Biggest key to beating Sparty?

Submitted by Lordfoul on

Besides having Tate healthy, what is the biggest key for beating little brother this week?

I think that throwing some new stuff at them is it. They will be coming into this game very emotional. A few new looks on both sides of the ball would possibly create confusion and degrade their emotional state further. A confused, emotional little brother should be easier to handle.

exmtroj

September 27th, 2009 at 12:53 PM ^

It's basically what Gerg used to keep ND scoreless in the 3rd quarter, and rush throws throughout the second half. Granted, we haven't seen much lately, but we have it at our disposal. Maybe he was saving it up for the tougher part of the schedule? We should be able to get to Cousins if we want.

Drake

September 27th, 2009 at 12:42 PM ^

Stop the run and make Cousins/Nichol beat us. (Just pleese make sure you put a safety over whoever booboo is covering, he doesnt seem right at the moment)

AAB

September 27th, 2009 at 12:44 PM ^

QB-Nick Sheridan
RB-Kevin Grady
WR-Cam Gordon, James Rogers, Kelvin Grady
OL-Huyge, Khoury, Bryant Nowicki, Eric Gunderson, Adam Barker
TE-Martell Webb

DL-Graham, Martin, Heineger, Campbell
LB-Ezeh, Kevin Leach, Kenny Demens
CB-Cissoko, Teric Jones
Safety-Thomas Gordon, Floyd Simmons

Can't lose!

littlebrownjug

September 27th, 2009 at 12:45 PM ^

Blair White is there offensive glue guy, and they get a lot of mileage out of their tight ends. Given how poorly our LBs have covered in the season, I would attack Michigan with those guys. While we have a wonderful punter in Zoltan, I think that MSU probably boasts the best punter/kicker combo in the conference, so the scale might tip towards Sparty if it comes down to a late FG.

tmiller

September 27th, 2009 at 12:51 PM ^

They have the #1 pass offense. Our safeties and 2nd corner need to step it up a notch.

LB's need to learn to play their gaps correctly.

TACKLE!

Keep scoring like we have been.

TheIcon34

September 27th, 2009 at 12:55 PM ^

Michigan will have to admit that Dantonio owns the state of Michigan first, then the Sparty nooooo"s will get a huge ego and play terrible, thus enabling us to win.

thee1jersey

September 27th, 2009 at 1:00 PM ^

Run the ball, hopefully score on 4-5 min drives rather than less than a minute drives. This will keep the D fresh. Hopefully with a rested D, Graham and Roh can get to Nichols and Cousins.

lexus larry

September 27th, 2009 at 1:34 PM ^

Proper exchange in the shotgun formation.

We were spoiled by just how good Molk was last year (not sure) and this year. Near perfect snaps, almost 100% of the time.

Yesterday, a lot left to be desired. That quick snap with a defender in the vicinity of the neutral zone isn't a winner if no penalty is called, and we lose 15-20 yards on the snap over the QB's head. Those 3-4 missed snaps killed drives.

That's key. We operate at a high level of offensive efficiency, MSU can't keep up.

(And yeah, the offense is still putting up 36+ pts/game. Unreal!)

bronxblue

September 27th, 2009 at 3:22 PM ^

Not get caught up in any taunting/mind games by Sparty and the crowd. They are 1-3, and this is their season. They will go after UM, maybe do the stupid "stomp on the 50 yard line" thing that inferior teams always pull out, and try to get UM off its game. I think if the team just goes out and performs, they will beat State. I know people are pointing out all of these "close losses" by State, but as the saying goes, close only counts in horeshoes, hand grenades, and (surprisingly) curling. It will be a high-scoring game, but MSU has yet to show that killer instinct needed to win those type of games.

WolverBean

September 27th, 2009 at 3:42 PM ^

In the Bo-Mo-Llo era, the team who finished the game with more rushing yards won the game 30 out of 32 times. It'll be interesting to see whether that holds true in the RRod-Dantonio era as well.

ctmaizenblue

September 27th, 2009 at 4:10 PM ^

We should be fine provided our team is not intimidated by the VGI Sparty with laser beams shooting from his eyes they play on the big screen when MSU takes the field. Both classy and intimidating.

The King of Belch

September 27th, 2009 at 4:14 PM ^

No "slanting." We seem to "slant" our way out of position more than not. I'm not saying slanting isn't a good technique, but maybe our guys aren't yet to the point where there is quick enough recognition if the slant goes the wrong way. Also, our LB's don't seem to get into the gaps (as one other guy said) to fill the lanes opened up by the slanting. I would like to see a good, basic four-man rush.

Cheat the LOS a bit--they like quick, short passes and over the middle--keep their big receivers in front of the DBs and make tackles, MAKETACKLES GASP.

I think Nichol will start this week, and I think we'll see some option. String it oot. Send Stevie Brown and Kovacs on blitzes a bit more (they seem to work).

Their QB situation is in turmoil. Get to the starter, get them nervous, and Dantonio will get an ithcy triger finger and that will disrupt their rhythm.

Notre Dame commented on UM's team speed--said they couldn't adjust--and they were a step faster than Sparty. I don't think they'll be ready for the team speed UM brings to the table and IMO, that's going to be a big difference.

Offensively--who knows? How is Tate's shoulder? Do you put him in and pray he lives? Will his overall game be hampered?

If Tate is not 100%, but can go, I think we'll see a lot of short passes, screens, and more Koger. More rolloots with dump offs. The downfield blocking by the receivers will have to be excellent again. And I think we will see a lot of Denard unless Tate is really healthy.

And right now, if he is getting good reps in practice, I like it.

We also may see more QB under center in an effort to settle the snap issue, and to try to pound the rock--as Wisconsin did so well against them yesterday.

It depends on how the coaches view the importance of THIS game. Do they go all oot (or ALL IN HAHAHLOLZ) for this win? 1 for 2 in these next two games will be very good IMO--which one is more winnable and which one gets the '07 Wisconsin Treatment?

Elno Lewis

September 27th, 2009 at 4:25 PM ^

I am going to let RR figure this out for himself and not force him to listen to my take on the matter (MSU).

Go Blue!

CPS

September 27th, 2009 at 5:20 PM ^

Rodriguez needs to know that he should do three things to win:

1. Call more touchdown plays on offense. Those are better than the ones that don't result in touchdowns.

2. Call more turnover plays on defense. This will allow the offense to execute more touchdown plays.

3. Call more touchdown plays and more turnover plays than MSU.

That's some coach talk for y'all.

MichiganPhotoRod

September 27th, 2009 at 5:35 PM ^

1) It's been "reported" that Tate will be OK. I guess we'll see.

2) Because of sparty's record. If Michigan was 1-3 the game would be at 3:30 and available to the nation because the network would love to show a game where Michigan is bad for two years in a row. Since it is sparty, they are bad all of the time. Who cares to see that?

We can think of the earlier start time in a positive light: It forces sparty to wish they had won for an additional three and a half hours over the next year.

jmblue

September 27th, 2009 at 6:26 PM ^

The idea that the networks would "love" to show a bad Michigan team to a national audience is not just ridiculous, it's downright paranoid.

The networks are not out to get us. They like it when we're good; our games draw strong ratings (especially when we're good).

EverybodyMurders

September 27th, 2009 at 4:58 PM ^

Biggest key is establishing the run. With Tate possibly hurt, pounding the rock will take less pressure of whoever is in at QB. Wisconsin had a pretty good day running the ball. For whatever reason we went away from the running plays that picked up great yards around the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Then in the 4th we seemed to start it back up again, and voila, success moving the ball. I wish I could say defense is the key to winning, but I've already given up on this D. I see lots of yards, lots of points.