Question for those who have watched MSU this year: have they looked bored?

How's your mother feeling after last night? Oh . . . right. She's fine. Yea she is!!!! Super fine!!!

I want to reiterate that your mom is fine. Fine as hell! finer than a fine line. Finer than a sharp pencil. Finer than a $100 parking fine.

inept and unfocused, especially on Special Teams.

and this is the game theyve been waiting for......we will get their absolute A game and better bring ours..I havent been this nervous about a game in YEARS.

The loss of Narduzzi and their corners really, REALLY hurt their defense... If they try to load the box with 8 or 9, I could see Rudock have a big day- and this coming from someone who doesn't think Rudock is THAT good of a QB.

But also they flat out are just not as good as they have been over the past few years. They (fans) say they build big leads and go with a vanilla offense for the remainder of the game to save it. That's fine, and so do we. Difference is, we have kept pounding that ass while they end up fighting for their lives at the end. If they were all that, they would bury teams and keep it going like they have in the past. They wouldn't let Purdue attempt a game-winning drive, or wait until the final minute to score the game winning TD against Rutgers if they were great. Now, rivalry games as we know are fucked up, and they sure as hell can still come in here and win on Saturday, but I'm just happy that they will have to earn the W now instead of just showing up and beating our ass.

I can almost give OSU the benefit-of-the-doubt for being bored. But not MSU. Bored or not, you STILL gave two bottom-dwellers in a row a chance to drive and tie or win the game late in the 4th quarter. At some point, "boredom" is not a good excuse. We can't get away with "boredom" as an excuse for Akron(!!!!) and Uconn(!!!!) a couple years ago. I don't see how MSU should either.

Their best win was to an Oregon team that has since been obliterated by a top 5 team and lost to a below-average Washington State (the same WSU that very nearly lost to Rutgers and actually lost to an FCS team this year). So Oregon is pretty mediocre this year...and there's no chance in hell you can call that game "boredom". Yet, Oregon was one missed pass away from a lead in the 4th quarter (if I recall that correctly).

My take is that MSU just isn't as good as recent years. That's not to say they're not good...I firmly believe they have yet to play their best game and that game will be this Saturday.  But...the question is, will that be enough? Because Jim Harbaugh is sure as hell going to get Michigan to bring it's A-game this weekend. And we already know what that looks like...and it's kinda scary if I'm MSU. But we have no idea what MSU's A-game really looks like...if the Oregon game was their A-game, barring some strange rivalry-type stuff Michigan should win comfortably. If they have another level above that, it will be a close game.

 

They've looked both complacent and worse than previous years, IMO. I really think it doesn't matter, btw. They have enough talent to win should they "wake up" or play better than us. The thing I'm sure of is that they'll "be awake" and the question is whether that will matter this year. I KNOW their coach would trade 6-0 for 0-6 if it meant beating us. I KNOW they'll play tough, regardless of success. I KNOW they've been pretty underwhelming so far this year and I KNOW they don't "look like" a top-10 team. Yet, it's the kind of year where they could barely scrape by everyone until the playoffs. It is, like or not. They're going to attack us unlike any team we've played yet and we'll see how that works out. All that said, my answer is "yes and they also look worse". I just have no issue admitting they are still winning and that has to be more than luck/opponent stupidity. Each "bone head", failed comeback attempt was just that - a comeback attempt. msu wasn't losing when failed attempt happened. They're 6-0, haha! We can (and probably should) beat them but this talk of them being a trash team is a tad much, IMO. Even if we win they'll go 11-1 or 10-2 in regular season. A win by us says more about us than a win by msu, IMO. They have talent and a solid staff. No excuses.

No. They just really suck.

They will bring their best game Saturday. The talk of it being a blowout is lunacy IMO and will probably lead to many nervous nellies Saturday. I fully expect a close game and one that comes down to a late game play.

on their shoulder. They've had a lot of success and the desperation and drive stemming from the Michigan rivalry has been softened. Of course it's all coming back for Nemesis week. They won't be bored or chip-less this week.

They lost their best coach and two NFL corners. They lost their wolverine killer running back and have three or four kids that can't come close to him. They don't have the high grade linebackers that they normally have and most of that is because of injury and graduation. Oh, and they have bad all around special teams. Also their corners can't defend or tackle. I'm not saying they're done because I don't think they are but they are probably going to be a 9-3 team this year. They are still motivated, all the pieces are not there and the new pieces are nowhere near as good.

intensity.  I think the difference is Narduzzi.  He seemed to be the fire for that defense.  He lit them up and made them play on the edge of control.

Dantonio is playing a cat and mouse game with Michigan.  I think his O line is healthier than he's letting on.  He's holding guys out and faking injuries so Michigan will prepare for other players.  The TE Price will be full strength and so will the RB Scott.  I bet the O Line is much healthier than he is letting on.  Not saying guys are not getting hurt on the field, but I bet they are miraculously better than they have been reporting come Saturday afternoon.

The only reason people are calling this a close game is because it is a rivalry and they have owned us. On paper, our DL should own their OL. If we control field position and not turn the ball over like in our recent games, this should not be close. It is time to start believing what you are seeing on Saturday afternoons. This team has a chance to be special.

They are as much UM 2013 as MSU 2013. Think we are going to beat them soundly.

But...I think it's coaching.  Clearly Mike is great at getting his team up for one chip-fest, but the loss of Narduzzi probably can't be understated.  And I think it's the same thing with OSU and the loss of Herrman (sp).

Coaches that have great runs have great staffs, and when schools come calling to take those coordinators, it becomes hard to keep it going because those coordinators are clearly talented coaches (regardless of whether they're good HCs - see Norm Chow).

This the first time Mork has had to deal with the loss of a key coach on his staff.  It's clearly having an impact.  It's not like the NFL took all their talent from last year's team.

Same in C'bus.  The Houston HC got the EFFING THIRD STRING QB to win the first playoff for the Bucks.  And now they look unbelievably discombobulated for a team that got back a two-time B1G POY on offense.

Short story long, it's what I dig most about Harbaugh.  Look at Stanford and Shaw - they keep going, with a staff that was developed by him to some degree.  We'll have a run, and assuming Harbaugh keeps staying, we'll have coaches poached.  I like his proven ability to identify talent among players AND among coaches.

I don't think the loss of Narduzzi can be understated enough. He seemed to bring a fire and intensity that his defense just fed off of and channeled into destroying their opponents. Without him, the defense doesn't look as good.

But that doesn't mean for a second that MSU is a team to be taken lightly. They've been underwhelming this year thus far, but they will play their best game of the year, thus far, against us when they come to town. I'd bet Dantonio has held back in the playbook specifically for this game. He and his team would trade their collective souls to ensure another win in this rivalry.

Don't care about what's transpired the past few weeks. This will be a close game. Dantonio's seething hatred of all things Michigan will keep his guys fired up and they'll come out guns blazing.