Yes, the Spartans have a lot of holes in talent, but the disappointing results this season are still mostly about poor coaching.
The QBs and the O-line are average to below average, but we saw today that this offense can score points with the talent they have. Even Alabama takes a few long shots down the field, and at long last, MSU took a few shots down the field and it greatly paid off. I guess we can at least take some comfort in the fact that the OC seems to have learned some lessons. At this point, the OC might as well just open up the playbook and work his butt off every week to add wrinkles. This offense can and better score points the rest of season. There is no excuse.
The tragedy was seeing that this week it was the defensive coaching staff's turn to show an incredible inability to adapt. The inability to adapt was most clear when Northwestern's best receiver scored a ridiculously easy touchdown to put the game away. Matt Millen saw the danger before the play unfolded, I saw it, everybody saw it. And yet the defensive coaches who get paid the big bucks didn't see it. I don't know how that can happen. Is it stubbornness? I don't know...It just doesn't make sense.
The amazing thing is that this team is actually moving backwards on the fundamentals. How can the tackling be so poor for a Dantonio defense at this point in the season? How can the special teams be so out of position, multiple weeks. The bottom line is that while the talent is not championship level, the talent is simply not as bad as the results being produced. Coaching is the main problem this season.
Saturday, October 15, 2016
Monday, October 10, 2016
A list of mistakes that may explain the rough season
I wanted to put together a short list of problems that I think have produced this extremely disappointing season.
First, I hate to call out specific coaches because you hate to see people's jobs in jeopardy, but people get paid big bucks for this and if MSU wants to build a winning program, these are things that need to be considered. The bottom line is that the offensive coordinator is simply blowing it in a lot of ways. He is not showing the ability to adapt to the talent at his disposal nor to adapt to the defenses MSU faces. I'm not a big fan of Lane Kiffin's personality, but he is a good model of what an OC should be. He has taken a true freshman quarterback and put him in a position to make plays. He even takes more risks with long bombs down the field with this freshman. Every offense needs to do that at least 3 times a game. He also found and exploited the weaknesses in the armor of the MSU defense last year. I thought MSU would be able to shut them down, but Kiffin first exploited MSU's weaknesses and then returned to the strengths of the Alabama offense to finish the game. It was brilliant. MSU's OC doesn't come close to doing these things. If things don't improve quickly, MSU must look for an OC that can adapt to circumstances.
Another self-inflicted wound comes in the form of receiver recruiting. MSU should have learned in 2012 that it needs veteran receivers to run its offense. Yet here we are again with young receivers that run the wrong routes and drop too many passes. I saw this coming 2 years ago and I couldn't believe that the coaches were making the same mistake. Admittedly, I allowed myself to overlook this weakness because of the talent of the freshman class. But let this be a lesson for the remainder of the Dantonio era: MSU does not win with young receivers. MSU better hope that this dictum does not extend to tight ends or next year could be another disaster.
The final self-inflicted wound I'll mention here is that future starting QBs have to get more reps in the middle of real games. TOC is a fifth year senior and somehow has less real game experience than many redshirt sophomore QBs in college football. That is simply inexcusable, especially since this coaching staff already went through this once, with Maxwell.
The fact that this coaching staff made the same mistakes twice (failing to recruit wide receivers and give young QBs more real game experience) shows that this coaching staff doesn't learn from its mistakes very well. And, going forward, that may be the most worrisome thing about this program.
First, I hate to call out specific coaches because you hate to see people's jobs in jeopardy, but people get paid big bucks for this and if MSU wants to build a winning program, these are things that need to be considered. The bottom line is that the offensive coordinator is simply blowing it in a lot of ways. He is not showing the ability to adapt to the talent at his disposal nor to adapt to the defenses MSU faces. I'm not a big fan of Lane Kiffin's personality, but he is a good model of what an OC should be. He has taken a true freshman quarterback and put him in a position to make plays. He even takes more risks with long bombs down the field with this freshman. Every offense needs to do that at least 3 times a game. He also found and exploited the weaknesses in the armor of the MSU defense last year. I thought MSU would be able to shut them down, but Kiffin first exploited MSU's weaknesses and then returned to the strengths of the Alabama offense to finish the game. It was brilliant. MSU's OC doesn't come close to doing these things. If things don't improve quickly, MSU must look for an OC that can adapt to circumstances.
Another self-inflicted wound comes in the form of receiver recruiting. MSU should have learned in 2012 that it needs veteran receivers to run its offense. Yet here we are again with young receivers that run the wrong routes and drop too many passes. I saw this coming 2 years ago and I couldn't believe that the coaches were making the same mistake. Admittedly, I allowed myself to overlook this weakness because of the talent of the freshman class. But let this be a lesson for the remainder of the Dantonio era: MSU does not win with young receivers. MSU better hope that this dictum does not extend to tight ends or next year could be another disaster.
The final self-inflicted wound I'll mention here is that future starting QBs have to get more reps in the middle of real games. TOC is a fifth year senior and somehow has less real game experience than many redshirt sophomore QBs in college football. That is simply inexcusable, especially since this coaching staff already went through this once, with Maxwell.
The fact that this coaching staff made the same mistakes twice (failing to recruit wide receivers and give young QBs more real game experience) shows that this coaching staff doesn't learn from its mistakes very well. And, going forward, that may be the most worrisome thing about this program.
Saturday, October 8, 2016
Thoughts on BYU Game
OK, this season is over. BYU is not a great team but they dominated
on both sides of the ball. MSU is now getting regularly dominated on
both sides. I don't know how it came to this and I don't know how MSU
recovers, even next year. What may disappoint me most about it is that I
did not see this coming at all. I cannot believe how blind I was to all
the holes on this team.
The biggest hole has to be the offensive play calling. It's predictable and lacking in any creativity. Why does this team have so much talent at receiver and tight end if you're not going to pass the ball? Why not let the quarterbacks run at least as often as BYU's QB runs? Why not get the ball to Shelton more often? He's the best playmaker on offense. This program needs to start cutting it loose. It just doesn't have the horses to do "pound green pound" this year. Let's make this easy. Why not just steal half of BYU's plays? Ironically, BYU is better at pound green pound than MSU. But they were also (like every other team MSU has played) able to run to the outside on MSU, while MSU did not (could not?) run to the outside on BYU. MSU has the players to do it, but the fact they don't suggests they can't think outside the "pound green pound" box. Let Shelton play running back some.
MSU's conservatism is hurting it's quarterbacks. I don't think I've seen this many timid QBs on one team at one time. These quaterbacks are so timid, they are waiting far too long for guys to get open. And that's giving defenders plenty of time to recover and make interceptions. That's what happened on Terry' interception. These guys need to start playing with more confidence and anticipate better when guys will be open. They also need to get better at throwing guys open. It's one thing to "manage" the game and protect the ball, it's another thing to scare your QBs into complete ineffectiveness.
I don't think O'Connor had a bad game, but he certainly didn't have the type of game that could help a struggling offense get going. The play calling hurt him, but I think Terry showed that his legs can help this offense a little more. I did not realize he was as fast as he is. With a few starts and some confidence, Terry's wheels could turn into something by the end of the season, and could turn into something big by next season.
On defense, teams are adjusting to McDowell's "leap to the outside." BYU ran several times up the spot he vacated. That move is effective sometimes, but it may be costing MSU some gap integrity.
Brandon Clemons needs to stay on defense. He was immediately more effective than all the other d-tackles, except McDowell.
Overall, the players are having issues with execution, but when MSU gets dominated this badly, week after week, you have to lay it on the coaching. MSU simply looks outclassed on both sides of the ball. I have never seen players look this confused or overmatched. Even Toledo put up a much better fight against BYU last week. So this is not a talent issue. Most of the blame has to lie with the coaches.
The biggest hole has to be the offensive play calling. It's predictable and lacking in any creativity. Why does this team have so much talent at receiver and tight end if you're not going to pass the ball? Why not let the quarterbacks run at least as often as BYU's QB runs? Why not get the ball to Shelton more often? He's the best playmaker on offense. This program needs to start cutting it loose. It just doesn't have the horses to do "pound green pound" this year. Let's make this easy. Why not just steal half of BYU's plays? Ironically, BYU is better at pound green pound than MSU. But they were also (like every other team MSU has played) able to run to the outside on MSU, while MSU did not (could not?) run to the outside on BYU. MSU has the players to do it, but the fact they don't suggests they can't think outside the "pound green pound" box. Let Shelton play running back some.
MSU's conservatism is hurting it's quarterbacks. I don't think I've seen this many timid QBs on one team at one time. These quaterbacks are so timid, they are waiting far too long for guys to get open. And that's giving defenders plenty of time to recover and make interceptions. That's what happened on Terry' interception. These guys need to start playing with more confidence and anticipate better when guys will be open. They also need to get better at throwing guys open. It's one thing to "manage" the game and protect the ball, it's another thing to scare your QBs into complete ineffectiveness.
I don't think O'Connor had a bad game, but he certainly didn't have the type of game that could help a struggling offense get going. The play calling hurt him, but I think Terry showed that his legs can help this offense a little more. I did not realize he was as fast as he is. With a few starts and some confidence, Terry's wheels could turn into something by the end of the season, and could turn into something big by next season.
On defense, teams are adjusting to McDowell's "leap to the outside." BYU ran several times up the spot he vacated. That move is effective sometimes, but it may be costing MSU some gap integrity.
Brandon Clemons needs to stay on defense. He was immediately more effective than all the other d-tackles, except McDowell.
Overall, the players are having issues with execution, but when MSU gets dominated this badly, week after week, you have to lay it on the coaching. MSU simply looks outclassed on both sides of the ball. I have never seen players look this confused or overmatched. Even Toledo put up a much better fight against BYU last week. So this is not a talent issue. Most of the blame has to lie with the coaches.
Saturday, October 1, 2016
Thoughts on Indiana Game
MSU seems to need to evolve, at this point. It's as if the program
has become satisfied. The coaching was atrocious. Guys looked confused
at critical points in the game, especially the overtime period. That's
unacceptable.
There's too much reliance on the power backs for offense, and that's making them too predictable, especially because the passing game is just not there to balance this offense. Teams can run to the outside on MSU, but MSU cannot run to the outside, unless they run Shelton on the jet sweeps. At the very least, they should run Holmes more often. He has the best vision and is the most decisive back. I just think he's more effective than Scott and London. I can't be the only one that sees that.
Tyler O'Connor is just not consistent enough. He made some great throws, and he was victimized by some key drops. But he misses some easy throws that stall the offense too often.
The receivers are unfortunately young. But we all should have seen that coming. Too many recruiting classes where the coaches brought in too few receivers. They had a nice class last year, but they were too thin the years prior.
Too many penalties and mistakes, especially by the seniors. Maybe they need to have a players meeting or something.
The season is just about lost.
There's too much reliance on the power backs for offense, and that's making them too predictable, especially because the passing game is just not there to balance this offense. Teams can run to the outside on MSU, but MSU cannot run to the outside, unless they run Shelton on the jet sweeps. At the very least, they should run Holmes more often. He has the best vision and is the most decisive back. I just think he's more effective than Scott and London. I can't be the only one that sees that.
Tyler O'Connor is just not consistent enough. He made some great throws, and he was victimized by some key drops. But he misses some easy throws that stall the offense too often.
The receivers are unfortunately young. But we all should have seen that coming. Too many recruiting classes where the coaches brought in too few receivers. They had a nice class last year, but they were too thin the years prior.
Too many penalties and mistakes, especially by the seniors. Maybe they need to have a players meeting or something.
The season is just about lost.
Saturday, September 24, 2016
Thoughts on Wisconsin Game
I didn't think it was possible after the game against Notre Dame, but a big difference in this game was coaching. MSU looked well-coached, prepared, and creative for Notre Dame, but in this game it looks like the Wisconsin coaches came in better prepared. Paul Chryst was apparently calling the plays and he was simply excellent. Granted, their QB also showed some incredible accuracy. He was putting throws on the money. MSU was just not creative like they were against ND. On defense, Wisconsin was complex and aggressive. MSU was too soft.
Of course, the job of the MSU coaches was made much more difficult by the struggles of O'Connor. He was just too late and inaccurate on many throws. He does not look beyond the first read. And he doesn't have the arm strength and accuracy for the long passes. On the second interception he should have been able to spot a wide open Corely for a touchdown. That play in particular made me really question O'Connor's ability to lead this team to much success. I think the coaches will need to think hard about replacing him. He's a good kid, and it's always painful to see good kids struggle, but I just don't think he has what it takes to beat good defenses.
If O'Connor is the best QB on the team, then the coaches may have to let him loose. I think his struggles are partially connected to his excessive caution. He doesn't want to make mistakes, but that's causing him to throw late and lock onto receivers. So the coaches may need to let him become a gunslinger and they'll just have to live with the interceptions.
They also need to let the backup QBs play. This game was over by the fourth quarter, and the coaches should have immediately let Terry or Lewerke play. I don't know why O'Connor was still in there with less than 5 minutes to go. I do think that MSU has hurt the development of their younger QBs by not giving them more snaps in real games. I thought the coaches learned that lesson with Maxwell, but I guess they're getting another chance to learn that lesson again this year, and likely next year.
O'Connor was also not helped by the fact that the O-line also looked like a shell of itself in the ND game. Hopefully, Wisconsin didn't just show the world how to beat this O-line. Hopefully the performance against ND was not a fluke.
There is still time to turn things around, but MSU may need to do what Wisconsin just did: replace a senior QB with a redshirt freshmen QB.
Of course, the job of the MSU coaches was made much more difficult by the struggles of O'Connor. He was just too late and inaccurate on many throws. He does not look beyond the first read. And he doesn't have the arm strength and accuracy for the long passes. On the second interception he should have been able to spot a wide open Corely for a touchdown. That play in particular made me really question O'Connor's ability to lead this team to much success. I think the coaches will need to think hard about replacing him. He's a good kid, and it's always painful to see good kids struggle, but I just don't think he has what it takes to beat good defenses.
If O'Connor is the best QB on the team, then the coaches may have to let him loose. I think his struggles are partially connected to his excessive caution. He doesn't want to make mistakes, but that's causing him to throw late and lock onto receivers. So the coaches may need to let him become a gunslinger and they'll just have to live with the interceptions.
They also need to let the backup QBs play. This game was over by the fourth quarter, and the coaches should have immediately let Terry or Lewerke play. I don't know why O'Connor was still in there with less than 5 minutes to go. I do think that MSU has hurt the development of their younger QBs by not giving them more snaps in real games. I thought the coaches learned that lesson with Maxwell, but I guess they're getting another chance to learn that lesson again this year, and likely next year.
O'Connor was also not helped by the fact that the O-line also looked like a shell of itself in the ND game. Hopefully, Wisconsin didn't just show the world how to beat this O-line. Hopefully the performance against ND was not a fluke.
There is still time to turn things around, but MSU may need to do what Wisconsin just did: replace a senior QB with a redshirt freshmen QB.
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Thoughts on Notre Dame Game
OK, so apart from the coaches taking the foot of the gas too early, again, I thought this was a program win. I really expected MSU to struggle in this one, because MSU usually struggles against Notre Dame's elite talent (especially on the D line) and because Brian Kelly seems to pull out all the clever stops against MSU. But MSU showed some new things this year that are really encouraging.
First, the coaches showed that they were mostly prepared for this game. They had a great offensive and defensive plan for three quarters of the game. I was impressed with the creativity and relative soundness of the play calling most of the game. I am always so impressed by their ability to succeed by sticking to MSU's identity of "pound, green, pound!"
Second, the O line finally matched up well against Notre Dame's elite front 7. Actually, you could say that the MSU O line looked dominant. That really is something new to me. I have never seen MSU's O line bully Notre Dame's front seven. But that what happened much of this game. Kind of like when MSU bullied OSU in the trenches last year. I said before that this O line could end up being better than last year's O line, and that would make it the best O line in the Dantonio era.
Third, the D line is definitely not as good as last year's, but at least it showed me this game that it can be pretty good. McDowell and Cooper are stars, and the other guys showed some improvement. They played pretty well against Notre Dame's very good O line. That's encouraging. Hopefully they'll continue to improve to the point where they're better than last year's D line. With McDowell and Cooper leading this group, I think that's still possible.
Fourth, Gerald Holmes is a very good running back. He may not be as physically gifted as the other backs, but he shows more awareness and toughness. And he actually showed better speed than I expected and he always shows good lateral quickness.
Fifth, I thought the wide receivers would be a liability this year, but this group could turn out to be the best in the B1G this year. Corely, Shelton, and Madaris are good. Real good. Shelton is clearly the answer to MSU's problems running outside the tackles. He is fast and tough. I think the coaches should let him run the ball a few times a game from the running back position. Particularly the runs to the outside.
Overall, the results of this game strongly suggest MSU is a contender for the B1G title and perhaps for a playoff spot. The "back to back" theme is in play.
First, the coaches showed that they were mostly prepared for this game. They had a great offensive and defensive plan for three quarters of the game. I was impressed with the creativity and relative soundness of the play calling most of the game. I am always so impressed by their ability to succeed by sticking to MSU's identity of "pound, green, pound!"
Second, the O line finally matched up well against Notre Dame's elite front 7. Actually, you could say that the MSU O line looked dominant. That really is something new to me. I have never seen MSU's O line bully Notre Dame's front seven. But that what happened much of this game. Kind of like when MSU bullied OSU in the trenches last year. I said before that this O line could end up being better than last year's O line, and that would make it the best O line in the Dantonio era.
Third, the D line is definitely not as good as last year's, but at least it showed me this game that it can be pretty good. McDowell and Cooper are stars, and the other guys showed some improvement. They played pretty well against Notre Dame's very good O line. That's encouraging. Hopefully they'll continue to improve to the point where they're better than last year's D line. With McDowell and Cooper leading this group, I think that's still possible.
Fourth, Gerald Holmes is a very good running back. He may not be as physically gifted as the other backs, but he shows more awareness and toughness. And he actually showed better speed than I expected and he always shows good lateral quickness.
Fifth, I thought the wide receivers would be a liability this year, but this group could turn out to be the best in the B1G this year. Corely, Shelton, and Madaris are good. Real good. Shelton is clearly the answer to MSU's problems running outside the tackles. He is fast and tough. I think the coaches should let him run the ball a few times a game from the running back position. Particularly the runs to the outside.
Overall, the results of this game strongly suggest MSU is a contender for the B1G title and perhaps for a playoff spot. The "back to back" theme is in play.
Friday, September 2, 2016
Thoughts on Furman Game: Optimism Down a Notch
Well, the game started out as I hoped. On the first offensive and defensive drives MSU looked set to do whatever it wanted on both sides of the ball. But then mediocrity set in.
Observations
The coaches need to take some blame. The defense looked sloppy. The players seemed confused too often, as if play calls were coming in late or as if they had no clue what they were supposed to do. The defense also lined up poorly on several plays, including the touchdown they gave up. On offense they ran the ball too much. Furman is the kind of team against which they should be practicing a balanced attack. This is the kind game in which you let your quarterback find his legs. If they can't establish a balanced attack against Furman, they won't do so against Notre Dame. And if they don't have a balanced attack, they won't win any of the big games this season.
The receivers looked good. Madaris and Davis looked like they should have good years. Shelton looked good too, the few times he touched the ball. Hope there are no injuries (let's pray Shelton and Davis are not out long) because the freshmen looked like freshmen. Stewart and Corley look super talented, but they are a year away from being stars.
The running backs looked pretty good, but not outstanding (compared to Bell and Langford). They look to run to the outside too often and they just don't have the speed to do that consistently. That approach will fail against more athletic defenses like Notre Dame's (and like Alabama's last year). I think the coaches think the running backs are dominant, because they used them too often. They're good, but they're not Bell or Langford, yet.
The linebackers were not as dominant as I was expecting. Chris Frey is the best linebacker out there. He's everywhere and should be considered a starter, not an OR player. He's a star. Riley Bullough went the wrong way a few times and didn't show the consistent aggression I was hoping to see.
O'Connor had a decent game. He made some great throws and some decent runs. But he definitely struggles when when plays go off script. And he has to stop staring receivers down. Furman took advantage of that, and more athletic secondaries will take even greater advantage of that. This is one skill that Connor Cook seemed to have been taught well, by his quarterback guru. Either future MSU quarterbacks need to go to that same guru or the MSU quarterbacks coaches needs to focus on that skill more intensively.
The O-line has a ways to go. They didn't look terrible, but this was Furman. I was hoping to see them dominate. They had trouble opening holes, but they did protect O'Connor pretty well. Notre Dame will be the true test of where this line stands.
The D-line was disappointing. McDowell looked great and he looks like he's committed to having a big year, but the rest of the line didn't seem to do much. Furman ran the ball way too well. If they don't improve a lot in the next 2 weeks, they could get dominated by Notre Dame's O-line. Maybe they'll have to let Lyle's have a few snaps on the D-line.
The secondary held it's own. Hicks was the most tested defensive back and he played pretty well. Needs to learn to look back for the ball, but otherwise, he can keep up with speedy receivers and sticks to them pretty well.
The game was sloppy. There is a lot to clean up. The penalties and turnovers have to be addressed. The kickers need to be better than they were last year. Guess we'll see how much progress they can make in 2 weeks.
I still have high hopes for this team, but the scales have fallen from my eyes on a couple of things. I am particularly more disappointed in the D-line and the linebackers than I had hoped to be after the first game. On the other hand, I am actually more hopeful about the receivers (if the injuries are not serious). Lots can change over the course of a season, so let's see what unfolds.
Observations
The coaches need to take some blame. The defense looked sloppy. The players seemed confused too often, as if play calls were coming in late or as if they had no clue what they were supposed to do. The defense also lined up poorly on several plays, including the touchdown they gave up. On offense they ran the ball too much. Furman is the kind of team against which they should be practicing a balanced attack. This is the kind game in which you let your quarterback find his legs. If they can't establish a balanced attack against Furman, they won't do so against Notre Dame. And if they don't have a balanced attack, they won't win any of the big games this season.
The receivers looked good. Madaris and Davis looked like they should have good years. Shelton looked good too, the few times he touched the ball. Hope there are no injuries (let's pray Shelton and Davis are not out long) because the freshmen looked like freshmen. Stewart and Corley look super talented, but they are a year away from being stars.
The running backs looked pretty good, but not outstanding (compared to Bell and Langford). They look to run to the outside too often and they just don't have the speed to do that consistently. That approach will fail against more athletic defenses like Notre Dame's (and like Alabama's last year). I think the coaches think the running backs are dominant, because they used them too often. They're good, but they're not Bell or Langford, yet.
The linebackers were not as dominant as I was expecting. Chris Frey is the best linebacker out there. He's everywhere and should be considered a starter, not an OR player. He's a star. Riley Bullough went the wrong way a few times and didn't show the consistent aggression I was hoping to see.
O'Connor had a decent game. He made some great throws and some decent runs. But he definitely struggles when when plays go off script. And he has to stop staring receivers down. Furman took advantage of that, and more athletic secondaries will take even greater advantage of that. This is one skill that Connor Cook seemed to have been taught well, by his quarterback guru. Either future MSU quarterbacks need to go to that same guru or the MSU quarterbacks coaches needs to focus on that skill more intensively.
The O-line has a ways to go. They didn't look terrible, but this was Furman. I was hoping to see them dominate. They had trouble opening holes, but they did protect O'Connor pretty well. Notre Dame will be the true test of where this line stands.
The D-line was disappointing. McDowell looked great and he looks like he's committed to having a big year, but the rest of the line didn't seem to do much. Furman ran the ball way too well. If they don't improve a lot in the next 2 weeks, they could get dominated by Notre Dame's O-line. Maybe they'll have to let Lyle's have a few snaps on the D-line.
The secondary held it's own. Hicks was the most tested defensive back and he played pretty well. Needs to learn to look back for the ball, but otherwise, he can keep up with speedy receivers and sticks to them pretty well.
The game was sloppy. There is a lot to clean up. The penalties and turnovers have to be addressed. The kickers need to be better than they were last year. Guess we'll see how much progress they can make in 2 weeks.
I still have high hopes for this team, but the scales have fallen from my eyes on a couple of things. I am particularly more disappointed in the D-line and the linebackers than I had hoped to be after the first game. On the other hand, I am actually more hopeful about the receivers (if the injuries are not serious). Lots can change over the course of a season, so let's see what unfolds.
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