October 13th, 2011 at 9:55 AM ^
Yes please.
October 13th, 2011 at 10:25 AM ^
Denard is going to be unaccurate wind or no, but anything that can help decrease Cousins accuracy helps us for sure. They may be the more complete team but we're the faster team.
October 13th, 2011 at 12:30 PM ^
That's unpossible.
October 13th, 2011 at 2:27 PM ^
for making me laugh out loud during a meeting - serves as further confirmation to my workmates that I'm insane.
October 13th, 2011 at 5:30 PM ^
you arent this Spartan fan..
October 13th, 2011 at 12:55 PM ^
Maybe the wind will blow some of Denard's inaccurate throws back on target.
October 13th, 2011 at 10:05 AM ^
October 13th, 2011 at 10:07 AM ^
I don't think short 10 yrd or less passes will be affected too severely by 25-40 mph winds. I think its the cross field bombs that will either hang up or get knocked down. Special teams will also feel it.
October 13th, 2011 at 10:08 AM ^
Though a short passing game (which we appear to, sort of, kind of, possess) isn't thrown off nearly as much by the wind as a medium to long passing attack. If I remember last year's MSU game correctly, Cousins picked us apart on deep and medium balls.
October 13th, 2011 at 11:14 AM ^
October 13th, 2011 at 11:29 AM ^
Agree, ESPN always bring up MSU as the No.1 Defense in the country, but they played no one except ND and OSU(No offense what so ever) and crushed by ND...Lookout for Denard tearing their D up, then ESPN can go to their "Next week" analysis as usual.
October 13th, 2011 at 1:38 PM ^
Everybody picked us apart on deep and medium balls last year.
October 13th, 2011 at 10:20 AM ^
MOAR bubble screen plz!
If we run enough read option, eventually the DB on the slot receiver comes to stop the run. Then Denard can throw the ball to an open slot receiver after pulling the handoff back.
October 13th, 2011 at 10:12 AM ^
Denard has actually thrown really well in the wind. UConn last year was very windy and he was great. He also looked ok against Western despite the storms blowing in. It isn't like he sends beautiful touch passes 40 yards downfield without the wind. What he can do is laser 10 yard hitches and outs. I think it favors us, but we'll need to stretch the field horizontally to keep running lanes from being completely jammed.
October 13th, 2011 at 10:51 AM ^
I agree, people tend to forget how hard Denard throws the ball on those short passes.
October 13th, 2011 at 4:15 PM ^
This is going to be a stupid comparison, but Denard throwing in the wind is like Tiger Woods golfing in the wind.
When other golfers are affected by the heavy winds Tiger can hit those low stinger 3-woods to keep the ball underneath where the wind starts to really affect it. In that sense those short 10 yard hitches and outs you talked about wont be really affected by the wind.
October 13th, 2011 at 10:13 AM ^
If it hurts MSU's best offensive weapon - Cousins to Cunningham.
October 13th, 2011 at 10:16 AM ^
Probably means that our FG attempts will max out at 30 yards rather than 38.
And our kickoffs will go out-of-bounds 30% more often.
October 13th, 2011 at 4:10 PM ^
Maybe the wind will actually correct our kickers' inaccuracies and give us a FG
October 13th, 2011 at 10:20 AM ^
That place is like a wind tunnel. One side of the field will be a huge advantage. If I'm remembering correctly it was very windy in 09 as well
October 13th, 2011 at 10:20 AM ^
Borges will trap, jailbreak, bubble screen, and slant those F%$*ers to Bolivia.
October 13th, 2011 at 10:48 AM ^
Georgeous Al Borges will earn his Georgeousness Saturday.
GO BLUE!
October 13th, 2011 at 10:31 AM ^
please bring back that zoneread bubblescreen play from years past. Gallon was made for that play.
October 13th, 2011 at 10:41 AM ^
Bad news. I had a nightmare last night. Michigan lost to state 48-3. Hopefully my visions were incorrect.
October 13th, 2011 at 11:06 AM ^
lol, often the dream is opposite
October 13th, 2011 at 10:45 AM ^
I think combined with their bad offensive line heavy wind could really hurt state. That said, it's so important that we don't allow them to find a run game. They have been terrible on the ground against any team with a pulse.
October 13th, 2011 at 10:50 AM ^
If this comes to pass, I feel bad for all the folks stuck in the top corners of the decks where MSU puts opposing fans. Sat up there three times for UM-MSU, and it's terrible enough on a calm day.
October 13th, 2011 at 11:00 AM ^
My perception is that we can, and often do, stretch the field horizontally (with the occasional looong vertical stretch, aka jump ball), while MSU tends to stretch vertically, with the occasional horizontal stretch. A sideline pass can be problematic with the wind as well, but the ability to speed option and otherwise get to the edge should favor us when long passing becomes problematic. Also, Denard doesn't get as much credit as he should for his gun.
October 13th, 2011 at 11:21 AM ^
Remember how MSU dominated in the Run game last year, and how Denard did last year~ Hate to see their backs to go off
October 13th, 2011 at 11:42 AM ^
Remember how we also ran a 3-3-5 defense last year? any power team can run that defense off the field. our defense is not nearly as vulnerable as last year's not to mention that we run a totally different defense so that's not a fair comparison
October 13th, 2011 at 11:54 AM ^
Yea, I guess you're right it's not a fair comparison but you cant just not throw the ball. I gave Cousin an edge because he's a better passing QB and will know what to do in a windy game.
October 13th, 2011 at 12:18 PM ^
This is actually incorrect. A non GERG 3-3-5 actually can do a very good job stopping a power run game(same with a 4-3 and 3-4). Scheme is WAY overrated(although if I had my pick I'd prefer the 3-4)
October 13th, 2011 at 12:23 PM ^
Yep. Casteel did this (to my everlasting fury) against Pitt a lot of times. You don't get to be much more of a pro-style back than LeSean McCoy, Dion Lewis or Ray Graham (or a pro-style offense than Wannstedt's) yet they always struggled on the ground against WVU's 3-3-5.
October 13th, 2011 at 5:44 PM ^
That thought is lurking in the back of my mind too, but if I remember correctly they had two runs last year that were very long that were indicative of the D last year - busted gap coverage where the running back runs 50 yards untouched. I don't see that happening this year - we know our D is better. We'll see how much.
I believe Gorgeous Al will have his best game of the year and will put Denard in the right spots. I think he has been doing trial and error, trying some things to see what works and what doesn't and will have a complete game plan this week. That is what I am hanging my hat on......
October 13th, 2011 at 11:39 AM ^
I'm not sure this favors us. I think we're going to need to pass to set up the run, because their front seven is very good. On the other side of the ball, while MSU's run game hasn't been great, I'm not certain we can shut it down.
October 13th, 2011 at 11:47 AM ^
West winds of 25 to 30 MPH with some gusts to 45 MPH. What direction does sparty's endzones point?. If they are north to south there will be a continuous cross wind. If east to west then the teams will alternate quarters against and with the wind.
October 13th, 2011 at 12:13 PM ^
is it going to be hard or soft winds?
October 13th, 2011 at 12:17 PM ^
It's going to be Denard's winds when he runs around.
October 13th, 2011 at 12:34 PM ^
Upon us.
October 13th, 2011 at 12:45 PM ^
since Dantonio sucks and Spartan Stadium blows
/howdidittakethislongforthistohappen?
October 13th, 2011 at 2:09 PM ^
The weather can not alter the unstoppable mojo of my lucky socks.
Stop worrying.