Overcast Saturday

I will admit, I only watched one college football game this past weekend. It was the game I was at, MSU v. Nebraska.  I caught about half of the Alabama LSU game before falling asleep at 11:30  This is what happens when you start a bar crawl the night before at 3:30 pm at  The Peanut Barrel before moving onto The Riv and then PT's. Thank god it wasnt a noon kickoff.

-In the MSU, there were some plays left on the board.  I say go for it on fourth down and two yards to go in the fourth quarter.  But I also think at this point in the season we should stop punting the ball and ALWAYS go for it.  Screw it.  Along with that, one of the worst calls I have seen in sports was made when the game was still very much in doubt. Pass interference when there was no contact.   Some MSU bloggers are saying we should not blame the refs because MSU did not make stops when they needed (read more here, here and here)  but that just does not make sense. MSU is up 3 with under a minute.  Nebraska IS in field goal range but by no means and easy shot on the road and with that cold.  Let's assume for a second that no PI was called.  Now Nebraska is kicking a field goal.  Do they make it?  I don't know.  Do they make it and then win in Overtime?  I don't know.  But what I do know is that when you get the ball at the 5 yard line,  your chances of both making a field goal or scoring a touchdown grow immensely.  Nebraska averaged about 5 yards per carry in this game, that's one carry to get into the endzone from the five.  If you say the refs did not cost us that game you are a buffoon.  In no way are we entitled to win.  But if you are leading in a game with under a minute to play and the refs make a call that was described by 'media in the press box, media who cover MSU and Nebraska. Also, the ESPN announcers. And the ESPN anchor who later referred to the call as “brutal.” And the Big Ten Network analysts. And former NFL vice president of officiating Mike Periera, who made it clear he thought the call was bad.' (joe rexrode mailbag here) Then the refs lost that game for you.  At best, Nebraska did not win it.  I will side with Tom Izzo on this

Onto some images!

 

(something old and something new.  the art museum is really impressive)

(an overcast red cedar river)

 (from a distance)

 (some band)

 (they looked a little too happy)

 

 (there was about 40 minutes straight of kids getting pictures with Sparty)

 (ban practice,  was really fun and cool to watch.  ban parents are pretty mental. that has to be next reality tv show)

 (SPARTY)

 (the man on the right, he came to party. anyone see him wandering around before?)

 (about to start!)

(i maintain we have some of the worst/best students in the country, they are little brothers)

 

Finally I have this video, an unsteady shot of the band marching in.  EVERYONE of them had on gruff sparty faces, that was pretty cool.

Reduce Reuse Recycle Recap

Finally a win.  A win that MSU closed out.  That was nice to see.  I thought the MSU offense played well enough.  Obviously, it was not a great offensive show, but they were able to move the ball at times before ultimately doing something boneheaded.  Joe Rexode touches on that with his Monday Mail Bag.

 -I watched a good portion of the PSU/OSU game.  PSU played a solid game, but seemed to abandon the run game.  I think that ultimately did them in.  Not sure if Belton was injured or what.  Braxton was impressive in tearing apart a very good PSU defense.  That just might show how good the MSU defense actually is more than any other stat.

-From there, it was time to watch the um/Nebraska game.  I got to tell Pat about Denard's injury over the phone, that was about the most gratifying thing I have got to do this football season. Without Robinson, um was punchless.  The game wasn't really interesting outside of a few drives and seeing what um could do without Denard.  um fans will be pleased to know that Robinson will be the starter this weekend.

-To close out the game, Maxwell made one great pass after another and Bell was able to bounce around for 4-6 yard gains.  I think that our receivers may have finally turned a corner.  There was no Burbridge in this game, but that's OK.  Fowler is the man, and he showed it at times in this game.  Also, Lippet showed why I have been so high on him, from his sky high grab to his juke to the one yard line.  Personally, I really enjoyed seeing Thomas get some open field to run in.  A fumble certainly wasn't pleasant, but man, I would not want to tackle him.  The defense was really stout in this game as well.  MSU was able to hold Wisconsin to 19 yards rushing (net) and 190 yards total.  Gholston finally had a game that MSU has needed all year with 4.5 tackles for loss and a sack.  Along with that, one hit knocked Wisconsin quarterback Joel Stave out of for the season with a broken clavicle.

This play below, I remember seeing and screaming at the T.V.  It did not get called.

(mary langenfeld, uspresswire. via twitter of chris vannini)

I still don't think that the Wisconsin defense is that great.  One play in particular stuck out in my head on a pass deflection to a mostly wide open Bell.  Other than that, I think MSU mostly killed their own drives.  Don't get me wrong, they are a good defense, but the B1G features a handful of better defense's.

Next week MSU has Nebraska at home.  A game I will be at.  Maybe I can get some pictures from the game and any sort of EL related activities I do on here.  Sound good?