Football Study Hall: Surveying the Wreckage at Michigan State
As we're in a small lull between the BTT and the start of the tournament, here are some good readin's from Football Study Hall on the demise of MSU football which may be relevant to your interests. Nothing that is earth shattering but interesting to see that the smart guys over there are also seeing a tough climb for MSU to be nationally relevant again
Beyond the off the field issues that are plaguing Michigan State, the question remains of whether they’ll be able to rebuild their pass defense to allow their aggressive scheme to work against the increasingly potent opponents on the schedule. The prognosis is grim and it appears that the window has indeed closed on more championships coming to Lansing, MI.
March 14th, 2017 at 11:19 AM ^
They were right about Ed Davis reeking.
March 13th, 2017 at 11:23 PM ^
I miss Baghdad Bob!! That guy was some good entertainment, a shame he no longer has a public voice...
March 13th, 2017 at 10:18 PM ^
Dom Garrett
2016 record: 12-0
Why: Alright, alright. I know I look like the homer in on this roundtable right now but I am really thinking we have a chance to go undefeated this year.
March 13th, 2017 at 10:30 PM ^
"the quality linebackers are almost too many to name" No, please, name them.
March 13th, 2017 at 11:18 PM ^
March 13th, 2017 at 10:33 PM ^
Wow, it shows you can talk yourself into almost anything.
March 13th, 2017 at 10:35 PM ^
One year has nearly undone all the progress they made over the last 6-7 years. And I for one love watching them burn. They enjoyed reveling in our misery. Now it's our turn to revel in their's.
March 14th, 2017 at 11:58 AM ^
What is inexplicable about PSU?
Franklin, while a total scumbag, is a good coach. He had Vanderbilt winning 9 games a year in the SEC. They are the top school in a talent rich state with an instate rival dynamic that is somewhere between Michigan/Michigan State and Ohio State/Cincinnati.
As the Sandusky sanctions wore off you had to expect they would bounce back. I'm just surprised it came this year with a new QB and a new offensive scheme.
March 13th, 2017 at 10:43 PM ^
March 13th, 2017 at 11:12 PM ^
March 13th, 2017 at 10:50 PM ^
March 13th, 2017 at 10:56 PM ^
March 13th, 2017 at 10:53 PM ^
MSU is fine; my guess is they average 8-9 wins most years going forward. But they basically split with OSU and then got lucky both PSU and UM were down for long stretches of their run. You don't just beat teams that pull in superior recruits forever; you either catch up to them in talent or they continue to play down to their competition. Save for one class a couple years ago, the prior doesn't seem true, and it sure doesn't seem like the latter will continue (even though Franklin still seems like a goober).
That sounds high. I expect them to lose to M, OSU and PSU on a regular basis. Maryland is on the rise and will soon be beating them year-in and year-out. Add 2 losses from the B1G West and OOC and Sparty is probably going to be a .500 team in the near future.
They will basically be the Iowa of the Big Ten East.
March 14th, 2017 at 12:10 PM ^
But with a very slim chance to win a division title, so more like Minnesota.
MSU might return to being a decent team, but it's going to be hard to go 9-3 in a division that includes OSU, Michigan, and PSU now that all those teams are contenders.
MSU won 11 games in both 2010 and 2011 despite not being a great team because the B1G was down both those years. In 2010, OSU and Wisconsin were the only other schools to win more than 8 games, and MSU didn't play OSU. In 2011, Michigan and Wisconsin were the only other schools to win more than 9 games.
MSU had a SRS rating of about 10 in both 2010 and 2011. That's good, but not the typical rating of a contender. For instance, last year Florida, Tennessee, and West Virginia had similar SRS ratings - decent teams, but nobody's idea of a conference contender. I think MSU can return to that level, but it'll be tough for them to exceed it.
March 13th, 2017 at 11:02 PM ^
Those brahs actually think wrastling is real. They make up Vince McMahonesque storylines that are complete fantasy.
One fool comparing Harbaugh to John L is the best. To imply, regardless of how you feel about the guy, that he's all bluster & no substance takes intellectual acrobatics beyond my comprehension.
Our Jimmy knows football. I bet he could line up and coach anything from an outside veer to a triple option to a spread to run to an air raid and hardly miss a beat. He's been living football since he could walk.
We hate Mork because 1. He coaches State. And 2. He's a total prick for a personality. We don't paint him as incompetent or lacking football chops.
Oh Sparty.
I'm pretty sure we also hate him because he had the best Sparty run vs. Michigan in my lifetime, and it's not even close. When Narduzzi left, I was confident they would start falling. It happened quicker than I thought.
March 13th, 2017 at 11:02 PM ^
I think the O/U on their wins was 8 and I thought it was a pretty solid over. Absolutely no one predicted 3-9
March 13th, 2017 at 11:45 PM ^
might have if the year before they had gone more like the 8-4 team they really were instead of absolutley pulling a playoff invitation out of their asses.
I think you got a BINGO. MSU, during their run, pulled out a lot of last second, strange wins. There was the pass to former QB Nichols vs. WI. They pulled out a victory vs. RUTGERS, yes that RUTGERS, again in the last seconds. The fucking punt we don't want to talk about. Group those around some dominant performances and you've got a team, not necessarily over confident. You want a team that is confident or you don't stand a chance. However, to carry that confidence into a game against Alabama and when you get steam rolled, as predicated by anyone outside E. Lansing and that causes a completely different set of problems.
Now comes the "head games" shit. Were we really that good? Did we just have a particulary bad game vs. Alabama", and other questions of this nature. The best way to get back to the confidence that led to so many almost inexpicable last second victories, in other words, "Like Coach says, give us a chance with two minutes to go and we'll win," is to come out and begin making statements the loss of that magnitude was more the fluke than were the number of late second victories, coupled with dominant performances, including beating Baylor in the last few minutes, beating OSU with a combination of back-up qbs, etc. Their record in games they had no business winning was unmatched and very much a part of their run just as would be the case in teams that lead the nation in rushing for 8 years propelling them to unparalleled heights. To do this, as OP stated, you need the one thing that made it all possible, good qb play. That did not come close to happening and the best they could put on the field was a mobile, but very fragile qb who got busted up by M's defense as he did against others. Until MSU gets a qb that provides them with solid qb play, I don't anticipate all the other anomalies that propelled them to their maginificent era to resurface and it took both.
March 13th, 2017 at 11:50 PM ^
Sure, but a lot of the rationale for thinking MSU would be in the 7-to-9 win range was along the lines of "MSU always seems to win games without much talent." Football Study Hall's preview last year was pretty accurate with regard to how MSU's defensive schemes weren't keeping up with the evolution in offensive styles, and their deficiencies at QB and in the secondary obviously hurt them a ton.
Maybe MSU wasn't as bad as the typical 3-9 team, but they were still pretty bad. They had a SRS rating of -1.79, which was only better than Illinois (3-9), Rutgers (2-10), and Purdue (3-9) in the B1G. They'll probably improve their record this year, but it would take a giant leap to put them back among the B1G East contenders, and there isn't much reason to believe that leap will happen.
Theyt had an incredible run the past 8 or so seasons primarily bc they struck gold w/ Cousins and Cook almost back to back. Their off years were when they had Maxwell and O'Connor, each of who played mediocre at best. W/ at least average play at the position they would have been bowl eligible last season.
Defense is important, but quarterback is still by far the imost important position in football.
I see MSU as a Glen Mason's Minnesota going forward. Talent at some spots, but not everywhere. Winning 7 games and going bowling while picking off some upsets of UM, PSU, and OSU once in a while. Certainly not as regular as they did in 2010 - 2015.