Conner Cook likely a gametime decision
Nothing too unexpected here, but it sounds like Cook is going to be a game time decision for sparty.
Assuming that we take care of business against Ohio State, this could be the difference between us making a trip to the BigTen Championship game or not. If Cook plays, I think that sparty beats PSU pretty handily. Without Cook, however, PSU's solid defensive front is likely to really rattle MSU's inexperienced QBs, which could lead to a PSU win.
http://espn.go.com/ncf/story/_/id/14213199/connor-cook-michigan-state-s…
November 24th, 2015 at 2:58 PM ^
I think the chances are very strong that he doesn't play.
November 24th, 2015 at 3:13 PM ^
I mean Dantonio says that he "believes things are moving forward" in that regard. Not sounding like Cook is out there taking reps.
November 24th, 2015 at 2:59 PM ^
Because Cook would be listed as a game-time decision:
- If he was currently 100% healthy
- If he was currently 100% certain to be unable to play
- If the situation was any where between these two.
Just seems smart of MSU to not show their cards on this point.
November 24th, 2015 at 3:37 PM ^
can they also be 110% healthy?
If so, does this change your analysis?
November 24th, 2015 at 3:54 PM ^
But if they give 110% and say are 90% healthy they can be like 200% more of a man.
I read it in some medical journal once.
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November 24th, 2015 at 3:00 PM ^
November 24th, 2015 at 3:03 PM ^
It is self what? Self-preservation? Self-awareness? Self-fulfillment?
November 24th, 2015 at 3:11 PM ^
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November 24th, 2015 at 3:14 PM ^
This made me laugh. Well done.
November 24th, 2015 at 3:19 PM ^
"Me fail English? That's unpossible!" ~Ralph Wiggum
November 24th, 2015 at 3:42 PM ^
I think
November 24th, 2015 at 3:08 PM ^
I want Sparty to lose, no matter what else happens.
November 24th, 2015 at 3:24 PM ^
November 24th, 2015 at 3:30 PM ^
In addition to the above, it would signal a return to the "Sparty No!" days that their loss to Nebraska hinted at. I just want things to be normal again.
November 24th, 2015 at 5:57 PM ^
Unfortunately, that program is rock solid. That is the new normal until Dantonio is gone.
November 24th, 2015 at 4:32 PM ^
I would much rather MSU went to the championship game than OSU, should we lose the Game. Maybe it depends on where you live, but being in Ohio there is nothing more nauseating than listening to Buckeye fans constantly crowing about how great their second rate institution is because of its football team.
November 24th, 2015 at 3:01 PM ^
I still don't see Sparty losing regardless.
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November 24th, 2015 at 3:06 PM ^
Didn't see them losing to Nebraska either. C'mon B1G refs, work your magic!
November 24th, 2015 at 3:27 PM ^
If PSU OL wasnt so crappy I could give in to an upset alert of some degree but MSU will be highly motivated playing for a playoff spot and PSU is playing for Franklin's golf game to begin,
I would not be surprised to see Hack knocked out of this game. When facing OSU's DL Hack barely threw the ball. They tried to run the whole game. You cant do that vs MSU (ask OSU).
I dont know - the board is funny, last week everyone is all like "PSU is overrated, UM is going to go into Happy Valley and knock their teeth in". This week its all "PSU can do it, Hack can throw the ball yo! Deep!"
I think PSU's D will do ok vs MSU's O by and large but get worn down late as MSU does to most teams. PSU's O will be in pain because they cannot run on MSU and Hack looks like a mid level MAC QB at this stage of his career. After a few hits he is going to be broken mentally - again.
November 24th, 2015 at 3:31 PM ^
I don't remember the Board being like that at all. I remember people really getting silly with concern over PSU, Hack, and Barkley. I actually remember being confused as to why everybody thought PSU had such a good shot.
November 24th, 2015 at 3:33 PM ^
Tell me how many people had UM losing out of the 400 responses in the "predict the score thread".
November 24th, 2015 at 3:38 PM ^
look at that thread. I did look at the predictions of DOOM in the comments after the UFR of the Indiana game, and DOOM certainly made an appearance in that thread and a few others.
November 24th, 2015 at 3:40 PM ^
November 24th, 2015 at 3:44 PM ^
November 24th, 2015 at 4:00 PM ^
Yep, so basically 90% voting UM. Of course the board is biased but MSU and UM are similar level teams with diff strengths and weaknesses. Hard to believe UM waltzes into PSU and walks out with a relatively comfortable victory then PSU turns turns into superteam in EL. If PSU was coming into AA this weekend the line would be -10+.
Look at the coaching variance too - Dantonio is a top 10 coach, Franklin is a slim tanner Brady Hoke.
That said, I hope PSU goes max protect and has Hack throw 70x this game. And hope steel is inserted into Hack's spine. Thats the only way they win. But they will be too stupid. And their OL is bad.
November 24th, 2015 at 4:08 PM ^
It was mild fear last week that PSU could win and it is slight hope this week that PSU can win which in both cases is consistent with PSU having about a 25% chance.
The only differnence is which side of the rooting interest we are on this week.
November 24th, 2015 at 4:20 PM ^
But there are other factors at play:
-MSU may well be without Cook. O'Connor got the win in Columbus but barely threw the ball at all. Against PSU he'll likely need to pass more. (Terry, their wildcat QB, might also be out.)
-MSU's secondary is significantly worse than ours. PSU is a team that gets yards in occasional big chunks. Against MSU, those chunks might turn into TDs.
-PSU might get Nassib back. We caught a huge break when he went out.
I'll grant that the coaching matchup makes me pessimistic. I'm not sure if PSU can gameplan to protect Hackenberg. But if it's another 17-14-type game, you never know. Who thought Mike Riley and Nebraska would knock MSU off?
November 24th, 2015 at 4:31 PM ^
Meh... I see your point, but this board was starved for confidence from what I could remember. There were a lot of bad feelings going into PSU. The guess score threads aren't really a good indicator. I'd bet majority of those posts said we were going to beat OSU in 2014 too.
November 24th, 2015 at 5:41 PM ^
They struggled at home against Indiana after beating us (until the wheels fell off for Indiana at the end), so it isn't impossible to see PSU come in with little to play for and make it a game. I can see Sparty showing up with a hangover from last week, thinking they can show up and win since they beat OSU.
If I were Hack, I'd just ignore the playcalls from the sidelines and starting calling everything in the huddle. Bomb 'em deep every play!
November 24th, 2015 at 6:47 PM ^
They can get to a better bowl. They already have impoved from last year's record. Given how the season started, they've done pretty well. They can knock MSU out of the championship game. They play them the last week every season. That game must mean something to them,
PSU needs to implement a quick passing attack. They can't have Hackenburg hanging on to the ball. That's been obvious for two years, so I have zero confidence in their gameplanning.
November 24th, 2015 at 3:01 PM ^
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November 24th, 2015 at 3:02 PM ^
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November 24th, 2015 at 3:05 PM ^
November 24th, 2015 at 3:05 PM ^
Gametime Decision = Dantionio's a shitty liar.
November 24th, 2015 at 3:20 PM ^
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November 24th, 2015 at 3:05 PM ^
I think Sparty came up with a good game plan against OSU for the QB situation at hand but really don't see that working two weeks in a row. Especially with those beasts on PSU's DL.
November 24th, 2015 at 3:41 PM ^
November 24th, 2015 at 11:24 PM ^
Joey Bosa isn't considered a beast?
November 24th, 2015 at 3:06 PM ^
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November 24th, 2015 at 3:28 PM ^
MSUs OL is now healthy for first time all year and kept a good OSU DL off QBs. And Nassib might be out.
November 24th, 2015 at 4:00 PM ^
They limited the opportunities for their QBs to be sacked. I don't know if MSU can count on that again. Maryland got plenty of pressure the week before with Cook. I have a hard time believing their OL made such a spectacular leap in one week.
November 24th, 2015 at 4:28 PM ^
It may be healthy, but it was also the line that let Maryland rack up 2 sacks and 7 QB hits. MSU throwing the ball a handful of times in the second half, and yet OSU still recorded 2 sacks and 2 more hits on 16 pass attempts. I assume Nassib won't play, but if he does then MSU will either have to hope their running game continues chugging along or taht O'Connor and Terry prove to be better passers against one of the better pass defenses in the country.
What mattered against OSU is that MSU never got too far down; they never trailed by more than a TD, so they never had to deviate from their gameplan. But if PSU somehow gets a 2-score lead (even 10 points), I could see MSU struggle to get the ball downfield.
It's unlikely MSU loses this game, but PSU is probably a bit better than they looked against UM, and I'm suspecting that the UFR grades for their defense would be pretty good in this game if Brian analyzed them.
November 24th, 2015 at 3:06 PM ^
1) MSU can likely beat PSU with their backup QBs, weather aside, they just beat OSU in the Shoe, with their backup QBs.
2) MSU wants to win the B1G and the CFP. No way they can do that with their backup QBs. All OSU examples from last season need not apply. You can't risk getting Cook more hurt than he already is at this point.
November 24th, 2015 at 3:09 PM ^
But if they lose with him on the bench, then their chances of the B1G and CFP are done.
November 24th, 2015 at 3:15 PM ^
Dantonio's the coach....and I don't have to make those decisions. But if you knowingly put a QB out there who is injured. PSU will no doubt just keep sending the house and any "smart" opposing coach would do the same. Try to hit him and hit him as much as possible. Again, glad this isn't my call, but if it was, I keep my starting QB safe until the B1G Championship and trust in my backups to get the job done against PSU.
November 24th, 2015 at 3:08 PM ^
Christian Hackenberg is going to spend so much time in the dirt in East Lansing that I wouldn't be surprised if MSU awards him an honorary degree from their famed Agriculture program.
November 24th, 2015 at 3:16 PM ^
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November 24th, 2015 at 3:21 PM ^
It's a nice take on the golfing joke - "This guy spends more time in the sand than David Hasselhoff"
November 24th, 2015 at 3:32 PM ^
They have turf.