MSU FOOTBALL FRONT BURNER: B1G Championship Game Edition Part 1. Time to Claim a Seat at the Table.

BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP GAME EDITION PART ONE
Our weekly feature on MSU Football brings diverse responses to
a variety of questions related to the Spartans program. 

Panelists:

ATownAndDown (Follow him on M-Live)

SpartanMan82 (See SM82s chUMp of the Month Award for November)

MSUSpartan76 (Follow him on M-Live)

Front Burner Questions:

1. It was the Michigan football players who started the on-field brawl in their game against Ohio STATE, yet only a single UM player was penalized in any way. This, despite multiple Wolverines who ran onto the field, several of whom made physical contact with Buckeyes. How does Michigan come out of this ugly incident relatively clean, while Ohio STATE is made to look like the bad guys?

2. MSU Punter Mike Sadler was clearly roughed near the end of the Minnesota game, yet no penalty was called. This feels similar to the bogus pass-interference calls made against the Spartans at Notre Dame, and the multiple non-calls that should have been made against Taylor Lewan in the Michigan game. Do you believe that Michigan State plays on a level field when it comes to Big Tens referees and/or administrators? 

3. The Buckeye Defense looks pretty vulnerable this season, but what can MSU do about the Ohio STATE Offense? Miller and Hyde look pretty damn good. Give your best guess at the point total to be scored by the Buckeyes.

4. What under reported developments, plays or story-lines have you observed since our last Front-Burner?

5. Despite the great season in progress, Mark Dantonio has not been able to register measurable gains in recruiting, at least according to the five-star-system used to rate high school players. On the other hand, Langford and Lippett came in as three-star "athletes", and Dennard and Waynes arrived as two-star recruits. Do the benefits of a season most likely show up with high school juniors more than the current class of seniors? Do you care at all about the recruiting rankings for Michigan State? 

MSUSpartan76 Bonus Question: You have the most-read post on this web site. In that post you discuss the myth of the widening recruiting gap that UM supposedly enjoys over MSU and statistically supported the facts that the gap is, in fact, shrinking. Without sending you on an a multi-day research project, can you comment about the recruiting gap or trends for Ohio State vs. MSU, even in general terms?

ATownAndDown Bonus Question: I saw something about Bennie Fowler possibly getting an extra year of eligibility. That would be huge - every receiver coming back? Can you fill us on what you know? Has Lawrence Thomas been limited enough to get a sixth year (if he even needs it)? 

SpartanMan82 Bonus Question: How about that Mike Griffith of MLive? Even though he ranked MSU higher than most in the polls, the headlines of his articles on the Spartan team still seem to be like back-handed compliments, if not outright denigration. Who does this guy think he is?

Front Burner Panelist Responses:

1. It was the Michigan football players who started the on-field brawl in their game against Ohio STATE, yet only a single UM player was penalized in any way. This, despite multiple Wolverines who ran onto the field, several of whom made physical contact with Buckeyes. How does Michigan come out of this ugly incident relatively clean, while Ohio STATE is made to look like the bad guys?

MSUSpartan76 (Follow him on M-Live)

I did not watch the game, but I looked up the video.  Video of Scuffle    Detailed Video of Scuffle

There were more players who actually connected on punches than were ejected on both teams and at least 1 UolM player who definitely should have been ejected but wasn't. I do not believe either team came out looking clean, but the double bird gesture by the tO$U player tipped the scale and that seems to be where the focus is right now. 

The real question is, how the heck is being ejected for 1 half of a game equal being suspended for an entire game? How is it both schools walk away with such lightweight admonishments while two years prior a single slap to the side of a helmet after being provoked resulted in a full game suspension. It certainly creates the perception of double standards. Or is it that we really are seeing different rules applied to different teams?

ATownAndDown (Follow him on M-Live)

Emotions run high in rivalry games. I have heard from multiple former players that you would be amazed at how much chirping goes on between rivals and the times in which they are jawing. It doesn't take much for those things to escalate into what we saw last Saturday. It could be me but I don't see it as a black eye for either program. If anything it will just add to the mystique of that rivalry game. I think back to those Yankee-Red Sox bench clearing brawls where you could have pointed fingers at any number of villains at the time but it doesn't take long for it to be part of the hype video to add to that rivalry. Same goes here. Interesting though that Will Gholston gets suspended for a game for "throwing" a single punch in retaliation and the number of punches thrown and actions taken during that incident only lead to a couple of players missing a little over half a game. But I am comparing apples to oranges, right?

SpartanMan82 (See SM82s Post - UM Football Dirtiest in America)

The many ways that Michigan gets favorable treatment continues to boggle my mind to this day. Any fair-minded review of that incident would have resulted in 5-10 penalties against UM, either unsportsmanlike-conduct on the field, or a game-day ejection, or a post-game suspension of one-half to one full game to be served either in their bowl game or their season-opener or league-opener next season. But only one guy gets thrown out of the game, a reserve linebacker. Unbelievable.

I can't answer the question, I can only point you towards evidence of the syndrome. I have noticed the "Michigan Mainstream Media Machine" for decades, and it is still a strong force guiding public perception today. I can only assume that there is money and corruption behind the favoritism, even if we can't see "The Ed Martin" who is running the show.

2. MSU Punter Mike Sadler was clearly roughed near the end of the Minnesota game, yet no penalty was called. This feels similar to the bogus pass-interference calls made against the Spartans at Notre Dame, and the multiple non-calls that should have been made against Taylor Lewan in the Michigan game. Do you believe that Michigan State plays on a level field when it comes to Big Tens referees and/or administrators?

MSUSpartan76 (Follow him on M-Live)

Ever since MSU has emerged as a B1G Ten contender there have been numerous times when very questionable calls were made in favor of Spartan opponents. It seems to have started in the 2011 UoLM vs MSU game with Lewan getting away with dozens of no calls and Gholston getting slapped by Delany with a suspension going into the Wisconsin game. What people forget is that Delany also demanded Narduzzi be reprimanded for his (out of context) "60 minutes of unnecessary roughness." Hollis and Dantonio refused to take action on either, but ultimately Narduzzi received an "admonishment." The release of the admonishment was late Friday so it was not picked up by the media and turned into a circus and that, along with not suspending Gholston plus the win over Wisconsin with ZERO penalties must have infuriated Delany. In the waning minutes of the BT CCG, MSU had a reception overturned when the video evidence not only was not incontrovertible, but actually showed the receiver was in bounds and the replay expert talking with the commentators said the call should be based on possession, that he was in-bounds. Then there was the Lewis call on running into the punter (link with text and video), which was bogus. He was blocked into the punter and that should have been a no call.

Last season, Ohio State and Nebraska. This season Michigan, Notre Dame and Minnesota. MSU is not permitted a level playing field. Who pays the B1G Ten Officials? Delany. 

[Here is example of the field tilted in favor of Ohio State: NCAA RULES DIRECTLY REQUIRE BRAXTON MILLER'S SUSPENSION FOR CHAMPIONSHIP GAME.]

ATownAndDown (Follow him on M-Live)

The crew that did the MSU-Minn game was horrible. They made a number of bad calls (or non-calls). They were horrible with spotting the ball. The bad calls went both ways (even though the ones that went against us were more noticeable). While I do think there is a certain amount of favoritism from the higher ups in the B1G and I think a good coach can lobby for calls, I don't think there is a big conspiracy by the B1G for MSU to lose. In fact, wouldn't it be a better marketing ploy to match up two teams that went undefeated in conference play than trying to spin that thing they had last year with a rematch of a 4-4 conference team that one of its wins came against the opponent they were playing (and the outcome didn't help improve the perception of the B1G).

SpartanMan82 (See SM82s 10-Year Battle, MSU vs UM Post)

We keep hearing from Drew Sharp about the league favoritism towards Ohio State and Michigan, and we keep finding evidence to support the conspiracy theory. Many of the calls/non-calls that have gone against MSU in football have been truly mind-boggling.

The quick answer is "NO", the Spartans do not play on a level field. It's like we have to be Leonidas going up against Xerxes every day. The will-to-win that was heralded by Vince Lombardi is the essence of what we all know as the "Spartan Spirit". We know we have to play harder to win than the favored programs, so our players and coaches just play harder.

That said, we certainly don't want to be in a close game with Ohio STATE in the fourth-quarter, as the officials will certainly deliver the win to Brutus on a silver platter. There is virtually no way we could mount a late comeback against the odds, so we basically have three quarters in which to win the game.

3. The Buckeye Defense looks pretty vulnerable this season, but what can MSU do about the Ohio STATE Offense? Miller and Hyde look pretty damn good. Give your best guess at the point total to be scored by the Buckeyes.

MSUSpartan76 (Follow him on M-Live)

Best guess? MSU 21 vs tO$U 20 - See my statistical breakdown here. tO$U has played "nobody" to the exact same degree that MSU has played "nobody." MSU has played some potent offenses this season but tO$U has not really faced a top tier defense. Illinois, Nebraska, Northwestern and Notre Dame all averaged 400 yards per game or more over the season and Indiana has averaged over 500. tO$U has averaged the most at 530.5 yd/gm. The only defense close to MSU's is Wisconsin, who held the Buckeyes to 140 yards less than their season average.

The Buckeye's season average is inflated with numbers gained versus California, Florida A&M, Penn St., Purdue, and Illinois all of which were 600 yard-plus games (Illinios was 591 yds). How to contain the tO$U offense? Let loose Duzzi's Dawgs.

ATownAndDown (Follow him on M-Live)

The Buckeye defense is not bad but they have been exposed on a few occasions this year. But their strength will go head to head with MSU's strength. They have all the weapons that have at one point or another over the last two years given MSU fits. Mobile QB. Power back. Speed back. Possession receiver out of the slot. And big play receiver. When being interviewed by BTN about his Coach of the Year Award, Coach D was asked what MSU needs to do to win on Saturday. Coach D's response was simple: "Execute." The defense has to execute on every play because you can't be giving up extra yards or losing guys in coverage because OSU will take advantage of it. In the end, I would not be surprised to see a similar performance to those that we witnessed in 2011 when we faced Wisconsin. Both high powered units got their blows in. In the end, I expect OSU to be in the neighborhood of 30 points. Turnovers can have a big impact on that though.

SpartanMan82 (See SM82s Thanksgiving Message for Spartans)

A closer look reveals its the Buckeye Offensive Line that makes those guys look good. Remember our stories exposing the myth that UM has a "young offensive line" and a "young team". Our analysis of the O-Lines of Michigan and Michigan State showed two or three seniors on each line, with a combined-total-starts number around 90 for each team.

Ohio STATE has four seniors on their O-Line, with 140 combined-total-starts. The line-play-battles when Brutus has the ball will likely determine the outcome of this game. The best factor working for MSU is that most every player sticks to their fundamental assignment without losing focus trying to be a hero. The sound fundamentals give Sparty a chance to slow down the OSU Offense, making turnovers more likely as the game wears on.

So it looks like they will score 24 points if we don't give them any short-field situations.

Click here for part 2 (questions 4 and 5).

Click here for part 3 (Bonus Questions).

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)