MSU's depth chart was just released for this week, and one thing that really stands out is the fact that Dion Sims is nowhere to be found. Think this is just a bit of gamesmanship from Dantonio, or do you really think he won't be playing? Kittredge is also ahead of Reynolds at DT which is a changeup. Anything else surprising?
Beat Sparty.
Sims probably just got the
I'm on my iPhone so I can't
I'm on my iPhone so I can't upvote you, but well done. Haha.
Rittenberg is tweeting it's
Rittenberg is tweeting it's the ankle, and that Dantonio is saying "we'll know more later in the week."
Touchdown Michigan!
He was out for the Iowa game
He was out for the Iowa game and was expected as a 'maybe' for Oct 20th. This was the diagnosis 2 weeks ago when he got injured at IU.
In other words, *gulp*.
Your friendly neighborhood Sparty
nah
Not gulp. I'd prefer to evil-ly twist the edges of a mustache and bellow out a hearty muwahaha
Follow me on Twitter @gfraley05
You can't spell Dantonio without
douche. This is his way of keeping a secret, Sims will play.
After significant scientific
After significant scientific testing (with beakers and test tubes and such) I have found that you can in fact spell Dantonio without 'douche'.
USING GRATUITOUS AMOUNTS OF CAPS LOCK SINCE APRIL 2011
So you were...running some tests?
Go Blue!
I for one...
would perfer ALL of sparty best players on the field. Don't want the grumpy old man to have anykind of excuse!!
Lucky enough to have my own JT wristband!!
Beat State.
Beat State.
Fuck State.
Fuck State.
“True loyalty is that quality of service that grows under adversity and expands in defeat. Any street urchin can shout applause in victory, but it takes character to stand fast in defeat. One is noise — the other, loyalty.”
Depth Issues
It's rather clear now that the Spartans have had considerable problems replacing the presence that was Jerel Worthy, as well as Kevin Pickelman. White and Kittredge have only 1 sack and 3 TFL to their combined credit, which is a dramatic fall from the Worthy-Pickelman combination. Reynolds has no sacks and 1 TFL, so I don't doubt that they are just trying to see if someone - anyone - can suddenly play inspired and bring pressure out there, because the pressure is what has been sorely lacking this year, it seems. The options after these guys are a freshman and Tyler Hoover, who has only been in parts of three games and is also not 100%, I believe (calf injury, I read).
"Funny isn't it, how naughty dentists always make that one fatal mistake."
Follow the random tweets of a Michigan alum - http://twitter.com/#!/LorneEC3
Correct. There really aren't
Correct. There really aren't 2 main starters at the DT spots. It's kind of a a revolving door with Kitteredge, Hoover, Reynolds, and White rotating between plays.
Your friendly neighborhood Sparty
There also appears to be
There also appears to be about a 50 pound variance in weight between the players. Two guys at 330 and 320; two guys at 280 and 270? That would make for some interesting decisions on both sides of the ball, depending on how heavy or light they decided to go.
Love your avatar
In fact, have always loved your avatar. And your occasional presence at mgoblog.
So, here's a question for you. Every now and then I hear disparaging comments about the Red Cedar Message Board. I could go over there to find out. However, because I'm lazy, and because you are a Spartan partisan, who presumably also frequents RCMB, can you comment with your perspective on the two blogs? Regards.
"It does not matter how many times you get knocked down, but how many times you get up." Vince Lombardi
I can comment from my
I can comment from my perspective as a Michigan fan. I don't read RCMB other than to get an occasional chuckle. When I look for Spartan based information I go to the one that is linked in the 'Big Ten Blogs' section on mgoblog.
RCMB is a message board, and gets a ton of traffic. It isn't very heavily moderated, and is often filled with inflammatory comments.
The Only Colors is actually very good, and provides a lot of features similar to what you would expect here on mgoblog.
This pretty much sums it up.
This pretty much sums it up. RCMB is good for a few laughs here and there but it is by no means a site to go to for technical football insight. Most of the technical content (recruiting news, player development, etc) is all accessible via a paid membership. TOC would be the MGoBlog-esque equivalent website for Spartan fans.
Your friendly neighborhood Sparty
They never should have let
They never should have let Volunteer Officer Picklestein go.
I still am expecting a 2010
I still am expecting a 2010 Justin Siller type thing out of Sims. You know when Purdue ran him out to start even though he was clearly not ready, and then two steps into his first play pulls up lame.
Considering his strong year
Considering his strong year at Tennessee and MSU's receiving corps, I'm surprised DeAnthony hasn't made a move up the chart. He doesn't even get the courtesy "OR" designation. Yikes.
wow beat me by a minute
wow beat me by a minute
Touchdown Manningham! MICHIGAN WINS!
MSU WR have been bad outside
MSU WR have been bad outside of burbridge. What happened to Arnett? The only think I can even think of is he hasn't learned the playbook but Burbridge has been in the system just as long. Kind of interesting he hasn't seen the field more.
Touchdown Manningham! MICHIGAN WINS!
Brian said it somewhere
basically that, in general, transfers should be considered "not that good".
He's been inconsistent in
He's been inconsistent in practice and isn't a great blocker.
Maxwell
still the qb...interesting.
Lucky enough to have my own JT wristband!!
Through rumors I may or may
Through rumors I may or may not have made up in my head, I heard that Dan7onio has been burning up the phone lines trying to get Kork Coupons another year of eligibility.
www.eatacheeseburger.blogspot.com Brian Cook has read this blog!
Connor Cook
Why the heck did they put him in there to run an option? Dan Roushar (MSCs OC) is quite the piece of work this year.
Bo' Money Bo' Problems
Monkeys throwing darts at a
Monkeys throwing darts at a wall full of plays to run would be more effective.
Your friendly neighborhood Sparty
You're assuming that there
You're assuming that there would be competant football players attached to those darts to run the plays?
There should be a montage of Bennie Fowler breaking his own ankles on double move routes put together from this year.
Go Blue!
I'm also assuming competent
I'm also assuming competent monkeys
Your friendly neighborhood Sparty
I really hope you guys run
I really hope you guys run Roushar out of town, because I think he's a very good OC. Results have been terrible this year because you don't have the personnel. But last year with Cousins, there were all kinds of (maddeningly) great play calls, with first options being open deep down the field.
My guess is that Maxwell executes better in practice than he has so far on the field, so a lot of the plays they're going for aren't there due to inexperience/nerves. My hope is that he's just not a gamer. Doesn't help with WR's being horrible, and a patchwork OL.
It's probably a combination
It's probably a combination of the 4 (Maxwell, WRs, OL, and OC). You can see a noticeable lack of creativity in the offense in the past 2 years vs Treadwell the years before. Right now it seems like the offense is trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Last year, this worked because the holes were also square. This year he is not adjusting to the personnel.
In the Iowa game, MSU ball leading by 7, 4 minutes and change to play in regulation. First play, rush to Bell gain of 5. 2nd play, incomplete pass, 3rd play incomplete pass. He could have run these same plays last year and attained success because of his personnel, but he thinks he can force them in this year and it's just not working.
I think Dantonio may have the inverse of the Rich Rod problem you guys had a few years back. Dantonio is a defensive minded coach who just relies on the coordinator to run the offense.
Your friendly neighborhood Sparty
What are your thoughts on
What are your thoughts on next year for the Spartan offense? Senior qb, senior Bell, Lawrence Thomas likely playing Oline being already 295 pounds, senior Sims, and highly rated receivers Deanthony Arnett and Aaron Burbridge. Any faith in them gelling and being more effective, or does it all hinge on the Coordinator and Oline?
How many times have you been on the freeway and had someone fly by you at 100 mph then end up 2 cars ahead of you at the off ramp? What's the point? -Mark Harmon
I'll give you my take. I
I'll give you my take. I think it hinges on what Bell and Gholston do - leave early, or return for their senior year. Both of those guys will have a shot at the NFL after this fall, so what they do will be the determining factor.
If they come back, MSU should bounce back well, since they'll be returning a large chunk of their starters. They only have two senior starters on O right now, unfortunately they're both on the OL where things are already thin. Without Bell and without a good OL, the Sparty offense might still be bad even with all the talent in the passing game.
On D, they have three senior starters, one each at DL, LB and DB. However, they also lose Tyler Hoover, a contributor inside, so if Gholston leaves, the DL could be in trouble. The back 7 will be good for sure, but like on offense, it's their weakest spot that will be getting weaker in 2013, and without any bulk up front, it won't matter much how good the back 7 is.
Take a look at how MSU has recruited at OL and DT the last few years, and these problems will be less of a surprise. The games are won in the trenches, and Sparty is stuck with 10 awesome wide receivers.
I generally agree. Fonoti may
I generally agree. Fonoti may get a medical redshirt since he went down for the season in the ND game I believe, so he should return, which yields only 1 senior departure on the OL. So far, the OL has been statistically performing about the same as last year, so if the same group returns I would expect about the same results from them.
Overall, the offense will probably be pretty vanilla if the coaches don't make a change, while the defense should be good enough to keep them in games.
I see Coach D having a very Tressel-like philosophy in building a football team: have a game managing type offense with solid field goal kicking, and a defense that can keep you in games. Over 2010-2011 seasons MSU was 6-1 in games decided by 3 points or less.
Question for the UM D: I watched pieces of the Illinois game replay and from the plays that I saw, I didn't really see the D-Line getting the push I was expecting them to have (the linebackers were all over the place though). How do you see your D Line next year with the senior departures and young people filling in?
It's always a pleasure chatting with you guys. Thanks for being good hosts.
Your friendly neighborhood Sparty
The DLine isn't what it was
The DLine isn't what it was last year. Mike Martin was incredibly effective at being disruptive, demanding double teams, and getting into the backfield. This years line is getting pretty fundamentally sound as the season wears on, though. They aren't doing anything very glamourous, but they're demanding double teams to free up the linebackers, getting stronger on their technique, stopping the run, and moving to the ball better each game. Brian has done some very good and relatively honest UFR writeups on individual players and units from game to game. Haven't noticed one for Illinois yet, but they did shut them out so high marks for everybody that day.
http://mgoblog.com/content/upon-further-review-2012-defense-vs-alabama
http://mgoblog.com/content/upon-further-review-2012-defense-vs-air-force
http://mgoblog.com/content/upon-further-review-2012-defense-vs-umass
http://mgoblog.com/content/upon-further-review-2012-defense-vs-notre-dame
http://mgoblog.com/content/upon-further-review-2012-defense-vs-purdue
Summarys follow at the bottom of each article. Craig Roh, Jake Ryan, and Thomas Gordon have been consistantly our best defenders, but the others are catching up fast. Ends Roh and Clark are really starting to come into their own, MLB Demens has been awesome in pass coverage for 4 straight games now, Washington and Black have put together some good games, and Campbell has had some lousy games, some neutral games, and two monster games, but the interior is still struggling with consistancy. They can make great plays, or have monster games, but they aren't stringing them all together yet.
How many times have you been on the freeway and had someone fly by you at 100 mph then end up 2 cars ahead of you at the off ramp? What's the point? -Mark Harmon
My take:
I think the offense
My take:
I think the offense will be better than this year (obviously, hard to be worse). A senior Maxwell will allow Roushar to open up the playbook and some experienced WRs and clear-cut starters should help with that as well. I think going into next year you have Aaron Burbridge and Keith Mumphrey at your 1 and 2 WRs and then the 3rd one up for grabs, which should help Maxwell out knowing his 1 and 2 WRs.
LT will most likely stay at FB. He's quick for 295 and I don't think he will gain any more weight. Remember, he gained all that weight his Freshman year where he couldn't even practice because of an injury. Don't be surprised if he plays a little TE though. He can definitely catch and played TE in HS.
Bell is all but gone IMO. as much as i want him back, he'd be stupid not to leave. I think he's a surefire 2nd round pick, if not 1st round. Leads the nation in Yards After Contact and Broken Tackles, which is what NFL typically looks for in RBs.
Gholston will be back IMO. He hasnt done much this year and I think he wants to stay for 4 years. Sims is a question mark, he's definitely a top 5 TE, but is that enough for a solid draft pick?
As for the O-line, Chris McDonald (Starting RG) and Ethan Ruhland (Backup, now starter, at C) are seniors. We'll get Fou Fonoti (RT and the leader of the OL) back and Travis Jackson (Starting C) back from injury next year. It honestly comes down to injuries though. Fonoti went down before the ND game, and Jackson went down in the OSU game. Burkland has also been playing through an injury. I think we would have a decent O-line if healthy, but we lost 2 starters to injury last year, so i'm not going to bank on being healthy next year.
Biggest Question next year will be RB. After Bell and Caper who could both be gone after this year, its.. Nick Hill? Jeremy Langford? Then a bunch of RS and True Freshmen.
Do the monkeys run 5-wide
Do the monkeys run 5-wide sets on third-and-three despite the fact that Le'Veon Bell is our RB?
A Spartan
Yes, I am not sure I got that
Yes, I am not sure I got that one. I have no good reason not to run Le'Veon right up the middle until someone stops it. Maybe they thought they would catch the D on some sort of run package and get an open receiver.<shrugs> I don't know.
Semper Fidelis
Yours thoughts on MSU running between the tackles?
So, Michigan's defense appears to be better than expected, and the defensive line is not made of paper. Having said that, we haven't faced a RB like Bell. What do you think are MSU's prospects of running up the middle against Michigan?
"It does not matter how many times you get knocked down, but how many times you get up." Vince Lombardi
I've stopped trying to guess.
I've stopped trying to guess. They couldn't run between the tackles vs. Indiana, but then they turn around and do just that against Iowa. The o-line is so banged up that I'm not sure anyone knows what to expect from week-to-week.
A Spartan
we still haven't faced any
we still haven't faced any really big physical backs outside of bama so I'm still nervous about spartys run game, well mostly just about tackling bell.
Notre Dame's running backs
Notre Dame's running backs don't take a back seat to LeVeon Bell. If you can stuff ND on the ground, you can stuff MSU.
Go Blue!
Hey Hipster Cat, I had a cat
Hey Hipster Cat, I had a cat avatar before cat avatars were cool.
Your friendly neighborhood Sparty
Yeah...
You got out-schemed by Greg Davis. That does not bode well for long-term success.
Did anyone else notice how
Did anyone else notice how man OR's were used on the offensive depth chart? Man, they are in some trouble there.
Lawrence Thomas FB
Thomas is listed as an OR for starting fullback.
I thought he was the NEXT stud De for state. When did he switch to offense? Is he any good?
pbmd
Switched to offense in the
Switched to offense in the CMU game. He wasn't good enough to break the 2-deeps at DE with Gholston (JR), Rush (Soph), Calhoun (RS Fresh), and Heath (RS Fresh) all in there and probably not leaving for a while. I think he's great at fullback. Hits hard when he blocks and can catch passes.
Is it sad that LeVeon Bell and Lawrence Thomas are the only two guys on offense I've never seen getting beat when they pick up a block?
Don't worry, if Lawrence
Don't worry, if Lawrence Thomas keeps putting on weight at this rate, he'll be a guard by bowl season.
EDIT: If there is a bowl season for MSU this year. They need two more wins, and looking at their schedule, that might not happen. Their next games are Michigan, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Northwestern, Minnesota. They could lose their next four, and if they do, no bowling. If they lose three of their next four, @Minnesota is make or break to get to .500. Wowzers.
i come from the future
To warn you not to watch bell try to block Jake Ryan
Follow me on Twitter @gfraley05
Sims probably just got the wind knocked out of his ankle.
I'm sure he'll be fine.