Congratulations to the Champions of the Legends Division!

OK, so MSU was more ready than I thought they might be.  I feared they might take Indiana a little lightly, but the Spartans brought their A game today.  On the one hand, they crushed the worst team in the B1G.  On the other hand, the Spartans looked sharp and they played how you would want them to play against a weak team.  What a way for the MSU seniors to go out. 

Quick points

- As I expected, Indiana does not have the athletes to keep up with MSU.  The Spartans scored several touchdowns simply by feeding the ball to their speedy playmakers.  I am not surprised to see that Keyshawn Martin had a big day, and that Edwin Baker also had some big plays.

- Kirk Cousins showed how good he can be when he plays with confidence.  Sure, the Indiana secondary couldn't keep up with the MSU receivers, but he was also throwing some very accurate bullets.  I hope he breaks Jeff Smoker's record next week.

- The defense looked as good as at any point this year.  No surprise against Indiana, but they at least came close to shutting out Indiana.

- In a game like this one, it's hard to single out guys for good play -- there were too many heroes!  Still, I would like to point out that Anthony Rashad White impressed me.  There were times when I couldn't tell the difference between him and Jerel Worthy.  That makes me less concerned about the possibility of Worthy going pro early.

As for the rest of the season

With a Michigan victory over Nebraska, the Spartans are now champions of the Legends division.  Folks, that means the Spartans are for real.  Last year was no fluke, it's part of a consistent pattern of winning.  Mark Dantonio is an excellent coach who has taken MSU to the top of the Big Ten.  The Spartans are now guaranteed a chance to play for the Big Ten championship, most likely against Wisconsin.  If the Spartans can win their remaining 3 games, including their bowl game, they will have a chance to finish in the top 5 and to achieve eliteness.

Quick Thoughts on Iowa Game

I was at my mom's birthday party during the game, so I was only able to watch the game out of the corner of my eye.  Nonetheless, here are some quick thoughts on the game.  


In many ways this game was a microcosm of MSU's season.  In the first half, the Spartans started off looking like they did during the first half of the season.  They were flying around the field like hawks, they were dominating both sides of the line.  Of course it helped that Iowa turned the ball over a couple of times.

In the second half, the Spartans looked like the Spartans of the last two weeks.  Suddenly, the Spartans couldn't move the ball on offense and the defense looked confused.  And you were left wondering if the Spartans won this one not because they played so well in the first half, but because Iowa played so poorly.  Iowa fell too far behind in the first half, and perhaps that was the key.  

Quick Points

- Kirk Cousins.  He was pretty good today, but man he needs to hang on to the ball.  Those kinds of mistakes can cost you close games.

- Edwin Baker.  He needs to learn to get up the field faster, instead of dancing or trying to run around people.

- Injuries.  Lots of guys seemed to go down today.  I hope none of the injuries were serious.

- The defensive line.  This unit was impressive, today.  And when you consider how young all those guys are, it makes you feel good about the future.

- The coaches looked solid in the first half and then weak in the second.  They looked creative in the first half, and then their play calling looked like it has the last two weeks.

The General Takeaway

While a victory over a tough Iowa team should make you feel like MSU has reached a new level, the fact that Iowa seemed to lose it more than MSU won it tempers my celebration.  On the other hand, the Spartans would have been competitive even if Iowa had played well the whole game.  So MSU deserves credit.  They also deserve credit because they played well on the road.  In fact, no B1G team has played particularly well on the road this year.  So MSU's performance actually was better than it looked. 

As for the rest of the season, the Spartans are now in complete control of the Legends division.  They have the easiest schedule of all the teams in contention.  Simply put, they SHOULD win the division, if they play and coach like they can.