I don't want to get too excited. After all, MSU was playing a severely over-matched team. But then again, MSU always plays over-matched teams to start the season. And for the life of me, I cannot recall a start to the season like this one. OK, you could argue that last year's defense started faster. They put on a dominating performance against Western Michigan. But the defense looked pretty dominant today, and contrary to last year, so did the offense. Man does the offense look loaded.
Thoughts on the Offense
Cook looked like a top 5 NFL draft pick. He showed intelligence, a strong arm, accuracy, creativity, mobility...We'll see how he looks against better defenses, but if this keeps up, we're talking Heisman. No question about it. Holy cow! O'Connor and Terry are clearly behind Cook, and they had me thinking the season would have collapsed if Cook's knee had collapsed. But they also picked it up after slow starts. Both made some nice throws and showed some wheels.
The next thing that impressed me about the offense was the quality of the receivers. Maybe Jacksonville's secondary has a way of making receivers look great, but man did the receivers look good. Lippett will be drafted in the first 3 rounds of the NFL draft. Troup looks like he also will be in a couple of years. Burbridge clearly possesses elite athleticism, though he needs to show up more as a receiver. As for tight ends, Price seems to be picking up where he left off. But I'd like to see the tight ends will show up a little more next week and throughout the season.
The running game looked good, as usual; but the way it looked good was unusual. Nick Hill looked explosive, while Langford didn't get the chance to do what he usually does in the second half. The other running backs didn't get a chance to do much, but I was impressed with Gerald Holmes. He is much quicker and faster than I remember.
The backup running backs also had to run behind a less experienced o-line. The coaches decided to give some of the younger o-linemen a chance to play, and Brian Allen, for example, clearly struggled in his first game. But when you're up by 35, you might as well give your young guys (who are supposed to be providing depth this year) some much needed experience. The depth on the offensive line is the main area of concern for this team. The starters look good, but the backups need a lot of reps.
Thoughts on the Defense
The defensive ends and linebackers stood out to me. Calhoun, Rush, Cooper, and Davis were disruptive in the backfield, while T. Jones and Harris were solid in stopping the run.
I wanted to see more from the defensive tackles. Of course, they have freshmen contributing there, but I had hoped Thomas and Heath would be a little more disruptive. Hopefully by next week.
The secondary was excellent, except for a few shaky plays from Darian Hicks, who was apparently responsible for the long Jacksonville completion on the first play of the game.
Special Teams
The coverage teams were swarming. Great tackle by Nicholson on the opening kickoff.
The kicking had some issues that must be fixed by next week. Geiger missed badly on his first attempt, and Sadler's punt looked like it was blocked.
Coaches
Nice job getting the team ready for a weak opponent. No danger like last year.
Good job giving non-starters a lot of playing time in the second half. I think the coaches made a mistake a few years ago when they did not give guys like Andrew Maxwell more playing time during blowouts.
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