Impact of rain on Michigan State game?
Google is telling me that there's a 30-60% chance of rain just before kickoff and during the game. How do you think this will impact the game?
State's apparent strength on defense is the DL against the run. The counterpoint is that State hasn't faced a really good rushing team. On offense, however, State dinked/dunked their way to a win against Penn State while their run game continued to suffer; passing seemed to be a big part of their success in that game. Overall, I'd say it's a wash, but I really think it depends on Michigan's interior DL health, especially after a bruising opponent like Wisconsin.
October 18th, 2018 at 5:19 AM ^
That forecast has changed a lot .... wouldn’t stress about it too much.
October 18th, 2018 at 5:30 AM ^
I'm bringing it up more as a hypothetical point of discussion--how people see this influencing strategy and outcomes. But here's my latest info from Google:
As you can see, the predicted likelihood of precipitation has actually increased since my post.
October 18th, 2018 at 5:56 AM ^
I understand why you brought it up, but at points yesterday it was 70%.. then 30%.. that forecast doesn’t seem that solid. It was supposed to rain Friday afternoon and that forecast has changed too. With the higher winds, it seems like that forecast has been a bit tough to pin down.
October 18th, 2018 at 1:42 PM ^
Rain: little to none or maybe some, but meteorology is basically a crap shoot
Impact: negligible. We're better in all phases, and I don't think it really matters if we run for 400 and pass for 150 on them or pass for 300 and run for 300 on them, or whether they run 50 and pass 120 or run 120 and pass 50.
Post value: Saturday can't come quickly enough
October 18th, 2018 at 7:07 AM ^
As a scientist, I love that you've opted for the Celsius temperature scale as your default display option.
October 18th, 2018 at 7:24 AM ^
For a brief second I thought to myself, "Damn! That's unseasonably cold!"
Stupid rest of the world using the metric system and whatnot.
October 18th, 2018 at 8:38 AM ^
Don't forget to convert the chance of rain from metric to standard too.
October 18th, 2018 at 9:19 AM ^
I agree.
October 18th, 2018 at 8:01 AM ^
As a fellow scientist, it's all about Kelvin. Seriously.
October 18th, 2018 at 8:09 AM ^
I have absolutely zero problems with your opinion.
October 18th, 2018 at 8:34 AM ^
Logged in to upvote you and Maizer.
Love this place.
October 18th, 2018 at 9:18 AM ^
As an engineer, I reject your premise.
October 18th, 2018 at 9:58 AM ^
As a dummy, I do not approve.
October 18th, 2018 at 12:27 PM ^
Communist
October 18th, 2018 at 11:33 AM ^
Celsius...how Canadian of you. For those interested 9C = 48.2F. Chilly.
I would be more worried if the rain was 90-100% because that usually means it'll be heavy. Forecast is saying partly cloudy early and "light rain" later on. Doesn't seem like rain will cause a problem. The forecast 15 to 25 mph winds may be an issue though.
October 18th, 2018 at 12:12 PM ^
There are, in fact, about 190 countries that use Celsius.
Calling it a Canadian thing is like saying "You wear shoes. How Swedish of you!"
October 18th, 2018 at 9:19 PM ^
You seem fun
October 18th, 2018 at 10:34 PM ^
Or, you wear wooden shoes. How Danish of you!
October 18th, 2018 at 5:45 AM ^
All other things being equal, I don't like an artificial turf team playing on a wet grass field against a team accustomed to playing on grass.
It may not make much of a difference when playing a physically overmatched team, but that's not the case when playing MSU.
October 18th, 2018 at 5:49 AM ^
Looking forward to 25 more threads on this subject before kickoff.
October 18th, 2018 at 6:20 AM ^
yes, but this will be the only one where the OP quotes the weather in Celsius. . .
October 18th, 2018 at 6:09 AM ^
We’ve plowed this ground already Angelique
October 18th, 2018 at 6:14 AM ^
Wet grass. Seriously — can we stop with the weather / oh my god it might be windy and rain threads? They look petty and scared. Thank you. We need to relax.
October 18th, 2018 at 7:26 AM ^
They've probably had the sprinklers running 24/7 on the field all week anyhow.
October 18th, 2018 at 6:21 AM ^
I know the OPs mean well, but so many weather posts this week. This isn’t the D Day ‘go’ decision - just let ‘em play.
October 18th, 2018 at 10:04 AM ^
Wow...the hyperbole is strong this week!
October 18th, 2018 at 6:25 AM ^
I’m sure Sparty will be right at home, wallering around in the mud.
October 18th, 2018 at 6:35 AM ^
Serenity now!
October 18th, 2018 at 7:02 AM ^
I didn't watch the game but Sanders from Penn State get 163 yards rushing on 17 carries. At 9.5 yards per carry, that isn't too bad.
October 18th, 2018 at 7:35 AM ^
According to ESPN, Sanders had 162 total yards on 17 carries, which included runs of 78 and 48 yards.
Aside from the long runs, he amassed 36 yards on the remaining 15 carries, for a 2.4 yd average. I'm not saying that his long runs should be dismissed, but the large majority of his carries were of significantly shorter yardage than 9.5 yds.
If Higdon runs for 162 on 17 carries, I'd rather it consist of 17 runs of 9.5 each because that translates into lots of first downs, which means keeping MSU's offense off the field—as long as we're converting those first downs into TD drives, of course. That also means less reliance on our ST. We only had to punt twice against WI, whereas PSU had to punt 8 times against MSU, which means many of their possessions didn't do anything.
October 18th, 2018 at 8:35 AM ^
I’m not sure erasing those carries entirely is fair, but if you substitute them for 20 yard runs you get 17 carries for 86 yards, which is 5 yards per carry. I think their running game is better than ours but still I would be surprised if we weren’t able to do around 3.5 YPC.
October 18th, 2018 at 8:55 AM ^
Their running game is better than ours?. Ah, sorry no
Running:
Yards per game Mich 217; MSU 123
Yards per attempt Mich 5.3 MSU 3.4
Running 1st downs Mich 73 MSU 40
Running TDs Mich 16, MSU 10
OK? OK
October 18th, 2018 at 9:06 AM ^
I think he meant PSU's running game. But it doesn't matter - I'm still taking Michigan's run game as the better one...
October 18th, 2018 at 10:35 AM ^
Ah, OK.
October 18th, 2018 at 9:10 AM ^
I think he was referring to PSU's running game
October 18th, 2018 at 9:57 AM ^
It doesn’t matter what Sparty has done up to this point. It’s Michigan and we all know Sparty will look like Alabama on Saturday.
October 18th, 2018 at 2:51 PM ^
If Higdon runs 162 yards on 2 carries, Michigan wins comfortably. I watched the PSU/MSU game. PSU is not a very good defense and average at best Oline. I am confident Michigan (all players) will rush for around 200 yds. If Michigan hits 200 yds total, Michigan wins. Period.
October 18th, 2018 at 9:07 AM ^
36 yards on 15 carries aside from two big runs. I get it, you can’t totally subtract big runs from the total. But you also can’t sit here and pretend like PSU had any real success on the ground. Miles Sanders was routinely stuffed at the line of scrimmage, and roughly 12% of his carries he busted a long one.
Thats not how you structure an offense and that’s not a recipe for success. I’d much rather average 4-5 yards on every single carry than average 2 and bust a long run or two.
October 18th, 2018 at 7:03 AM ^
No excuses. Win the game.
October 18th, 2018 at 7:06 AM ^
Rain = pain
October 18th, 2018 at 7:26 AM ^
I don’t think Devin Bush is too concerned about some weather. He’s going to bring the pain rain or shine. That being said, what up with the Celsius? You Canadian or something?
October 18th, 2018 at 7:31 AM ^
I wanna know......have you ever seen the rain?
October 18th, 2018 at 7:36 AM ^
Lets see if this works. Anyone else having comment trouble?
October 18th, 2018 at 7:38 AM ^
From the NWS forecast for East Lansing on Saturday, as they currently summarize it:
"A chance of rain showers before 4pm, then a chance of rain and snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 49. West northwest wind 9 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%."
If you go to their site, you can get a decent hourly breakdown of their estimate as well.
Expect this to read totally different tomorrow.
October 18th, 2018 at 8:11 AM ^
"With gusts as high as 29 mph"
TRASH TORNADO WATCH ACTIVATED
October 18th, 2018 at 7:42 AM ^
It won't. This isn't the last decade of being on their level or lagging behind. We have better coaches and talent again at every position group. This team looks to be a complete unit for the first time since...when? When was the last year we had a serviceable, disciplined O-Line at the same time as a quality QB at the same time as talented skill position players to go with a lock down defense? Screw the weather. We're taking it to State this year. Enough of the "but it's the superbowl for them" and "but the weather" and all of that. We're not running out a turnstile o-line. We're not running a 3 star backup QB out there. They'll punch. We'll punch harder. Game over. This team may lose again this year, but not THIS week. Not to a Sparty team with a weak O-line, no run game, and the "Yes Fly Zone" defensive backfield. Not THIS team. Not THIS year. Bring the monsoon, the trash tornado, the burning couches. It won't matter. Revenge Tour, Sparty Edition. BRING THE PAIN.
October 18th, 2018 at 8:47 AM ^
Well, I'm convinced.
October 18th, 2018 at 9:09 AM ^
Can you point me towards a wall, please?
October 18th, 2018 at 9:33 AM ^
I read this with Rocky 3 music in my head. I am pumped up. Who do I hit now?