Location: East Lansing
Weather: Part Sun 62/41
TV: ABC
Line: Michigan +17
This is one of the most depressing lines I have seen in a long time. This is a rivalry game and Michigan getting 3 scores makes me sick. This is the second year in a row the Wolverines have had to travel to East Lansing, Thank you Big Ten. I'm on record a 100 times, saying this never should have happened and the game should have been played at Ford Field.
State is the current Big Ten Champion and have very little weakness as their offense is efficient and their defense is strong. Michigan plays a decent defense and struggles on offense. The Wolverines don't play well on the road, even against weaker opponents, State is not a weaker opponent.
Tale of The Tape
State does most things well vs. Michigan doesn't = Sparty
I think the question on your mind is: Can Michigan upset MSU this weekend? Anything is possible but I wouldn't bet on it. If Michigan played great defense and created turnovers/points on the defense, they could have a fighting chance. I don't see Michigan offense creating to many points on offense with a long field. Throw in a special teams TD for Michigan and there is a shot. Other then that, this game could get ugly and ND like. If Gardner is not healthy then Michigan is in real trouble of a big blow out.
Another question that might be on your mind is: If we lose big, do we win long term? I really don't see Brady being able to save his job this year no matter what happens the rest of the year, but there are some people that think he could stick with a couple good wins and a bowl game. An embarrassing loss this weekend, would probably put the final nail in his coffin for removable after the OSU game.
The way Michigan plays on the road and the way MSU plays everywhere, makes this a terrible match-up for the Wolverines. Unless Michigan found a "magic genie" during the bye week, this could get ugly early.
It's never fun to get blown out by a rival but this one we might just have to take as an investment for change.
MSU 38 Michigan 9
6 comments:
Added to this post from below: I think we can all agree that ultimately the struggles of the football team fall on Hoke. I will never understand the headset situation. Especially with his seat as hot as it is. The scary thing is that he does it to give complete control and trust to his coordinators. He has regular meetings with them all week to construct and build their game plan but ultimately when the game is being played out the coordinators make the calls. He has someone behind him feeding him the plays and he can over rule when needed. But not having communication with the box on things they are seeing doesn't make sense. ie Morris concussion. SO I guess my point is that it sucks that Michigan is losing, and it is easy to place the blame on Hoke and rightfully so, but the far scarier situation is that all of that control is in the hands of the coordinators. At first glance this is a good thing as both coordinators have won national championships. So the question is how are these great coordinators, along with Hoke failing with 4 and 5 star recruits. To me it is a mystery. Just don't understand. I think its going to be a long Saturday. Hope I am wrong!
I will not be watching this one...
I'll DVR the game in hopes that they win and can rewatch it as many times as I want. But, I'll probably end up deleting it and drown my sorrows watching the "highlights" on ESPN.
Common sense says that msu will and should win this game handily. However, this is a game that I wouldn't bet on if I couldn't afford to lose. We know that each game is important but this one is a potential career defining game for Hoke and company. If Michigan loses this game and they're dominated, I would say that it seals the deal for the end of coach Hoke’s stay at Michigan and it breaks the spirits of the team.
This is the game that Michigan has to win to regain self-respect, to save the season, to save jobs, to keep potential recruits interested, and to keep the fan base intact. Not the Indiana game but "this" game. If Michigan loses "this" game, they lose more than a game and it will take a lot more to regain it back. You don’t normally put so much on one game but this is a rivalry game that teams and fans point to and msu has recently dominated. It’s a gut check game and that is why msu plays with so much hostility against Michigan each year. Most guys are taught by their parents that if a bully hits you, hit them back. For years Michigan had been the bully and msu tried so hard to hit back. However, now msu is the bully and Michigan has got to stand up in “this” game and hit back or else winning out even against osu won’t have the same luster or give this team their self-respect.
I think playing this game in East Lansing is perfect for this game because the players will have just each other and in order to win they will have to depend and support one another in an unusually hostile environment. In this game we will see who deserves a jock strap and who deserves a feminine pad.
This team (IMO) has more talent than msu but they don't play that way, which reflects on the coaching. Somehow during the past two weeks they will have had to find a means of getting themselves together mentally and emotionally or people may be planning to move out when the seasons done. IMHO!!!
Because of what’s at stake …predicting a Michigan win here!!!
They have two weeks to prepare for this game… and they are expected to lose…big, so why not play without a care? Let’s see some new stuff and a “throwing caution to the wind” mentality with the play calling.
What I’d like To See:
Offense: The standard play calling might lead to 150 yards for the entire game. If they are really focused on establishing the run, I don’t think they’ll hit 100 combined yards for the game. I think they need creative play calling. The running game is only good to establish play action…which should be a heavy part of their play calling. They need to overload a side and zone when they pass. Gardner cannot force the ball. He needs to play smart…if he feels pressure and or nobody is open/it would be a low percentage pass, he needs to throw it away or run. He also needs to target the secondary WRs and Butt because they are going to be focused on taking away Funchess.
Defense: There is no reason to sit back in this game. The defense needs to be very aggressive. They need to play borderline dirty. If they are within an arm’s reach of Cook within a second of him having the ball, they need to knock him down. They need to beat him up because we all know MSU is going to beat up Gardner.
Special Teams & General: Norfleet has to make some big plays. His highlight cannot be dancing. They cannot make it easy for Michigan State by turning the ball over and or giving them free yards through penalties, but that is a given regardless of the opponent.
What will more than likely happen:
Michigan State senses there is blood in the water, this is their Super Bowl (#1 rival game for them), and they will not hold back. Michigan will play prevent D, not get any rush and the Michigan secondary will get carved up. On D, MSU will easily get pressure and rattle Gardner and stop the running game early and often. I don’t see Michigan moving the ball without getting very creative…which is something I don’t see. Special Teams has been a non-factor all season, and I don’t expect it to do anything special tomorrow. In terms of coaching it is pretty straight forward…Hoke hasn’t won the road against a Top 25 team and I don’t see it happening tomorrow.
Expected final score: MSU 37-MICH 6…it sucks, but I try to keep it real. I haven’t seen anything this season or during Hoke’s tenure for me to think this is going to be a competitive game. I watched all of the ND game. I tracked down and watched the rest of the Utah game. I watched all of the Minnesota game. This game might be the first Michigan game I have ever turned off if it plays out as expected.
I think the most honorable thing that Coach Hoke can do is to resign and not wait to get fired. I believe that he's lost the team, and that they no longer have confidence in him or the coaches on the offensive side of the ball.
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