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Below are this week's questions. Reader comments are welcome by clicking the link at the bottom of the post.
- Is the MSU offense a problem or a concern any longer? Why or why not?
- Should a second Spartans quarterback have seen playing time against Indiana?
- Did you observe any interesting developments, plays or story-lines from Saturday's game that may have gone largely unnoticed or lacked meaningful media focus?
- Should MSU be ranked in the Top 25?
- What do you think will happen when Indiana gets a shot at Michigan next weekend?
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1. Is the MSU offense a problem or a concern any longer? Why or why not?
ATownAndDown (Follow him on M-Live)
We can't ignore what happened 3 weeks ago. I am right there with everyone that the offense has made some nice improvements over the past few weeks and there were signs of hope against ND even. But Cook isn't magically Kirk Cousins accurate, the WR's still have some hold your breath moments and the RB's are not exactly Ringer and Caulcrick either. I know we don't need a ton of offense to win football games but there are going to be games we need the offense to perform in tight competition in order to win. Can they do that? In 2011 we had an offense that could pick up the slack when needed. I don't just want to win a some games, I want a championship and that is going to mean more than just average output when we need something extra.
SpartanMan82 (See all of his posts here)
The Offense is no longer a major problem, it's just not a team strength. Cook has established himself at Quarterback, we now have a true running-back, and several receivers have made great catches the past few weeks. Even the Tight End came into play. The O-Line is a net positive, especially with pass protection.
This team will be defined by it's Defense, but the Offense is now part of the playing group.
MSUSpartan76 (Follow him on M-Live)
A problem? No. A concern? Always. We have seen improvements but we have also seen mistakes. As the season progresses, it will be tougher to win and the offense can not have any kind of regression if MSU wants to have a successful season. Across the board we have seen improvements and we are delighted with the progress but there still is a lot to do and there is a high ceiling for this team. There was a dropped pass. There were a couple of badly inaccurate throws. There needs to be more yards gained on the ground. There were mistakes on offense that could cost the team badly in future games especially since we can anticipate a defensive letdown here and there. There is a lot of youth. The biggest concern is that they get cocky.
Return2Glory (Follow him on M-Live)
YES - The question about the offense has changed. It was, "Will this offense ever be be functional?" The team has given us a resounding "Yes". The question now is, "Can this offense be functional against a top notch defense?" - We likely won't be able to get a "yes" to that question unless MSU gets to it's second B1G Championship in three years. We could could get "no" answers prior to then.
2. Should a second Spartans quarterback have seen playing time against Indiana?
MSUSpartan76 (Follow him on M-Live)
Actually, no. Cook needed to solidify his position and gain additional confidence and experience. Now, in the Purdue game, Coach Dantonio needs to start giving another QB snaps. Hopefully as many as 1/3 of the snaps (ala Brian Hoyer).
ATownAndDown (Follow him on M-Live)
No, no, no. I know what Coach D said about playing a second QB when Cousins was a senior but that was different than this year. Regardless of how you see the QB race going in 2014 and 2015, Cook is going to be around for those seasons too. We are not playing for 2014 and 2015 right now. We are playing for this season and we need Cook to get as much work in and see as much as he can before we get in a tight contest. I can understand if it was 42-14 in the 4th, then its classy to get the starter out. But Cook needs those reps because the defenses of U of M, Nebraska, and NW (while have each had their own issues in their own right) are better than what we saw last week or will see over the next two weeks. Its one thing to have a QB rating of 150 against Indiana and its another to do so in Lincoln, Nebraska. Cook needs to be ready.
SpartanMan82 (See all of his posts here)
Yes, and it should have been Tyler O'Connor. At some point in that game, TOC needed some reps. Cook should be running the ball on designed keepers about ten times per game. Teams with running QBs need to have viable backups. TOC should have gotten at least three series in that game.
Not trying to revive a "quarterback controversy", just trying to avoid running into another one later. Remember what caused the problem the last two years was the under-playing of the backup QBs, Maxwell two years ago and Cook last year. TOC needs to finish this season with at least 50 pass attempts and at least 25 carries.
3. Did you observe any interesting developments, plays or story-lines from Saturday's game that may have gone largely unnoticed or lacked meaningful media focus?
SpartanMan82 (See all of his posts here)
The RJ Shelton touchdown run came off a "Jet Sweep", the first time we had run one of those in the game. We had "shown" Jet Sweep two or three previous plays, but didn't hand off to the Jet before that scoring play.
The Jet Sweep is a good change-of-pace (non-trick) play, and we should be running it three or four times each game. Good idea to set it up first, but several players can run it, as shown by the true freshman on Saturday. It has never resulted in a serious loss or turnover, and it almost always nets positive yards even when contained. It's a simple way to put pressure on a defense.
That said, we still need to run a simple play-action Counter Bootleg Pass Option play out of an I-formation in short-yardage situations outside of the red zone. That play would be MONEY.
MSUSpartan76 (Follow him on M-Live)
Actually yes. It starts last season. The 2012 offense was dysfunctional. That has been discussed ad nauseam. What was missed was the exact moment it began. I replayed the Boise St. game and saw something that is very interesting. The first drive, Maxwell and the offense did very well. They moved the ball steadily down the field and scored a TD. The second drive ended when Lippett bobbled the ball into the hands of a Bronco defender. That was the moment the offense started to "choke." Add to it the Lippett fumble in the 3rd quarter and the receivers started pressing to not make further mistakes. They started over thinking. That carried through the rest of the season and spilt into 2013. They kept choking by trying too hard and thinking too much.
Now I read that the receivers are having fun and watching them, they are relaxed and just playing football. Gone is the need to "prove" themselves. They are no longer self-inflicting needless stress and pressure on themselves to make big plays, to not make mistakes, etc.
ATownAndDown (Follow him on M-Live)
Local media does a pretty good job on picking up on story lines but I have noticed the play calling has some issues still. The last two games didn't exactly start off all that impressive for the offense and it was not until we ran the ball that things started to click. We had some red zone issues against Iowa because we got a little too cute once we got close to the goal line. There were some very similar issues in the play calling a few times against Indiana but we were bailed out by someone making a play. When I say getting cute, I am talking about end arounds and the wild cat formation type play calls. Against ND, Iowa and Indiana our bread and butter physical play was moving the ball. Then when we got close we decided to change things up for some reason. Force the other team to stop us when we are doing what we do best. Don't throw your second tier stuff out there and hope they are fooled both to open the game and in scoring situations.
SpartanMan82 (See all of his posts here)
The RJ Shelton touchdown run came off a "Jet Sweep", the first time we had run one of those in the game. We had "shown" Jet Sweep two or three previous plays, but didn't hand off to the Jet before that scoring play.
The Jet Sweep is a good change-of-pace (non-trick) play, and we should be running it three or four times each game. Good idea to set it up first, but several players can run it, as shown by the true freshman on Saturday. It has never resulted in a serious loss or turnover, and it almost always nets positive yards even when contained. It's a simple way to put pressure on a defense.
That said, we still need to run a simple play-action Counter Bootleg Pass Option play out of an I-formation in short-yardage situations outside of the red zone. That play would be MONEY.
MSUSpartan76 (Follow him on M-Live)
Actually yes. It starts last season. The 2012 offense was dysfunctional. That has been discussed ad nauseam. What was missed was the exact moment it began. I replayed the Boise St. game and saw something that is very interesting. The first drive, Maxwell and the offense did very well. They moved the ball steadily down the field and scored a TD. The second drive ended when Lippett bobbled the ball into the hands of a Bronco defender. That was the moment the offense started to "choke." Add to it the Lippett fumble in the 3rd quarter and the receivers started pressing to not make further mistakes. They started over thinking. That carried through the rest of the season and spilt into 2013. They kept choking by trying too hard and thinking too much.
Now I read that the receivers are having fun and watching them, they are relaxed and just playing football. Gone is the need to "prove" themselves. They are no longer self-inflicting needless stress and pressure on themselves to make big plays, to not make mistakes, etc.
ATownAndDown (Follow him on M-Live)
Local media does a pretty good job on picking up on story lines but I have noticed the play calling has some issues still. The last two games didn't exactly start off all that impressive for the offense and it was not until we ran the ball that things started to click. We had some red zone issues against Iowa because we got a little too cute once we got close to the goal line. There were some very similar issues in the play calling a few times against Indiana but we were bailed out by someone making a play. When I say getting cute, I am talking about end arounds and the wild cat formation type play calls. Against ND, Iowa and Indiana our bread and butter physical play was moving the ball. Then when we got close we decided to change things up for some reason. Force the other team to stop us when we are doing what we do best. Don't throw your second tier stuff out there and hope they are fooled both to open the game and in scoring situations.
Return2Glory (Follow him on M-Live)
I loved the successfully executed screen plays. I've been looking for that forever! Keep them coming - both inside and outside, RBs, WRs, TEs, FBs. Go crazy with it vs. Purdue.
NEXT "TRICK PLAY": The fake 1st half ending kneel down - pass into the flat (or a streak) to Langford and see if he can outrun everyone. No risk as long as it is a forward pass. Call it "Tiny Tim" after his hit song "Tip Toe Through the Tulips". It was "there" at the end of the first half vs Indiana.
4. Should MSU be ranked in the Top 25?
ATownAndDown (Follow him on M-Live)
I don't think MSU is top-25 material yet. And really what have we done to prove that we deserve that. I get the record thing but your record is just as much about who you beat as it is about who you lose to. Our only loss is to ND but our best win was against Iowa and that is not exactly a resume building win especially considering Iowa is going to have to beat OSU, Wisconsin, U of M, NW or Nebraska to make a bowl game this year. Indiana is a borderline bowl team too. WMU hasn't won a game yet. USF is 2-4 right now. And Youngstown State isn't even in the same division. So its tough for me to say that MSU deserves to be in the top-25 because they have beaten some pretty bad teams. Some solid wins against two more bad teams will go a ways but beating teams that are perceived as on MSU's level will solidify it in my mind.
SpartanMan82 (See all of his posts here)
Probably, but who cares? The rankings are a sham, and will be phased out during our lifetimes. Our current ranking is purely a function of our pre-season rank, and that was a blind and/or biased guess by some folks who aren't very bright.
Had MSU been a preseason Top Ten team, they would be in the Top Ten right now. Since they weren't, they aren't. Who cares?
These are the final years of college football before the real playoffs begin, probably about five to ten years from now. Anybody can vote for anybody in the meantime, but those votes will be rendered uninteresting and ultimately meaningless once the real playoffs are established.
MSUSpartan76 (Follow him on M-Live)
No and it really does not matter. Rankings never win games. Even after the Spartans manhandle the Boilermakers this Saturday, there will still be doubters. Even so, a 6-1 MSU might slip into the bottom of the top 25. But there will still be many who doubt MSU because they have played "nobody."
Return2Glory (Follow him on M-Live)
YES. MSU has established itself as the 3rd or 4th best team in the league. It says a lot about the conference if the 3rd/4th best team in the league with a nationally ranked defense is not in the top 25. If chUMps can be ranked 18 after the way they got to 5-0, I see no issue with being ranked 25 with the way MSU got to 5-1.
5. What do you think will happen when Indiana gets a shot at Michigan next weekend?
MSUSpartan76 (Follow him on M-Live)
Not meaning to be trite, there will be a football game. In that game, the Michigan defense will have its hands full. In that game, the Hoosier defense will have a chance to slow UM down enough to make the outcome of the game a coin toss. Both team will go into the game with things to prove. Whichever team goes in focussed, but not tense, will win. I expect the IU air attack will score its 4 TDs or maybe more. I expect the lack of a robust UM rushing attack will allow IU to stay in the game. It will come down to Gardner. If he remains the TO machine, IU wins. If not, we might see another exciting OT finish.
Going out on a limb, IU wins. Barely.
ATownAndDown (Follow him on M-Live)
Indiana gets cracked over the head by U of M. Its at home and U of M is markedly better under Hoke at home. U of M is a young team and young teams have a tendency to play down to competition and struggle a bit more on the road. Indiana has a nice offense that will move the ball on U of M but they have no defense. In the end, I see it as a similar score to that of our game with Indiana.
SpartanMan82 (See all of his posts here)
The Hoosiers will score repeatedly. So will the Wolverines. Bring your adding machines and calculators to keep up with the score. Could be another 67-65 donnybrook, like the Weasels had a few years ago against Illinois. Either team could win.
The over-under on Hoke's pre-game meal is FOUR DONUTS.
Return2Glory (Follow him on M-Live)
Indiana gets cracked over the head by U of M. Its at home and U of M is markedly better under Hoke at home. U of M is a young team and young teams have a tendency to play down to competition and struggle a bit more on the road. Indiana has a nice offense that will move the ball on U of M but they have no defense. In the end, I see it as a similar score to that of our game with Indiana.
SpartanMan82 (See all of his posts here)
The Hoosiers will score repeatedly. So will the Wolverines. Bring your adding machines and calculators to keep up with the score. Could be another 67-65 donnybrook, like the Weasels had a few years ago against Illinois. Either team could win.
The over-under on Hoke's pre-game meal is FOUR DONUTS.
Return2Glory (Follow him on M-Live)
Ditto to SM82. Pass the Paczkies please.
BONUS: chUMps make ESPN's Bottom Ten list.
Tweet ------------- Remember to check Spartan Headline links, updated real time, at the bottom of the page (Web version only). -------------- Please click on COMMENTS below the post to enter and view reader comments. ***If you are receiving this post via automated email, ***you need to go to the site to view headline links and embedded videos in this post: http://spartanresource.blogspot.com/ (Web version only)
BONUS: chUMps make ESPN's Bottom Ten list.
Tweet ------------- Remember to check Spartan Headline links, updated real time, at the bottom of the page (Web version only). -------------- Please click on COMMENTS below the post to enter and view reader comments. ***If you are receiving this post via automated email, ***you need to go to the site to view headline links and embedded videos in this post: http://spartanresource.blogspot.com/ (Web version only)
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