OT: Former MSU offensive lineman Thiyo Lukusa to Arizona
August 20th, 2017 at 11:17 PM ^
Epic comeback!
August 21st, 2017 at 7:51 AM ^
than stay with MSU and Dantonio. That's got to hurt in EL. He gave up a starting job and has to sit out a year too.
He likely would have been here if Hoke hadn't been fired. Harbaugh didn't recruit him in the transition class and picked up Ulizio instead.
August 21st, 2017 at 11:42 AM ^
Is that what really happened? For I vaguely remember Lukusa choosing MSU over us well before Hoke left, and it left a bitter thought about him... I recall him committing early in the fall.
August 21st, 2017 at 12:21 PM ^
I was wrong about his year, but I think still right about what happened. He was generally expected to commit here, but Harbaugh didn't recruit him and he committed in the spring of 2015 to MSU.
August 20th, 2017 at 9:15 PM ^
Fuck MSU. Sad that they beat us for a few years. No fucking mercy.
August 20th, 2017 at 9:25 PM ^
August 20th, 2017 at 9:35 PM ^
August 21st, 2017 at 12:35 AM ^
August 20th, 2017 at 9:24 PM ^
August 20th, 2017 at 9:33 PM ^
August 20th, 2017 at 9:34 PM ^
SCREW MICHIGAN STATE!!!!!!!!
August 20th, 2017 at 9:43 PM ^
congrats on beating the other guy to the post.
August 20th, 2017 at 9:54 PM ^
August 20th, 2017 at 9:54 PM ^
August 20th, 2017 at 10:01 PM ^
saying that he hadn't had a love for the game since high school -- the ingrates over there commended him for following his gut on his retirement.
August 20th, 2017 at 10:12 PM ^
missing something but I don't think losing Narduzzi hurt them that much. Pitt was winning games by outscoring teams, not really winning with defense. I think what hurt them is people figured out how to attack the defense, kind of like how people figured out how to stop the RichRod offense. Pitt's defense ranked 62 in S&P+ last season, MSU was 41 and we were second. Pitt was actually 50 in S&P+ in 2015, which I believe was Narduzzi's first year there.
Edit: this was supposed to be a reply to a user comment not OP. My bad.
August 20th, 2017 at 10:50 PM ^
August 20th, 2017 at 11:43 PM ^
and Narduzzi was the ONLY one of Dantoni's coaches with ambition/upward mobility and it showed in his level of aggressiveness.
He was probably their most effective and energetic recruiter as well.
Even though I think we will remain OK with Jim at the helm, I hope that Narduzzi sees the writing on the wall in the B1G east and stays away from MSU when they come calling post-Dontario. Sometimes I just want to see the world/couches/MSU burn.
As for the technical points and stats referenced above, I think there is some truth to people figuring weaknesses in the quarters defense that Narduzzi and MSU run BUT at Pitt and 2016 MSUit had as much to do with the personnel (sp?) as scheme. MSU was dominant when they had NFL-level corners and safeties with a strong D-line and supporting cast. I always refer back to Deveon's first run in last years' game. The commentator noted and highlighted that they ran the same double A gap blitz on that play to stop the run that they always had but didn't have the players to pull it off.
August 21st, 2017 at 12:04 AM ^
I guess he's like their PJ Fleck. I don't know if PJ is a good Xs and Os guy, but I am sure his enthusiasm accounted for a few points a game.
August 21st, 2017 at 8:07 AM ^
as is Dantonio. What hurt MSU was:
1) Harbaugh (MSU got what, 1 or maybe 2 of the top 10 players in the state?)?
2) Urban (Tressel recruited well, but Urban can get anybody he wants and doesn't stear his plan B's to MSU)
3) DJ Durkin at Maryland (he's an excellent recruiter)
4) PSU not being a a tire fire.
August 21st, 2017 at 10:44 AM ^
1) Harbaugh will hurt them, badly, but any losses in recruiting have had minimal impact so far. MSU even won a few recruiting battles in 2016. As far as 2017 goes, MSU doesn't usually rely on true freshmen to provide much.
2) Good point about Urban not steering his in-state plan B's to MSU, but Tressel took more of those players for himself. Which had the bigger impact?
3) Durkin probably won't matter much and his impact will all be in the future anyhow.
4) Yeah, although Dantonio was doing very well before that happened.
In any case, MSU's woes aren't tied to a decline in their recruiting. Their classes got better. At least they were higher ranked. It's hard not to feel they missed out on capitalizing on their success, which may tie in to my point below.
My take on what has hurt MSU, a stale coaching staff that hasn't adjusted. In other words, complacency. That may have carried over to discipline as well. Losing their best assistant hurt more than it should have. We lose Durkin and Harbaugh finds Don Brown. What did Dantonio do? James Franklin's offense sucks and he brings in Joe Moorhead. What would Dantonio do?
August 21st, 2017 at 11:46 AM ^
Am responding to multiple posts with my thoughts...
1. MSU is a 4-8 team right now... but Lewerke is a good player and I think is underrated here, and looked good against us, being so young. I like the way he attacks downfield. Him and LJ Scott are gonna be very good players. Their OL is gonna get creamed by us, truly.
2. I wonder if their downfall attributed more to the psychology of Harbaugh disarming Dantoni's hate machine... let me explain here... there is nothing on this planet more unifying than a common enemy, and Dantoni milked it perfectly, it brought all of them together and they did very well... now, Harbaugh comes in, and says publicly akin to Dantoni doing perhaps the greatest coaching job of all time.... when he said that I knew it was contrived, man I was so proud of Jimmy, that is exceptional mastery of psychology.... a lifelong coach like Dantoni strives for that exact thing, being acknowledged by peers... and look, since then Dantoni has shut up, and since then theyve gone into a tailspin, and Dantoni's disrespekt bomb was just disactivated it seems. After that Dantoni couldnt' go in media with ire and bitch and complain about us dissing them, riling up their nation and unifying, because it'd make it worse and he'd come accross poorly. Instead, its been one transfer and incident after another. I mean, Harbaugh gave him the best compliment one could give, and the irony is fascinating.
3. I acknowledge their downfall may have correlated with Narduzzi leaving, but I think if anything its more with Cook graduating.....but I believe more of # 2 above. I hope someone agrees with me here.
4. If Dantoni goes, is it accepted that Narduzzi follows? Or does Narduzzi stay at Pitt and build them instead???
August 21st, 2017 at 12:39 PM ^
I don't think anyone knows on Lewerke. I agree I liked his poise against Michigan, but he was coming in down big and the expectations were zero. No pressure on him at all, and he hadn't failed yet. He threw some terrible balls in their spring game including some picks. Let's see how he reacts when that happens in live games.
If he's bad, they're going to be in real trouble right away.
August 21st, 2017 at 1:03 PM ^
Especially number 2. I have noticed how quiet that camp has been compared to the old Disrespekt days. I have a feeling though there is a lot more going on in EL than whats obvious on the surface.....and I really dont believe its just one thing but many issues all coming together at once.
My gut tells me it has to do with the quality of player they have been bringing in. I truly believe they got lucky bringing in kids that were highly underrated in the past 8-10. Whether it was luck or they were really scouting that well is irrelevant. They simply do not have that those guys coming in anymore. Was there a shift in recruiting style in the past few cycles? Or a change in recruiting personnel?
August 20th, 2017 at 10:59 PM ^
August 20th, 2017 at 11:14 PM ^
Just more irrelevant news from the leader in irrelevant news for all topics but criminal justice!
August 20th, 2017 at 11:18 PM ^
How do scholarships work, if Thiyo had quit playing at MSU but stayed in school there, does he lose his scholly? Or is it like a medical retirement where they keep it?
August 20th, 2017 at 11:37 PM ^
Can't say I blame the kid. Could you imagine what the recruiting trips were like (The pointer sisters singing We are Family) everybody telling you how great and close knit this team is and you get on campus, team mates fighting in the locker room, coaches fired, teammates suspended, a huge sex scandal, I wouldn't want any part of that either
August 21st, 2017 at 1:06 AM ^
August 21st, 2017 at 5:52 AM ^
Sister Sledge - no "s" on the end. That song was made famous by the 1979 Pirates led who adopted it as their theme song on their way to the World Series.
August 21st, 2017 at 9:45 AM ^
Man, I hate getting to these MSU posts too late for it to matter.
1. I hope he finds success out there. He played a bit last year and showed some promise, but I don't think he did anything football related from like January to now, so I hope he's not too far behind. He was a true frosh last year, so maybe a redshirt will be good for him (I assume he's sitting this year after transferring right?)
2. I certainly don't begrudge a player who went through last year and thought: eh, not for me. Seems like the team was a mess, and when you look at his fellow classmates, there were a lot of issues. So the guys he most likely came in expecting to be his friends he might not have gelled with.
3. Saw on his goodbye instagram post a couple other linemen wishing him well, so I hope that at least within his position group they were happy he was doing something to make himself happier.
4. Guess he just gets to miss out on 3 straight years of BEATING MICHIGAN :)