So what do we really know about the B10 this year? We know that Scott Frost has a LOT of confidence in the team they have and the system (and about losing 10+ players from the team with more to come). We know that Penn State has the best QB last name Oh come on, Matt… Alex Hornibrook. (I really want some ice cream right now…). We know that Wisconsin may not actually be cloning the Watt brothers anymore. They are.. They’re just all injured. We know that Indiana is not the worst team. Or Illinois ... Or Maryland! And we know that Northwestern and Purdue are not who we thought they are, because I have no idea who they are and I don’t think they do either. Oh yeah, and Ohio State is who we thought they are for the most part. Ehh.. Ohio State is…
I’m sorry I need to go back to Hornibrook for a second… I mean come on! It’s Hornibrook… His last name is Hornibrook. It’s like.. Randy Rivers but less subtle… and all combined into one name!
Now on to the team we all really care about. Like one cares about a younger sibling… but like much younger, and their ages are like 35 and 45 so.. yeah for a long time it was pretty one sided but for the last 10 years the younger one could kick the older one’s ass. The Spartans (I assume there will be an asterisk from Doug in this sentence somewhere). Hah! I’m using bolded interjections instead of asterisks so jokes on you sucker! Not, as the annoying parents of the State kids sitting behind us at the Homecoming game kept calling us, the Spartys. That is not who we are; that is our mascot (who, by the way, is the GREATEST mascot of all time* This… might be accurate… The Nittany Lion looks like a kid’s stuffed bear that’s been through the washing machine a few thousand too many times… I’ll just throw out Gritty because it’s current but yeah… I guess I gotta give that one to ya… Does anyone remember the VipBear?).
Why is Dantonio so stubborn? Let’s take the Northwestern game. When down a touchdown let’s run right up into the A gap That’s the gap between the center and the guard for those less football literate… basically the most “up-the-middle” run play you can call… and gain a total of 2 yards deep in our territory. Sometimes you have to abandon the run! Now maybe it works if you have 5 starting O linemen on the field, however we were on O lineman combination 5… in 5 games! Give your QB the ball and see if he can really earn that first round draft spot he is seeking. James Franklin disagrees with you. He says you call 2 timeouts and then let your 2.7 yds per carry RB run straight into 3 unblocked D Lineman. Paul Chryst also disagrees. He says “If it’s 4th and 2, you’ve got Jonathan Taylor who hasn’t been stopped all game and your team literally has not failed to complete a 3rd and short all year you should punt. Preferably in the end zone so you gain a net of 22 yards of field position.” Man I thought these guys were all top 10 coaches last year.
Other times it pays off as evidenced in the Penn State game this past weekend. We stuck to the game plan off the bat and it opened us up to a few passing opportunities. Our defense looked much better all-around and especially in the backfield as we eliminated McSorely’s home run throws** Does he still do that stupid watch the ball salute move? I wanna punch him in the face every time I see that. The front 7 gave up a big run or two but was still stout when needed. The offense just looks so anemic at times and Lewerke is more of a roller coaster ride than Cook ever was. We caught them coming off a big game where they had OSU on the ropes and somehow let them march down the field to lose the game. Sounds familiar. This was a trap game for PSU and Dantonio took full advantage. We can win the big ones, but then we lose to ASU which has no business even being a D-1 after their coach didn’t even know the name of his own school. But that clock management though… Herm has earned a stay of ridicule and borderline apology from me for now… I’ll trade dumb media moments for smart on-field decisions any day.
That brings us to the official unofficial rivalry week of college football. It is the battle for State of Michigan and the best named trophy for a rivalry game. The Brown Jug? Doug was concerned, but never fear we have saved the 2nd and 3rd playbooks for this week’s game but not little giants 2 which was an epic fail of a play and throw to a D lineman when tying the game was on the line I mean… he WAS wide open if the throw was on time… and the defender still had to make a great play to break it up… man this is a lot of MSU stuff… Why did I let you write a guest post during rivalry week?. Back to Dantonio real quick, why play so conservative against Northwestern and then run 2 trick plays against PSU?!?! Expect to see both teams trying to get the ball into the other team’s end zone, and then trying to kick the ball through the upright for an extra point***.
Go Green!**** You’re Fired
*Time being all encompassing moving forward to infinity and starting the day Sparty came to be (No Bias, just fact)
**Totally came up with this term on my own and not from anyone else Good thing this blog has a very loose stance on plagiarism…
***Channeling my inner John Madden
****Not sure why I even put this in here because I know Doug will either A. remove it or B. say something about the color of the sky with it before it or after it I thought about getting rid of it but, with 2 trick plays already on tape MSU will most likely be relying heavily on the power of the disrespekt this week. So I would like to take this opportunity to say how much I and my fellow Michigan fans really respect what Mark Dantonio has done with this football program. I’d respectfully like to comment on how much respect I have for the respectable performances Michigan State has been able to put together under the highly respected Coach Mark Dantonio.
Go Blue!!
First!