Keys to win next week
1, Denard stays healthy.
2, Win the TO game.
Last year, Our defense held MSU at 20 pts with 3 turnovers. The reason to lose that game was lack of productivity from offense, which averaged just a little over 20 pts in the whole conference games last year. There were just too many scramble and broken play from QB (Forcier and Molk injury)
I like our chance to get a W at home this year.
October 3rd, 2010 at 5:20 PM ^
I feel like the TO battle is important, but MSU was -3 in that and still beat Wisconsin by 10.
October 3rd, 2010 at 5:23 PM ^
Last year Brandon Minor had only 4 carries for 2 yards. Forcier actually lead the team with 27 yards, but was sacked twice for -21 yards. In 2008 UM had only 84 yards rushing. With banged up Mike Hart in 2007, UM only had 100 yards rushing.
Michigan not only needs major improvement in rushing yards against Dantonio's defense in this one, but the way things are playing out for UM, 200+ rushing yards is probably not enough to win this football game.
Had Michigan throttled Indiana on Saturday, I would have a lot more confidence about the MSU game this week. The sad thing is Michigan cannot seem to stop the big plays and 3rd down conversions (same as 2008/2009). I mean seriously, MSU's defense is giving up 328 yds/game (bad enough) and is actually 3rd best in the league against the run (101 yds/game). This is going to be the best defensive team Michigan has faced all year. Meanwhile Michigan is generously handing out 433 ypg on average.
October 4th, 2010 at 5:37 PM ^
Is 200+ rushing yards "not enough" to win? Our passing game is pretty good, and Sparty does not have a good secondary...
October 3rd, 2010 at 5:26 PM ^
I dont think state's defense will be able to slow down Denard, even though all their fans think greg jones is the solution.
but honestly can we do something about the secondary because i dont think james rogers is the solution
October 3rd, 2010 at 5:33 PM ^
-Dont punt or kick-off to keshawn martin or have good coverage..yeah let's just not kick to him
-Denard should run out of bounds at the end of runs, try to draw the personal fouls because MSU is not disciplined. Nice way to tack 15 yards on the end of runs.
-Watch the trick plays, reverses, hook and ladders, etc. - especially on special teams and on 3rd and longs
-I'm okay with rushing 3, cousins doesn't have the best pocket presence or instincts...if we can get some hits on him or make him hurry, we give our deep defensive backfield a chance to make plays..=/
just my opinion
October 3rd, 2010 at 5:40 PM ^
Based on yesterday performance everyone seems to be ok with saying this is the worst UM Defense ever but I'm curious about that. Part of what makes a defense good is not spending as much time on the field and thus having fewer opportunities to give up yards and points. Of course the defense being good also makes them on the field less so it's circular. That being said I think the quick score nature of the offense actually makes the D looks worse from a total yards and points wise but when you look at things like only allowing scores on 5/13 drives it brings things back in perspective. I think if we can hold our opponents to scoring on only 35-40% of their drives we'll probably be ok given how often our offense scores TDs and that, at some point, other teams are going to be kicking FGs either because of poor execution or our D just "mans up."
IMO, we still need 2 more weeks to get a real read on our D. We all know about the O but I think saying it's awful because we played against a team that throws 60 times a game isn't really indicative of what we're going to be seeing the rest of the schedule. I'm taking the wait and see approach... (hopefully what I'm going to be seeing in 60+yd Denard TD runs/passes and our D racking up some sacks :)
October 3rd, 2010 at 5:49 PM ^
Good run defense last year besides there qb running or scrambling out of the pocket.So don't let him out the pocket and stop there rb's and we will win.
October 3rd, 2010 at 5:59 PM ^
For someone that was nervous before UMass, I am strangely confident against State. I think that we contain them and win big. Our defense plays well against this sort of team. They held Notre Dame for much of the second half even with Crist. They held UConn for most of that game as well.
Remember that our defense is young they will improve with time. I actually don't think that State's passing game is that strong.
October 3rd, 2010 at 6:16 PM ^
I like the theory, cribbed from Gregg Easterbrook, that the key matchup usually turns out to be the opposite of the one you're worried about. So, using Indiana as an example, we did okay stopping the run, so we won. Great example, huh? That has a lot of holes. But I still like to think about it.
So I agree with the 3-4 people who have said we have to stop the MSU rush. They have gotten better in that regard. We know Dell and Nichol will catch some balls. We have to contain their two (or 3) backs.
I think we can do it. It's also becoming clear that our D is so unsteady that they need to have a just plain lucky game to do well. So maybe we'll get that next week. It should be fun one way or the other, but I would hatehatehate losing this game again. Dantonio seems like such a smug jerk.
October 3rd, 2010 at 6:17 PM ^
Right now I see MSU as equal to Iowa for second best team in the Big 10.
A win this weekend will be huge in so many ways: rivalry game, bowl eligible, redemption, essential lock that we've had a successful season in the eyes of most pre-season expectations.
October 3rd, 2010 at 6:18 PM ^
As much as I prefer this not to be close, it would almost be better for a last minute come from behind drive led by DR, TD in the final seconds to just rip the heart out of little brother, and the rest of their season will never be the same. Seems that after a Michigan loss, the rest of MSU's season is usually a bust. Unfort, we haven't seen that in a few years, time for change...
October 3rd, 2010 at 6:53 PM ^
Maybe it's just me, but I'd think that dominating MSU from start to finish would be way more demoralizing than a last-second win. A last-second win just means that they'll be able to make a lot of excuses.
October 4th, 2010 at 5:39 PM ^
I wish to beat them senseless. Seriously, bludgeon them.
October 3rd, 2010 at 7:00 PM ^
we are going to end the season with the nations #1 rushing defense because no one will bother to run on us when they can pass all day. I hope Gerg goes ultra aggressive against State on Saturday. If we play them like we played Indiana we will not win this game. Watching this D is making me sick week in and week out. Thank sweet baby 6lb 7oz jesus that D Rob exists.
October 3rd, 2010 at 7:36 PM ^
Don't forget about his golden fleece diapers.
October 3rd, 2010 at 7:24 PM ^
October 3rd, 2010 at 7:26 PM ^
I say we put the pressure on Sparty and never punt, Go into the game with the philosophy that we are never going to punt, giving Denard 4 tries to get 10yds. If we give MSU a short field every so often at least our D won't have to be out there so long. OR-- line up in punt formation with Denard as the punter-- imagine the chaos that would ensue!
October 3rd, 2010 at 7:35 PM ^
Our offense needs to operate a touch more efficiently then they did against Indiana. We need to take opportunities to go up by 2 scores and put more pressure on their offense.
October 3rd, 2010 at 7:45 PM ^
I think the way MSU runs the ball will play into our hands, they're more a run first pass second team and so far our D is hella better at defending the run than pass IMO. Our backs need to get healthy this week so we can rotate backs in and keep them fresh. If we can jump out to a early lead I say we just keep the foot on the pedal and keep rolling, never know with our D what will happen.
October 3rd, 2010 at 10:00 PM ^
Don't let Roundtree get tackled on the 1 yd line.