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September 11, 2006

Looking To Michigan State

Filed under: Big 11,Football,Opponent(s) — Chas @ 8:19 am

No one’s sure. The Spartans struggled to eke out a 27-17 win against the Idaho Vandals (who were blasted the following week by Washington State 56-10), and then the win against Eastern Michigan caused just as much head scratching.

It was like three games in one — a blowout early for Michigan State, a stunning rally by Eastern Michigan and then a blowout late for Michigan State.

The Spartans took a 24-3 lead before the Eagles scored 17 points right before and after halftime. But it was all Michigan State after that as it reeled off 28 straight points to finish a 52-20 rout.

What a shock. Michigan State uneven, unpredictable and potentially explosive. All in one game. Game. Season. History. All kind of the same.

By Sunday morning, Michigan State should have returned to reality. Strip away the excitement of Trannon’s outing and the display of firepower after halftime and you still have a group that hasn’t shown evidence of being the much-improved team it claimed to be in the preseason.

What does it say about the Spartans when they need an expletive-filled halftime speech to fire them up against a team that historically has been one of the worst in the Mid-American Conference? Yes, the Spartans responded, but it has to be unsettling to MSU fans to know that coaches and team captains had to light a fire under certain players to get them going in only the second game of the season.

Apparently, they aren’t that unsettled.





Chas, I read your article on AOL where you referenced PITT’s ‘soft chewy’ pass defense. I looked up last year’s passing stats in reference to this years, and all in all, we are about the same (in my opinion) as last year, if not a little better.

In 2006 our opponents have completed 56% of their passes (up from 49% in ’05) but the yards per pass is down from 5.7 to 4.9 and the yards per catch is down to 8.6 from 11.4. We had 14 interceptions last year, and already have 4 in two games this year. In addition, we have given up only one TD passing (we gave up 10 all last year so that is a little better). However, the opponent’s passing yards per game are up from 153 to 190. That may be attributed to the fact that in both games we actually led in the second half and the other teams had to go to the air more to make up the scoring differential.

My point is there are some improvements to be made, but in no way do I think we hit the panic button yet. Now, Drew Stanton and MSU is a good passing team, and like we said last week we’ll know more about our team after Saturday. Your thoughts?

Comment by Reed Kohberger 09.11.06 @ 11:14 am

What a travesty on many levels…BYU v BC instead of Pitt v State in NY/NJ market. What are they thinking?

Comment by steve 09.11.06 @ 3:53 pm

Thought you might find this interesting considering your comments about how the BE should form its own channel.

link to marquettebasketball.blogspot.com

Comment by Pitt fan in Portugal 09.11.06 @ 6:25 pm

wow, I was just about to show Chas that link, but I was apparently beaten by 6 minutes from a Pitt fan in Portugal!! well done
I wonder if you would have been able to get the Big East TV network in Portugal?! haha

Comment by Jamie H 09.11.06 @ 6:35 pm

The Big East is getting some national attention from an ESPN writer:

“Big East. In the second season of Big East Lite, the depleted conference is proving to be better than expected. Six of its eight teams have unblemished records. West Virginia is ranked No. 5, Louisville No. 12. Rutgers and Pittsburgh are knocking on the door of the Top 25. The Big East can bolster its reputation further in three big matchups this week: Maryland at West Virginia on Thursday (ESPN, 7:30 p.m. ET), and Miami at Louisville (ABC, 3:30 p.m. ET) and Michigan State at Pittsburgh on Saturday (ESPN2, noon ET).”

All three games are winnable, and with the BE’s record against non-cons so far wins this weekend could help a lot. I thinks PITT’s game could be the toughest though.

Comment by Reed Kohberger 09.11.06 @ 7:17 pm

Re: The BE deal with ESPN…Hmmm…so there is another side to the story. The BE may have made the right call…only time will tell.

Comment by Frank 09.12.06 @ 12:53 pm

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