Michigan St needs late pick to finish off Utah St.... AT HOME!

Submitted by SkyPanther on

Play that finally put it away in a very close game, AT EAST LANSING:

 

 

https://twitter.com/Thele10/status/1035716171528634368/photo/1

LSAClassOf2000

August 31st, 2018 at 11:01 PM ^

When it comes to record, it is, but here's where my Michigan sensibility comes in. My MSU neighbor is going to say that very thing tomorrow morning, that a win is a win, and I'll come back with, "No, not really. You gave up 300 yards in the air to Utah State and were losing at points in that game. It may very well be the usual overly vanilla first game from MSU, but you cannot tell me that you were really thinking that the entire game."

As I like to remind people, we grade our wins in Ann Arbor. 

maizenblue92

August 31st, 2018 at 10:51 PM ^

I’ll be the contrarian here. Usually when this happens they still win by double digits, not hanging on after a late TD. More important distinction though is they usually have their vanilla offense get bogged down. Tonight their defense got ripped up. Could be more red flags than their usual sandbagging. 

stephenrjking

August 31st, 2018 at 10:51 PM ^

This is what MSU does. They play some lower mid-level team and look like a pile of rusty car parts, but as the players get coached up and their QB inevitably shakes off rust, they start looking good. And then they unveil their "real" gameplan that they've been repping all season when they play Michigan.

Today was only remarkable in that they trailed late and needed a fluky pick to seal the deal, and because they had to unveil their speed option package before they wanted to. 

stephenrjking

August 31st, 2018 at 11:06 PM ^

They generally start with an easy game (in which they often look bad), but they don't schedule three pushovers. Working backwards, their hardest non-conference games this decade:

2018: at Arizona State (usually a tough trip--Wisconsin lost there a few years ago)
2017: vs Notre Dame
2016: at Notre Dame
2015: vs Oregon
2014: at Oregon
2013: at Notre Dame
2012: (tie) vs Boise State, vs Notre Dame
2011: at Notre Dame
2010: vs Notre Dame

Honestly, a very similar strategy to us: One tough game and some patsies. They never play the tough game at the beginning, unlike us, but otherwise not much difference. 

TK

August 31st, 2018 at 10:52 PM ^

I’m fairly convinced that Dantonio spends the entire week prepping for Michigan whenever they play a cupcake. Probably didn’t even watch Utah St film. 

kevbo1

August 31st, 2018 at 10:54 PM ^

Just focus on our team for once.  We have a gauntlet of a schedule to go through, and if we don't do well there will be a lot of chirping in our direction.

DJMich23

August 31st, 2018 at 10:55 PM ^

I'm shocked that they couldn't run the ball with any consistency and I'm shocked at how lack luster their pass defense was. Especially considering the fact that we've been hearing about how many starters they return on defense all off-season. 

With that being said, unless this trend continues, winning in EL will be very difficult for UM. This game will have no bearing on their match-up with Michigan.