MSU football expectations 2009
I was wondering what everyone thinks about MSU's team for 2009? They lose their QB and star running back. Beyond that, I am not really sure who else they lose. Their schedule seems favorable seeing as they replaced Cal w/ Montana State for their opener, they no longer have OSU on their schedule and besides ND round out their non-conference schedule w/ MAC teams.
I would think their offense will take a step backwards. They will be in a similar QB situation as us w/ either playing a highly rated freshman or a lightly used backup. They have the advantage of simpler offense that should be easier for the freshman to pickup. I seem to remember their WR's being young. They will take a hit at RB w/ Ringer being gone and having to make up 40 carries a game somewhere else. How will their line be? How will their defense be?
February 12th, 2009 at 11:42 AM ^
was their ENTIRE offense. And they will have a freshman QB. We should know as well as anybody - that's enough to make them suck this year. And I think they will suck.
February 12th, 2009 at 11:47 AM ^
who was really high on Tate starting over Threet?
February 12th, 2009 at 11:53 AM ^
I've always predicted Threet with the start then Tate and/or Denard coming in to eventually take over when Threet fucks up a couple series. And I've liked Denard's chances more than most on here.
February 12th, 2009 at 1:13 PM ^
I agree with you. Freshman QB's = DEATH, equally as much as death = DEATH. I hope we make use of Threet and his experiences next season.
February 12th, 2009 at 2:16 PM ^
Nichol or Cousins would be a definite upgrade from Hoyer. As far as D, Greg Jones is a beast, but I don't know anything about the secondary except that they always seem to be subpar.
February 12th, 2009 at 2:23 PM ^
I think they are bringing in players that could become good. But they won't be yet. Hoyer may have sucked, but he was a 5th year QB. No one will be an immediate upgrade, barring a miracle. If we had a 5th year Threet vs. Forcier/DRob, I doubt there would be much of an argument that Threet would be better than either based on experience alone. And that's not to say that our frosh QBs wouldn't become far better QBs than the hypothetical 5th year Threet...just that it would take a year or better.
February 13th, 2009 at 12:14 PM ^
I agree with you in principle, but "5th Year QB" is less meaningful than "QB who barely completes 50% of his passes and is the 2nd worst QB in the Big 10 in terms of passing efficiency". In other words, he sucked - so finding someone who can suck at the same level isn't daunting.
February 12th, 2009 at 11:50 AM ^
Seven or eight wins is not out of the question. Cousins or Nichol will be fine at QB. Hoyer sucked, anyway. They have plenty of depth at RB and that is one position that a true freshman can make a significant impact immediately. They also have the fact that the Big Ten is pretty much a horrible conference right now on their side and has been for 3 years running.
February 12th, 2009 at 11:50 AM ^
Cousins will be the starting QB for msu, some msu fans last year thought he was better than hoyer. But that really doesn't matter all that much with out ringer
February 12th, 2009 at 12:04 PM ^
who would there RB be without ringer? baker? caper?
February 12th, 2009 at 12:08 PM ^
I don't think they'll be terrible, but not that good either. The weird thing is that they're showing up in a lot of the early rankings by various media members:
www.ForeverSaturdayBlog.blogspot.com
I agree with you guys, though, that without Ringer, their offense won't have much to fall back on.
February 12th, 2009 at 12:12 PM ^
Looking at their schedule I see them being 7-5 or 8-4 in the regular season. I do not think they are a top 25 team and we all know preseason polls are meaningless and inaccurate.
Ringer had the fewest yards per carry of the top RB's in the country. If you hand the ball to a guy 50 times in a game he should gain more than 100 yards.
February 12th, 2009 at 12:15 PM ^
Agree completely. MSU has some talented WRs, too. Hoyer just wasn't a very good QB. I think Cousins and/or Nichol will help improve their passing game.
February 12th, 2009 at 12:18 PM ^
what their D will look like? I've never really paid much attention to State so I have no idea who their stars are, who they lost, etc.
February 12th, 2009 at 12:21 PM ^
They return something like 15 starters- a pretty average number. I suspect Hoyer won't be difficult to replace, while Ringer clearly will be, but some of his production could be accounted for by a solid OL (of which they return 3/5, I think).
All in all, I expect them to be about as good next year as they were in 2008. Of course, based on the numbers, they were about as good in 2008 as they were in 2007, but a few breaks made the difference between 7-6 and 9-4. I think they'll split the difference in the regular season and go 8-4.
February 12th, 2009 at 1:17 PM ^
and think that this is par for Dantonio. They seem to be a perpetual 8-4 team (+/- 1 game).
February 12th, 2009 at 12:50 PM ^
I have a friend who is a Big 12 fan and doesn't care/doesn't know much about the Big 10 that told me Nichol is a very good quarterback. He'll probably be MSU's starter.
They do have a major drop-off at RB as Ringer had an absurd amount of carries and no other RBs got any significant playing time. They also lose Otis Wiley, their best DB.
They still have good receivers, but I heard rumors Blair White may be leaving a year early to pursue higher education (apparently he got a degree after 2.5 years). May not be true though.
They'll still get into a bowl game though given their weak schedule.
February 12th, 2009 at 12:55 PM ^
So am i correct the QB depth for them is Nichol, Cousins, and Fresh. Maxwell? And what year are the other two?
February 12th, 2009 at 1:02 PM ^
I think Nichol and Cousins both have sophmore eligibility, but I'm not sure. They are definitely underclassmen whatever they are.
February 12th, 2009 at 2:00 PM ^
They will be an upper tier team in the conference. Average offense, and above average defense. They will probably lose between 3-5 games.
Dantonio is the perfect coach for MSU. He hates Michigan, recruits the midwest, and is a conservative coach in the mold of Tressel. Under him, MSU should always be a 4th place team in the conference (once we come back, and with OSU and PSU also being in the top 3), with one odd year where they may win the Big Ten. But, they will never be an elite team under him. He has not proven he can recruit nationally, has to deal with being #2 in the state, and his offensive system leaves much to be desired.
February 12th, 2009 at 4:09 PM ^
and a belief in themselves. I fear they will be in the top 3 next year. If my memory serves me right (long shot) they return some experienced OL, receivers, and plenty on defense. Hoyer blew so the new QB can't do worse.
B Ready nailed it when he said Dan Antonio is the perfect coach for Spartola (he even looks like your average Spartan).
That said......screw em. We just have to worry about ourselves.
February 12th, 2009 at 4:14 PM ^
In new news: MSU's coach is the third largest city in Texas, home to the Spurs of the National Basketball Association.
February 12th, 2009 at 4:49 PM ^
They will be weaker this year, than they were last year. We will be stronger this year than we were last year. Perhaps we will beat them. That is my prediction.
February 13th, 2009 at 12:01 PM ^
If Cousins starts I think that he will not continue the 2 good quarters, or whatever low number it was, that he had last year. He did well in a couple games but my whole family (other than me obviously) is huge MSU fans and a couple of my brothers were basically talking about him like he'll be amazing. I think he'll end up being a LITTLE better than Hoyer, which is still real bad.
I've heard that Nichol is real good (also from my brothers...who say he almost beat out Sam Bradford at Oklahoma and that Stoops said he was the best QB he'd ever seen or something but I don't know if it's true. I know they stretch the truth in their favor since, being MSU fans, football is also a dream of "next year." This is a long parenthetical side note. Wow.) but they won't have NEARLY as good a running game with Ringer.
I think how "good" they do depends on how other B10 teams do this year. If the Big 10 struggles, especially if they struggle as bad as last year, they might appear to be good. However if the Big 10 is decent, or good, then MSU will say again this year, "It's so frustrating we can't beat them hardly ever. It's like we're they're little brother."