his return this game, Cierre Wood.  MSU will certainly give up a couple big plays, but as long as they are not runs, I do not see how the Irish will score on long bombs through the air.  Gholston will command a lot of attention like usual and this will help free up Denicos Allen for some plays in the backfield.  For the MSU defense to be successful, they will need to keep ND one dimensional.  Just like ND will look to to against Michigan State, we will try to make Notre Dame throw the ball under duress.

PREDICTION:  I was at the game two years ago.  I have to say, MSU v. ND is my favorite game to go to.  I despise Notre Dame.  The game is usually really close and the fans in the stadium are rabid.  After some early scoring from both teams, they settle down and starting grinding against each other for two quarters.  This is perfect because this is exactly what MSU wants to do.  As the game rolls along and the crowd gets louder and louder look for MSU to string together big drives and tire out the Irish defense.  This game will remain close but MSU will prevail, call it 27-21 MSU.

Irish Eyes

So everyone has heard the news by now.  Notre Dame is going to the ACC in who knows when...They do currently have a contract with the Big East that has a $5 million buy out along with a 27 month notification time frame.  I am sure that lawyers will get involved with that.

A fellow MSU blog mentioned the ND switch in this post and conclude by saying that we are to not say that Notre Dame is irrelevant.    I would disagree with that.  This move does not make them anymore relevant.  Notre Dame is known for their football team, which will not be a part of the ACC (along with the hockey team).  The football team will start scheduling 5 games against ACC teams per reports.  This of course should stop or create large gaps of time between those classic UM/ND and MSU/ND games, along with potentially USC.  That is the real tragedy and is also the reason why their football team is no more relevant.  The ACC is home to Miami, Florida State, and Virginia Tech, but right now, is trading games against Michigan, USC and even MSU  for those teams a win for Notre Dame?  I do not think so.

Their basketball team is probably shitting their pants right now though. 


For further reading on this read here (ESPN) and here (Dr. Saturday)