The Blue Board

Not making it into work today so won't be around much. But just wanted to jump on to congratulate the MSU fans that I dealt with last week in the topic.

State kicked our ass all day, and unlike most of my fanbase... I don't really care about the "dirty" stuff. For me, if the players say it's part of the game and no big deal and just move on. Then it's just part of the game and it's no big deal and you move on. Seems to me those that focus on that are missing the point of the game and the sport.

I agree, MSU was the better team on Saturday. I congratulated them on the victory, as has many other Michigan fans. MSU got it done on the field, it looks like that MSU D is legit and they control their own destiny. They don't have to worry about other teams losing for a chance to win the B1G, they win and they are playing for in the Championship game in Indy.

The "dirty" stuff happens in every game, what doesn't happen in every game is the same guy jumping on a player that has already been tackled and maliciously ripping his facemask and in a separate play throwing a punch at a player. The punch happens, it's not right, but in the heat of the game it happens. The ripping of the defenseless players facemask was dirty, most Michigan fans see it that way, and many Spartan fans would agree. As I stated in another thread, it didn't change the outcome of the game, MSU won fair and square, they were the better team.

Denard is such a nice kid. Do you think he'll be your starting qb next year?

I second this; Denard is a classy guy. I was very impressed how he handled the coaching change; he could've been a prima donna, but just quietly decided to stick it out with his teammates. MI fans should be proud to have a kid like that on their team.

Fixed to remove the whiny part.

Now, doesn't that read better? It's certainly more classy.

You're welcome.

I thought we could have a nice day on the ground, but I didn't see 200+ yards coming. They were giving up about 4.5 YPC before this game, so I felt we could get something.

Thought Roushar played it very smart regarding the wind. You notice that MSU only too 2 or 3 shots downfield the whole game, and only with the wind at our back? Everything else was short. Wise decision.

The Red Zone thing played out well; MSU got 3 RZ possessions and went 3/3, all TDs. UM scored on their first RZ possession, then turned it over on downs on what proved to be a terrible play-call on 4th and 1. I really thought they'd just try a QB sneak, that was a horrible play call by Borges. He thought he'd suck MSU's D into the LOS, then throw to an open receiver in the endzone to tie it. The corner blitz was called, IMHO, because MSU expected to stone the middle and Robinson had been running left all game. Idea was that if Denard kept, he's have to try over the left side, and Adams would be there, unblocked, to stop Denard behind the line. Everyone knew Denard would have the ball, so on play action, Adams just followed Denard. Credit Adams for being smart on the play-fake.

The yards/point thing worked out like I expected. UM is down to around allowing approx. 20 yards/point now, which is more within reason. I expect it to fall further in the coming weeks, as they play Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. They should rebound nicely against Purdue. MSU's YPP stayed about the same, 17.8 against UM, which is slightly better than our season average. D is consistent.

I wasn't expecting 7 sacks; I thought 2 was about our ceiling, because I didn't think our pressure would hold up against UM's OL. Either our front 7 is even better than I thought, or UM's OL is over-rated. Probably a bit of both. Happy to be wrong about that, as well as our offensive line. They took about 5 steps forward instead of the 2 I expected.

The biggest effect the MSU penalties had was to put MSU's O behind the 8 ball. 4 drives started behind the 20 yardline, and only the one at the end of the 2nd Q got more than 1 first down. Good job by UM's punter to not send those to touch backs. MSU's O moved the ball pretty well if they started at the 20 or better.

I wasn't sold on Gardiner going into this game, but he should be a good one for UM. Too inexperienced to make a major impact this year, but I'll be interested to see how much work he gets going forward.

UM abandoned its RBs too early. Makes it easy to tee off on the QB when there's zero threat of the RBs getting it on play action.

On that note, UM is wasting some nice receivers with it's poor QB passing play. Really liked what I saw out of Roundtree and Hemingway.

Can't believe Mitchell White dropped that INT in the 2nd Q. He had time to call his GF and drink a beer in the time that the ball was in the air. He had about a 20 yard return or better set up if he makes that catch.

MSU's defense is going to give it a legit chance in every game this year, and after that performance by Baker, I don't think MSU has seen the best out of its offense yet. Cousins played a very efficient game, and the downfield passes will be there on calmer days. Should be a fantastic game against Wisconsin.

Michigan is no doubt better than they were last year, but the offense had a bit of an identity crisis. It's good to have multiple sets to keep a D off balance, but your I-formations were not good at all, and were giving MSU's D essentially free downs. UM is running a watered down version of Rich-Rod's O and a watered-down version of the pro-style. That's not going to get it done against better defensive teams. Fortunately for UM, I really only see tOSU's D as being in that "better defensive teams" category.

The run defense needs to be looked at hard for UM. Your safeties led the team in tackles, and that's not good. Felt your LBs were largely invisible, and Mike Martin was largely held in check. You are definitely hitting harder and the fundamentals are better. Iowa, Illinois, tOSU and Nebraska are going to be tough tests; all run the football better than MSU (for now at least). Was very surprised to see 2 forced fumbles, keeping with your season average. I thought that that would end soon, but apparently not.

Finally, Due51, I believe you called me out at the beginning of the year for saying that MSU could get 90% of Jones'/Gordon's production out of Bullough and Allen this year. After 6 games, do you still think I'm crazy? Bullough seems to be on pace, and Allen looks to be giving us close to 100% of Gordon's production, if not a bit more.

It seems like Denard is a solid kid, say and does the right things, kinda like Cousins for MSU.

As for the QB, that's a long ways away. I would say yes, but I also wouldn't be surprised if Gardner took over the spot, he fits Borges profile of QB better.

Nice change of subject. :)

When the hell has Michigan State showed class towards Michigan?

The road goes both ways.

In your head.

. Otpt, is that you?

I realize that beating Michigan feels like winning a NC to you, but I hope you realize that to win a NC you need to run the table through the regular season and actually win a bowl game. Dantonio has State headed in the right direction though, good luck.

He might be serious, but I think Bo was a better coach and is more recognizable now. If you wan to speak about a past coach there has to be something said about his legacy. I think Bo has a left a bigger legacy in the B1G with his battles with Woody Hayes and in the national spotlight.

If I were to ask my friends who Duffy Daugherty was they probably wont know. If I asked them who Bo Schembechler was, I'm guessing most would know his name. The truth is Michigan is a more nationally relevant program even if they are going through a downswing in their on-field play. That doesn't even upset me that much because wins and loses speak for themselves, and we all know what has happened for 4 years now.

If everything was based on head to head losses, then we should be getting the better recruits and getting more national attention. It isn't, but Michigan can use things like tradition to keep their relevance in college football. I think that Michigan is still at least one more season away from being a complete team. You can still see fingerprints from RR recruiting on the defensive side of the ball which is going to affect you guys in B1G play.

I will say one thing, I wish RR was still the coach. It is clear that Mattison was an upgrade over Greg Robinson. I am not going to flame all that bs about him being kicked out of Baltimore like some of us have in the past. Also it is obvious that Hoke and his staff knows how to recruit and it seems like they are getting the right type of players for his system.