MSU wins: Let the excuses begin
Michigan State escapes tonight with a win against Rutgers. The excuses will begin, the statements that "all that matters is whether you win."
Actually, MSU winning is the best possible outcome for Michigan. We will beat them when they are undefeated, and this is more of a "quality" win, not that it matters.
I have analyzed my feelings regarding OSU and MSU.
- OSU is more important, but I respect them more, and hate them less.
- MSU doesn't matter as much, but I want to destroy and obliterate them, and dislike them more.
I am so looking forward to next week.
October 10th, 2015 at 11:30 PM ^
How long did you have this one cued up?
Seriously. I cannot believe Rutgers just spiked on 4th down. Clown program.
October 10th, 2015 at 11:31 PM ^
Cringe of the year
October 10th, 2015 at 11:35 PM ^
You are drunk
October 10th, 2015 at 11:31 PM ^
That was hilarious. The only thing you can say is Rutgers
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October 10th, 2015 at 11:31 PM ^
Cringe of the year
October 10th, 2015 at 11:34 PM ^
Just saw the score, and rolled my eyes. I hate that you can pretty much count on Rutgers or Indiana (last week vs. OSU) or Maryland or Minnesota or a bunch of other teams to lead you on, but find a way to lose the game.
MSU is lucky they escaped with a win. But as I said above, it actually is better for Michigan that MSU won. It will make the tears of ultimate sadness, the schadenfreude from Sparty, that much sweeter. Actually, I really want Michigan to curbstomp Spartie, to leave no doubt about the reestablishment of the proper order.
October 10th, 2015 at 11:46 PM ^
It makes Saturday bigger, but I don't think it's the better outcome. The Big Ten East standings would look a lot better with Maryland/Rutgers/MSU/OSU sitting at 1-1.
In fact, it's possible that there's an alternate universe where Rutgers doesn't spike the ball on fourth down and a loss in Ann Arbor on Saturday ends Sparty contention for the East, with Michigan then holding a three game lead (in practical terms).
October 10th, 2015 at 11:50 PM ^
It all depends on your perspective. I believe that it boosts Michigan higher in the polls, makes it more of a quality win, and is more painful for delusional Spartie fans. I also believe Michigan would crush Sparty regardless of whether they had won or lost tonight. That being the case, let them win.
October 10th, 2015 at 11:53 PM ^
Where I disagree is looking through the prism of rankings vs. standings. Of course, Michigan does still control its own destiny and beating them is the only thing that matters in the end.
October 11th, 2015 at 12:23 AM ^
Yes this just makes it sweeter now since Michigan State will stay undefeated and hopefully still ranked in the top 5 with college game day coming to Ann Arbor. It just sets the national spotlight on us sooner with the entire country getting to watch the coverage of our rise under Harbaugh leading up to the smack down I foresee happening.
October 10th, 2015 at 11:30 PM ^
In fairness to MSU, forcing Rutgers to spike the ball on 4th down was a hell of a play.
October 10th, 2015 at 11:33 PM ^
as they were lining up that you knew he was going to do that? I almost said out loud, "watch, he'll spike it." and he does. Toolbag.
October 10th, 2015 at 11:48 PM ^
I feel bad in a certain way for Rutgers. But not really. They deserve to lose. Spiking the ball on 4th down? I don't get it. Oh well. Some players have brain farts under pressure.
I love that Harbaugh could go vanilla the 2nd half, while Dantonio ended up having to burn a redshirt he would have preferred not to use.
October 11th, 2015 at 1:06 AM ^
I feel terrible for them, they played without a head coach, that fill in coach didnt even seem into the game. They got screwed on a few calls and there was noone to fight with the refs for them, there was no direction from the sideline the whole game. I don't know if that was the difference but I did feel bad for him when he spiked the ball at the end when they put the camera on the fake coach and he was just in a daze.
October 11th, 2015 at 8:33 AM ^
He pulled a Chris Webber, but with fewer people watching.
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October 10th, 2015 at 11:31 PM ^
If only Rutgers didn't have the African American version of Brady Hoke on their sideline...
October 10th, 2015 at 11:31 PM ^
MSU has looked very beatable in the last few weeks. I'm hoping for another shutout. Let the streak continue!
October 10th, 2015 at 11:31 PM ^
Already seeing excuses about how many players they have injured.
October 11th, 2015 at 12:44 AM ^
They are playing some weird guys out there.
October 10th, 2015 at 11:32 PM ^
I'm still laughing. Fuck it. What a Rutgers.
October 10th, 2015 at 11:33 PM ^
Who gives a fuck? We play next week the outcome of that game will be all the matters
October 10th, 2015 at 11:33 PM ^
fuck OSU with a paintbrush. As for MSU, it's cute to see them pull off those last min wins. I'm happy for them. Will be a fun game next week as Mike Dantoni will begin walking the allies again instead of the streets
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October 10th, 2015 at 11:35 PM ^
paint roller. The big 3" diameter one.
October 10th, 2015 at 11:33 PM ^
Don't feed the trolls. It's getting to the point where we should expect to beat MSU. They look extremely vulnerable while we have made strides each week. I have faith in Harbaugh and the staff to have the team ready to win against MSU...Something Hoke never did.
October 11th, 2015 at 12:46 AM ^
In fairness to Hoke he did beat them in 2012 because Dileo made four clutch catches.
October 10th, 2015 at 11:33 PM ^
I'm also not looking forward to the injuries excuse. All those weird guys have to play.
October 10th, 2015 at 11:33 PM ^
How many injuries did they sustain in that one? Are they expecting more guys to be out against Michigan?
October 10th, 2015 at 11:34 PM ^
To us.....Bwahhh hhaaww
October 10th, 2015 at 11:38 PM ^
The sad thing is that's true. Does Dantonio still have a losing record in the game before Michigan? Didn't he start out something like 1-4 the week before Michigan?
October 11th, 2015 at 2:08 AM ^
Honestly we have Mike Hart to thank for that one. The guy basically has an eternal grudge with us. He'll always give us his absolute best, even at the expense of other games on their schedule.
October 10th, 2015 at 11:34 PM ^
I'm not from michigan so that rivalry never affected me as much as it affects in-staters. I certainly dislike them, but I have a lot more hatred for OSU and notre dame. It'll make beating them next week that much sweeter!
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October 10th, 2015 at 11:37 PM ^
It only affected people since rich rod got here. They are and were supposed to be irrelevant.
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October 11th, 2015 at 12:00 AM ^
They just won a Rose Bowl 2 seasons ago. Let's not pretend it's only because "rich rod" hot here that the rivalry has changed its course in recent years .
October 11th, 2015 at 12:10 AM ^
I think he used "since" as a reference for time, not as a reference for blame. Left out "has" in the first sentence. Of course I could be wrong but that's my take
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October 11th, 2015 at 1:02 AM ^
at, <time of rich rod arrival>, then begin MSU, as: relevant
October 11th, 2015 at 9:11 AM ^
This is true. I actually even used to root for them a bit when not playing UM. But that was easy when they were pathetic & we were clearly superior. When our suckiness started about 7 years ago, coinciding with they're not being shitty, and their godawful fans so shitass about it, I have grown to HATE them much more than OSU or even ND (that's how my hatred ranks)
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October 11th, 2015 at 9:12 AM ^
Their. Grammar fail!
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October 11th, 2015 at 6:37 AM ^
That was my sense too--I always thought that in-staters were more likely to reserve their most intense hatred for MSU, while out-of-staters disliked OSU or Notre Dame the most. There were exceptions of course, but i think there was a correlation.
October 11th, 2015 at 9:26 AM ^
I think all view OSU as the bigger rival but for in-staters, who likely has a ton of friends etc at MSU, makes losing to them insufferable. Losing to OSU would suck, sure, but you didn't have it smeared in your face for the next 12 months from everyone you knew.
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October 10th, 2015 at 11:34 PM ^
I motion to remove Rutgers from B1G and FBS.
Hell, let's just give their athletic department the death penalty and make them clear house.
October 10th, 2015 at 11:35 PM ^
These shitbirds don't deserve to be undefeated or ranked on the top 20. We need to not only beat them but totally expose them for the mediocre team they are.
October 10th, 2015 at 11:40 PM ^
I miss Ron English
October 10th, 2015 at 11:43 PM ^
This seems to be a week to week kind of thing for Michigan...see BYU and more recently Northwestern
October 10th, 2015 at 11:44 PM ^
The outcome sucked but I just became a huge Norries Wilson fan. His reaction to the spiked ball was great (the only emotion he showed all night). I hope ends up as head coach down the road.
October 10th, 2015 at 11:35 PM ^
The spike on fourth down was priceless. That's what it takes for Sparty to beat Rutgers.
October 10th, 2015 at 11:36 PM ^
Gameday's coming to Ann Arbor. Just announced in Twitter
October 10th, 2015 at 11:36 PM ^
Our defense should be drooling at the way that offensive line looks. And our offensive line should get enough push for a solid run game. Rutgers was running with ease. Rutgers.
October 11th, 2015 at 2:11 AM ^
"MSU OL is patchwork and really sucks" has actually become an mgoblog meme. Every year it's the same thing, and every year they've managed to put up good performances vs our defense. I'll believe it when I see it playing against us.
October 11th, 2015 at 2:27 AM ^
The Rutgers running game is a little different from ours. They have 3 scat back types, so they rely on angle blocking to try to get them to the edge. Their RBs also did a nice job hitting the holes (it's just amazing to see how we still struggle in that area with our backs). I've watched Rutgers all year and they didn't do anything different today than they did all year, so either MSU wasn't prepared because they were looking ahead, or they just couldn't stop it.
It seems like the MSU defenders were having trouble defending in space, but they're built to stop our power run game. It's definitely something the coaching staff can exploit with a guy like Drake Johnson (if he's healthy enough) or with Chesson on the end arounds and jet sweeps, but I'm not sure we can simply assume a power run game will work against them.