Thoughts on Indiana Game

OK, this game went down about how I expected, except that the offense looked more explosive than I anticipated, and while MSU dominated, they made just enough mistakes to keep this one too interesting for too long.

Defense

Another impressive performance against a really good offense. They would have dominated even more if not for some key mistakes: the long TD run by Coleman, the muffed punt by Kings, the personal foul on Waynes. We're lucky that Indiana's explosive offense didn't capitalize more on those mistakes, but the fact that Indiana's offense could not score more points even with all those mistakes is good evidence that this defense is outstanding, nay, historic.

As I said in my preview, elite defenses generally are able to shut down elite offenses. So I like where MSU's program is right now, relative to most other (perhaps all) Big 10 programs.

Offense

It's hard to say that we saw progress today because Indiana's defense is much worse than Iowa's. But for the first time in a long time it felt like MSU's offense is actually really good. The passing game is turning into a real strength, and the running game achieved exactly what I hoped they would.

The crazy thing is that the offense has not nearly approached their ceiling. Connor Cook just needs to improve his accuracy a little more, the receivers just need to catch the ball a little better, the o-line just needs to gel a little more, and the running backs need to have a little better vision. If they can continue to make even incremental progress, we could be talking about MSU's offense as the most explosive in the Big 10. I don't want to get ahead of myself here, because by next week we could easily be wondering if the offense peaked in this game. Nevertheless, there is good reason for us to be excited about the offense.

Special teams

Not the strength they were last week, but good overall. Kings' muffed punt led to 7 points for Indiana, but Sadler had a great day.

Coaches

They prepared the defense well for Indiana's fast-paced offense and they made good adjustments when it seemed Indiana had some momentum. I didn't see too many times where I disagreed with their calls -- perhaps only in the first quarter where they passed on 3 straight downs instead of running the ball. I suppose I could also complain a little about all the penalties this team is getting, especially for personal fouls. Otherwise, the coaches are now clearly on a roll.

Upshot

This team has now played very well two weeks in a row. If they can maintain this level of play, this team could easily fulfill my preseason prediction of 12-2, and maybe even better. Why are we so blessed?