WIN!

WOW, what a win.  Apparently, first to 10 wins.  There were a lot of high lights a few low lights.

First, did you see that defense?  O MAN, they looked good. The front four absolutely dominated Ohio State's offensive line.  Yes, it did help having Braxton Miller in there, as he tended to run out of the pocket early.  Mixing in blitzes and coverage kept OSU's offense off balance and our defensive backs were able to keep their men in check.  I will be honest, the few replays they showed of the MSU secondary, showed OSU with wide open receivers.  However, this could have been after Braxton broke off his pass drop back and tried to run it.  The real Dennard had a monster interception and displayed athleticism I have not seen at MSU in a looong time.  Special shout out to William Gholston, who up to this point had gone unnoticed.  William was in the OSU backfield the entire game.  I think he had something to prove. (take note ohio recruits...)    MSU held OSU to 178 yards, keeping in tact the nations #1 ranked yards per game defense in the country.  O yea, we had 9 sacks. 9.

BJ Cunningham is a beast.  My counterpart here balked at the idea of MSU having the best receivers in the big ten.  Well we have the best single receiver in the big ten.  Cannot argue that.  9 catches 154 yards and the lone TD, and it was a beauty.

The running game was very solid.  The total numbers were not lofty (85) but they seemed to get yards when we needed them.  Including several 5+ yard rushes.

O hey, offensive line, that was good to see against a good defense.  No sacks allowed. 

The bad?  Kirk, you weren't so much bad as not great.  The two interceptions were thrown to the worst spots possible.  There was one throw that was about one foot away from being a  pick 6.  However, I will add that had Cousins zoomed the pass to Sims in the end-zone instead of lofting it, it was a TD.  Also, there was another pass that was about 3 feet too far and would have ended up as a BJ Cunningham TD.  Complete those passes and its blow out city.

Some more bad would be some questionable play calling, but I am not going to complain when we left with a win in a game we dominated from beginning to end, even if the score board made it look closer.

(tbone says click the image to get a larger view!)

4-1

What Time Is It?

12:38 am Saturday, HUH!    OK.  Time to nail down these three things a prediction and then black out.  But first, lets listen to the white stripes, because the next time the state of Ohio produces a musical group as good as this this you can call me kitten: anything to avoid advertisements. BUY THEIR MUSIC

1: Whats that you say?  Number one looks familiar?  That's because it is.. Yes, the offensive line. It boils down to this, can MSU protect Kirk long enough for him to throw the ball, with none of those back foot passes.  However, what will be more important for this game is if the offensive line can get to that second level.  Obviously we will need the offensive line to stop the front four.  It is the back three I am worried about.  We need to be able to stop a line backer to spring a running back.   Look for that if MSU is to win. 

2:  Oh, the offensive line is important?  Well so is the running game.   MSU needs to have a successful running game to win this game..  What does a successful run game give you?  Simply, it gives you clock control.  Clock control is going to be extremely important.  Keep the OSU defense on the field - get them tired.  Set up the play action pass and expoit it.  No one on OSUs defense can guard BJ Cunningham - along with that, no one can guard Dion Sims either.    Get the run game going or this will be a long day.

3:  Ok, so the last time I mentioned this, the opposite happened, which makes me an oracle of sort.  MSU needs to keep the crowd out of it.  I expect a rowdy crowd, way louder and larger than what was at Notre Dame.  MSU will need to score a touchdown early and rattle young Braxton Miller.  Get the crowd out of this game, and demoralize OSU early, that wil go a long way towards winning.

Prediction:  Defense is the strength of each time.   I will say first to 20 wins.  Also, this is the best chance MSU has had to beat OSU in the last decade.  Lets make it 24-21. MSU.  Michigan State gets a lead on a touchdown and OSU makes it interesting while State plays "bend, don't break" and ultimately gives up a field goal.   GO GREEN!!

(P.S. the Tigers game really put a damper on my evening.  Well not really, I still managed to drink Pats weight in red wine and am feeling good.  Whats worse is the Tigers game might start while MSU is ending.  I think pat and I can agree on this, Go Tigers!)

Spartan Warrior

This will be the first non football related post on the blog.  However, it is worth mentioning. Delvon Roe is retiring due to increased complications with his knee.  I will link Lansing State Journal sports columnist, Joe Rexrode.  Very good quotes from both Tom Izzo and Delvon Roe in there.  Roe will be missed, he was gritty and never complained.  He was everything a Tom Izzo basketball player should  be.

Click here for Joe Rexrode article

3 Things (Attending Game Edition)

I've made par on this hole, I promise.

1) Phase I: 8 til Noon - The Tailgate

I know the football game doesn't begin until noon, but the real sporting begins when I wake at about 6am.  A quick Meijer run to secure the tailgating essentials and then round up the rest of the crew at the hotel. (how lame is it that I'm now on old person who must stay in a hotel?) We will head down the UM golf course, pay our $30 fee and begin consumption.  Is there anything more glorious than a college football tailgate?  Ahhhh, I'm tingly.

2) Phase II:  Noon til 3 - Gametime

Oh yeah, there's a football game going on.  I'll be watching to see if Michigan's passing game can get on track, if the defense can shut down Minny's run game and whether or not we get to see some young guys (Devin Gardner puhlease) early in the 2nd half.  Also, it has been far too long since I've experienced the best wave in the world.  This game should provide ample opportunity for waveage.

Prediction: 33-16 Michigan


3) Phase III: 3 til Snooze - The Bar

With only one weekend in Ann Arbor, where is my time best spent?  This is going to be a major decision that will influence my entire experience.  In the afternoon I will need to be somewhere that will allow for more football to be watched on television and as night comes it's going to be about staying up and staying inebriated.  I'll be reminiscing on my lost college days and trying to recreate them with the powers of booze.  Dominick's will surely find it's way into the mix somewhere on this timeline, as will some spectacular Ann Arbor eats. 


Glory awaits me this weekend, for now I'm off to coach my 2-1 freshman squad to victory. 

The atmosphere won't quite be as awesome as the night game, but I'm pumped to head back to Michigan Stadium nonetheless.  Here's a little piece of what it was like just a few weeks ago.  Take it away Jack White.

Heading into Big Ten Play

4-0

He seems rather happy about 4-0.

For the third consecutive season Michigan sweeps their non-conference schedule. We've seen this storyline before, exciting victory over Notre Dame and wins over lesser competition get Michigan into the top 25 in September.  The last two seasons the starts have been followed by collapse in B1G play.  Will this year be any different?

Well, maybe.

3 Reasons 2011 Michigan is different than 2010 and 2009.

1) Defensive stops

Yeah I know.  This is a new phenomena after the recent history at Michigan.  There are some reasons for concern (ND still racked up yards, competition level hasn't been great) but also some reasons for optimism (young guys stepping up, the secondary doesn't look like a sieve, Greg Mattison has coherent scheme)

There are still plenty of question marks with this unit heading into Big Ten play, and they are unlikely to be world beaters, but if they can just get stops they will give Denard and the offense a shot to win every game.  So far, they have done enough.  Can they keep it up?


2) Turnovers

When you don't get them, you usually bring up statistics to show how turnover numbers from year to year usually regress to the mean.  Now that Michigan IS forcing turnovers, I would like to believe that the improvement is real and due to coaching, improvement, rather than simple regression to the mean.  Again, we will find out soon in Big Ten games.  If the defense is able to continue creating turnovers, this could be a special season.


3) Special Teams

1-2 on FG's doesn't seem spectacular, but the kicking game and the return game have both been good.  I'm actually not that concerned about FG's.  This phase of the game has gone from a glaring weakness to something of a strength.  That feels awfully weird to type, in a good way.

Happy?  Yeah, but still gotta coach em up.

You can't have one without the other....

3 Reasons for Concern as Big Ten Play Begins

1) Can Denard throw?

He's a top 10 Heisman candidate, so when he's your top concern you have some good things going on, but can Denard throw the football in this offense?  He's had some accuracy issues and the offense seems to have some problems getting into a rhythm in the passing game, but they are running so effectively that the concern is lessened.  If they want to win more than half their Big Ten games, Denard needs to pick it up in the passing game.


2) Linebacker play

The defensive line is developing a rotation, making plays and improving each game.  They aren't going to be dominant but they have been and can be solid.  The secondary has played well and looks like the most improved unit on the defense.  The linebackers, however, still make too many mistakes.  The outside backers give up contain and Demens in the middle has some problems when he's not making plays downhill.  They aren't going to be a massive problem like in years past, but I'm a little worried about their mistakes being magnified by better competition.  This unit needs to play well to limit opposition running game which is essential to B1G success.


3) Depth on the Oline

It hasn't yet hurt Michigan in the way that MSU has gotten stung by injuries to a thin unit, but the threat is there.  After the SDSU game, two of Michigan's starting lineman were limping/banged up.  The depth is so thin with this unit that two injuries would result in a big drop-off on the field.  This is a wait and see situation, all we can do is hope for health.

Central - MAC Recap.

Well Michigan State won, and won convincingly.  I have had a few discussions with Pat about this, mostly that it is hard to take away anything from a blow out win.  What can I say?

First, Micajah Reynolds and Fou Fonoti both looked good at their tackle positions.  Also, Travis Jackson looked good and earned praise from both the coaching staff and players.   This is where it is hard to draw any conclusions.  CMU is not a very good team.  So I would hope that these players looked good.

Le'veon Bell looked "good".  Why the parenthesis you ask?  I will tell you why!  He just does not impress me.  His largest run of the day he literally tripped and that managed to fool the defender.  For the amount of praise he gets from other blogs and bloggers (i am looking at you TOC community)  I expect some sort of Heisman candidate talk.  Yes he ran really well against CMU.  Get back to me after next week...

Dion Sims.  Hes a man.  A real man.  Throw him the damn ball.

I  cannot lie, winning by a large margin is nice.  This blog will likely never throw numbers at you to try to turn football into some sort of moneyballesque sight. (again I am looking at you TOC).  In all cases one team is better than the other, and sometimes a team gets lucky.  On Saturday, we were plainly a better team.

And I am really looking forward to playing Ohio State which I feel is a very winnable game against a solid defense and a disconnected offense.  This game will show a lot more of what the Spartans are made of.  

3-1.  Ohio State next week in a non-division league game. 

(See what i did in the title there?)

Michigan State Aggies

Texas A&M is officially heading to the SEC.  Ivan Maisel writes a cute little article and Tbone's Spartans come up in a very interesting way....

But the dispute over the ESPN-operated Longhorn Network served as the last bruise to Aggie Pride. And the Aggies without their pride aren't much more than Michigan State on the Brazos.  Texas A&M, like Michigan State, lives in the shadow of a sister public institution with a richer football tradition. Texas A&M, like Michigan State, has won one national championship (1939) and won it so long ago that no one remembers the players

Relevant to this site?

Sure to incite a reaction from Tbone?

Pure comedy for Wolverines?