Thoughts on CMU Game

Well, it went about as expected . . . well, maybe not. MSU was actually more dominant than I expected. Here are a few things that stood out to me:

- CMU is just not that good, right now. We'll see how they do against MAC opponents, but MSU was able to overwhelm them even with a relatively sloppy performance. 

- CMU's weakness makes it difficult to judge the performance of MSU, but at least CMU's weakness allowed the Spartans to experiment quite a bit. They were able to do a lot more passing and give LeVeon Bell more of a break. And they were able to play a lot of young guys. 

- Speaking of young guys, I guess MSU is concerned enough about the receivers that they were willing to burn the redshirts of Macgarrett Kings and Aaron Burbridge. I think that's a good move. These guys may not make an impact right away, but by the end of the season, they could be making significant contributions. 

- Maxwell obviously played pretty well, but CMU's defense didn't really test him.

- Bennie Fowler had a big game at receiver. I hope he's ready to play that way next week and the rest of the year. If Fowler has turned the corner of stardom, that would give MSU 4 very good weapons on offense: Fowler, Maxwell, Bell, and Dion Sims. It would be nice to see them add at least 2 more over the next few weeks; perhaps guys like Larry Caper and Tony Lippett. Imagine the firepower, if those guys can emerge as playmakers.

- Connor Cook looked pretty good as backup QB, except for the interception. He was pretty accurate with his throws and showed a strong arm. Nonetheless, we're definitely in trouble if Maxwell goes down this year. But by next year, MSU will have the QB depth to match the depth on the rest of the team.

- The defense pitched a shut-out, but once again the offense gave up 7 points. I know it was redshirt freshman QB Connor Cook throwing the pick-six, but I hope this is not some foreshadowing of what's to come in one of the key games of the season.

- Even MSU's backups were able to keep the shutout going. Honestly, that just speaks to the amazing recruiting being done by Dantonio and the coaches.

Final thought: MSU is on the verge, folks. If the offense can just get a few more pieces in place and if this team can clean up mistakes, we are looking at a team that could play in the national championship (but probably not win that game). It helps that Michigan and Wisconsin look weaker than expected, though Ohio State and Nebraska look a little stronger. Fortunately, the Spartans get the latter two at home. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.  Next week's game against Notre Dame will tell us a whole lot more about who these Spartans are.