lilpenny1316

September 4th, 2015 at 10:20 PM ^

Even when we played ND in the 80s and 90s, we had to play ND first, then Sparty would face them.  That's such a huge advantage to play directional Michigan in a scrimmage while we'd ND would play an emotionally draining game against us.  Too bad their teams sucked so much they couldn't take advantage of it.

Joined: 11/19/2009

MGoPoints: 61836

Hill Street Blue

September 5th, 2015 at 1:48 AM ^

Waldo Stadium was packed, except for a corner of the student section. Not all the students are back in Kalamazoo yet.  Students left early when WMU got down by 3 scores.

As an aside, Sparty band was there and was totally obnoxious. On-field performance was tight, as usual, but their in-the-stadium behavior was low class.  They played all the time.  They played as soon as the WMU band began to play, all night, creating a mind-numbing 2-band cacaphony. They played when special video board presentations were going on, like to honor kids, and charities and such.  They played their entire 'between quarter' set at the end of the 3rdQ, competing with a WMU video tribute to student athletes and the WMU band playing their own set.  The Sparty band basically treated it like they were at a home game -- doing whatever they wanted -- and not the guests of WMU. 

Joined: 01/12/2011

MGoPoints: 1580

Ryanonymous

September 5th, 2015 at 8:44 AM ^

They actually blitzed a ton! WMU QB was taking hits all night long and could barely stand by the end. He played well for the beating he was enduring.

MSU was much bigger upfront than WMU yet WMU held up pretty well when the QB was not holding the ball too long. The Western QB had terrible feet, some of it due to being hurt near the end but dude just stood in the pocket with no bounce or movement except when tucking the ball or rolling on play action. He tended to tuck the ball a bit too early at times and then to flat out hold it on others when he probably should have just thrown it away.

MSU D-Backs do not look good. Western beat them deep repeatedly! Missed on a few passes that would have been touchdowns but ended up as drops.
MSU lined up with 8 in the box quite often and dared WMU to throw. The problem is that the secondary and LBs are not great in coverage this year.

I'm sure they will get better but I think we have a chance to beat them or at least keep it very close with the same game plan we had against Utah. Screens, slants, hitches will all be open early and deep balls will be there all day. This will be a throw to open the run type game when we get to it.

Joined: 05/02/2011

MGoPoints: 1018

Avant's Hands

September 4th, 2015 at 10:43 PM ^

Watching the Boise game and I didn't realize that Washington is double digit underdogs. It makes me wonder. What is the last year that Michigan could have beaten Boise? Definitely 2006. I don't remember how good they were in 2007 and it would depend on Hart and Hennes health. I don't think we make it close since the Carr era though. Not even in 2011. Although I remember they had one bad year somewhere in there.

Joined: 10/22/2011

MGoPoints: 9271

BlueTimesTwo

September 4th, 2015 at 10:46 PM ^

It will be interesting to see if McDowell is healthy next week. He was helped off of the field in the 4th after a blow to the head while trying to put a hard hit on a Western player. He looked a little woozy, but not clearly concussed. Even with all of the concerns about head injuries, I don't see him not playing against Oregon.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 13407