Thoughts on Iowa Game

Little late on this cuz I just finished watching it on DVR, but now I'm eating the most delicious crow I've ever tasted.

The Spartans definitely got off to a slow start: Kings dropped an easy pass, they turned the ball over on 4rth down, missed a field goal, bad penalties, and the defense gave up some huge plays in the first half. But the Spartans still did some good things in the first half, and they dominated in the second half. The defense was dominant, the offense looked good, and the special teams was a strength.

Defense

Dominant as usual. They did break down late in the first half, perhaps in part because of the collision between Dennard and Lewis and because they struggled to adjust to Iowa's hurry-up offense. Whatever their issues were, they figured them out in the second half. Iowa's offense could do almost nothing in the second half. The only concerns I have on offense this year are that some juniors might leave early for the NFL at the end of the season.

Offense

This is not Oregon's offense, but it looks like MSU may finally have an offense competent enough to let the defense win games. If the MSU offense can play at least like this the rest of the year, then the Spartans will win their division. All they need are 2 touchdowns and 2 field goals per game.

Connor Cook did not look like a Heisman candidate, but he was plenty good enough. If he could continue to make good progress on his accuracy and consistency, he could be become a Heisman candidate by his senior year. He has so many of the tools in place. But let's not get ahead ourselves. For now, I'm delighted that he's more than adequate.

The running backs struggled a bit, as expected, against a tough Iowa defense. But Langford still looks solid and I liked what I saw from Delton Williams.

The receivers are slowly looking like a strength, rather than a liability. Kings is looking like K-Mart, but actually better at the same year in the program. Burbridge showed some progress and Fowler is looking more consistent. The tight ends still have to emerge.

Apart from some penalties, the offensive line looked good against a solid Iowa defensive line. This really is the best o-line in the Dantonio era. These guys should dominate the rest of the season.

Special Teams

This unit was a strength this week, with Geiger hitting 4 filed goals and Kings making some decent returns. Sadler also had a great fake punt and they didn't let Iowa break any big returns.

What a difference a competent special teams unit makes.

Coaching

I've been critical of the coaching staff this year because I now believe MSU has a more talented team than any team MSU has faced so far. So when MSU struggles, my instinct is to blame the coaches. Well, this week, I do think they were able to get the necessary production out of their talented team. I didn't really see any play calls I disagreed with and they generally put their players in good situations. I hope things stay this way the rest of the season.

I also should give the coaches credit for recruiting and developing such talented players. Seriously, MSU's team looked more talented to me than Notre Dame.

Upshot

This was one of the biggest victories in the last few years. MSU just beat (dominated, really) a team that many people saw as on the rise. And MSU beat them at home. This game also revealed that MSU has what it takes to win the Legends division. They certainly have the talent, now they need the coaches to properly utilize that talent. If MSU can play like this the rest of the season, they could even play in a BCS bowl. Suddenly, my prediction of 12 - 2 is starting to look reasonable.