Alrighty, since we have months to go before the season starts, I might as well make my post-spring prediction for how the season will go. Of course, I will be updating these predictions once the info from the fall practices begins trickling out - especially the info on the performance of the freshmen running backs and on whether any key O-linemen were injured. But let's cross that bridge when we get to it.
I will start by confessing to being burned badly last year, perhaps worse than anyone else in Spartan nation. I predicted the Spartans would go 12-2 in 2012 and of course they ended up going 7-6. In my defense, the Spartan defense actually performed better than I expected, but the offense just turned out to be so remarkably futile. The Spartans would have won 10 or 11 games, if they could just have scored 3 more points per game. Ironically, it is this frustrating outcome that makes me optimistic about 2013.
I do think that MSU is largely going to be the same team as in 2013, but with a moderately better offense and special teams - that will score more than the 3 extra points per game required. First, I think the defense could be more talented, and certainly will have more depth than last year. The defensive coaching staff will be largely the same, with the exception of Ron Burton replacing Ted Gill as defensive line coach. So the only real concern I have on defense is that other teams could evolve to outmaneuver the MSU defense. But considering that the coaches are willing to do things like visit LSU to see how they do things on defense down there, I have confidence that the Spartan defense is capable of adapting and thus continuing their prowess.
On offense, I saw enough from Maxwell this Spring to believe he will excel this year. In fact, I was quite impressed with Maxwell's short range accuracy. He was really "threading the needle" on some of those passes. If he could just improve his long range accuracy a bit more and his running ability, I think Maxwell could become a star. The great thing for the Spartans is that Connor Cook is also playing pretty well. So the Spartans have good talent and depth at quarterback.
Of course, the quarterbacks are going to need the receivers to continue their improvement, and from what I saw, the receivers are making significant progress. Yes, they dropped some balls, but I wonder how much the cold weather was a factor. I can tell you that my hands feel like wooden spoons when the temperature drops below 50 degrees, and the temperature during the Spring game was much lower than that. More importantly, I think the key guys looked pretty good, overall.
Folks, the passing game will be better than last year and could even be quite explosive. The biggest remaining question mark is the tight end position. There is simply not much experience there, and consequently, I expect that position to struggle as much as the receivers did last year. I hope for a pleasant surprise there, come fall, but I wouldn't bet on it.
The running game also looks set to take a step back, BUT, not as far back as I once thought. I think that Bullough has all the tools to do well at running back, perhaps as well as Bell in his sophomore year. With Bullough softening the defenses and with the O-line gelling, I think the other three speed backs should turn out to be rather productive over the course of a whole season. Of course, the Spartans have 3 promising running backs arriving in the fall and I expect at least 2 of them to contribute quite a bit. Overall, I'm expecting the running game to be pretty good.
The passing and running game should benefit from the best O-line in the Dantonio era. The O-line will be very experienced and deep. If the Spartans can finally avoid injuries, this line could even become dominant as it gels. If they do suffer some injuries (no more than 3), they will have the depth to still be pretty good.
Finally, it appears that Michael Geiger is the real deal at kicker, hitting a 56 yarder in a recent Ohio high school all-star game.
Put all of these things together, along with a considerably easier schedule, and you have the makings of a great year. Last year I predicted the Spartans would go 12-2, and I think I was one year ahead of myself. I think this is the year they go 12-2. Note that this is a downgrade for me. I actually predicted, a while ago, that 2013 was Dantonio's best year to win a national championship. Actually, I would have stuck with that prediction, if Bell, Gholston, and Sims had stayed.
No comments:
Post a Comment