Thoughts on the Game

Well, the Spartans won, but it's hard to feel really good about this victory.  The Spartans were supposed to dominate this one, but they just could not put YSU away until the last minutes of the fourth quarters.  Overall, this was a sloppy performance.  And if YSU could have avoided some mistakes of its own, the game could have been a lot closer.
       Now, it's not time to panic.  This was the first game of the season against what was supposed to be a very weak team.  It's hard not to get overconfident in games like this--heck, I could feel the overconfidence flowing through my own body.  A bigger factor for the MSU's poor showing, however, is probably the fact that they were trying to win with a limited playbook.  You don't want to show all your tricks against a weak team because it makes it easier for a good team (like Notre Dame in 2 weeks) to scout and prepare for you. A final important factor that I'll mention is the death of Mark Dantonio's father.  That kind of loss would affect anyone's performance.  Coaches are human.
       On to more specific observations:
- Few guys played as well as they're capable of playing.  B.J. Cunningham was tremendous.  He needed 10 receptions to break the all time reception record at MSU and he ended up catching 9 (for 130 yards).  I figured he wouldn't break the record until about the third game of the season.  He should easily break it next week and he looks like he is going to have a huge year.
- Another guy that played really well was cornerback Darqueze Dennard.  He was all over the field making great tackles and breaking up passes.  He's only a sophomore and so he looks like he's going to be a star.
- Max Bullough played well at linebacker.  He made 15 tackles and seemed to always be near the action.  There were a few times where I found myself wishing he had more speed, but overall, I think he should be an adequate replacement for Greg Jones.
- I thought the offensive line looked problematic.  They had some penalties called against them and they had trouble opening running lanes for the running backs.  Cousins also seemed to get pressured quite a bit.  I had hoped that they would at least look dominant against YSU, but that has me worried for the rest of the season.  This group will have to grow up quickly, or the Spartans will be lucky to go 8-4.
- The whole team was kind of sloppy.  The offensive line killed drives with mistakes and the defense extended YSU drives with mistakes.
- The defense did not look impressive.  The linebackers were OK, but the defensive backs had to make too many tackles.  The defensive line didn't look as dominant as I had hoped.  Worthy looked like a first rounder during some plays, but he disappeared for much of the game.  Gholston almost looked like a freshman out there.  The defensive line is going to need to grow up quickly, if MSU is going to have any chance against teams like Wisconsin.
- Finally, Kirk Cousins looked great at times, but there were times when I was thinking, "oh man, he doesn't look much better than last year."  He played well last year, but for MSU to get through their horrible schedule this year, Cousins is going to have to become a superstar.