Know the enemy: MSU Spring Game thread
but JD was arrested and media are usually all over that stuff. I find it ironic that all of these MSU and reporters in general are not saying which 5 players of the 15 not playing yesterday were not present. Their job is to report the facts and not pick and choose when to report information.
Might be wrong, but weren't Perry and Lewis charged? That hasn't happened to MSU players.
Might be wrong, but weren't Perry and Lewis charged? That hasn't happened to MSU players.
...we aren't going to beat them by 40 either. Lewerke will be an upgrade at QB over whatever it was they fielded last year, they have 3 competent RBs (London and Holmes as well as Scott), and the defense will be same as usual--tough up front but questionable at the back.
If Corley is one of the 3, and at this point I assume he is, their passing game will suffer. But it's highly unlikely they repeat 3-9. It's probably a 5-7 win team--not great, but just good enough to be annoying.
We may beat them by 40, this looks like a pretty bad team. This is buried already, but I'll write it out for posterity's sake. All of this with the caveat that many players weren't playing (but few on the OL where I think they'll again struggle).
If they're looking for Lewerke to be a savior, I don't see it. He looks like a decent QB, an average B1G starter this year with some room to grow. He commands the team well, his decision making is OK, he's accurate for the most part. But he also made some really poor choices, threw some wildly inaccurate balls, and at times looked like he was having trouble with arm strength getting the ball downfield - really strained to push it on some throws. Neither of the back-ups played due to injury, they had a walk-on at 2nd string.
RB's were fine but Scott is a day one NFL starter.
Trishtan Jackson was very good, but still looks slight for being the program his second year. Layne looks similarly slight, and along with Chambers looked OK.
They have one TE that looks average. They have another (Davis) that was in the backfield as a FB, had a running head start, ran into a defender who was already engaged with an OL, and was knocked down to the ground by said defender. I mean the guy didn't even really see him, Davis showed up as he was messing with the OL, and he just knocked him over. They'll be thin there.
I really like Chewins long term at LT, but he's still too small. Great feet and movement, long as hell, gives the effort. I'd guess he'll do well against Winovich and swallow him up, but a player like Gary who has swim moves and straight ahead power is going to overwhelm him in pass pro. The Allen kid at center is good but has a limited ceiling, I think Mone and Hurst can give him trouble. The left guard is unexciting, seems to just hold his position and try to turn his guy - doesn't drive block consistently. Right guard Beedle is just a guy and the fan base wants him replaced- this is a guy they started at LT to begin last year before it was clear that was a collosal mistake. Some questionable coaching there. The RT looks decent in pass pro, but either gets out of his stance late or continually forgets the snap count (may just be go on snap, in which case he's late). Also takes a pretty noticeable false step when pulling, and against good players it will cost them (it did in this game as the RB got submarined in the backfield just before said RT could reach the defender). Finley is the guy everyone is hoping will "get it", but that doesn't appear to be happening as they've pulled out the chair and done everything to get him to sit at either tackle spot for two years. He's the back-up LT and based on Dantonio's comments the other guy is solid at RT. If he can't pass him it's probably not happening.gif.
On defense it starts at CB and Copeland wsa burned easily by Jackson on the first play by a fairly vanilla false break. He didn't look very good or comfortable all game. They have a true freshman early enrolle starting at the other CB spot. Middling 3* from Ohio that looked pretty good, but let's see him on the island after a few TD busts and see if he's still the new sex. Copeland was supposed to be the guy at one point as well. They have one safety named Dowell that looked OK, the others didn't do much. They've apparently moved a former linebacker back to CB, named Harrel. He looks too thick for corner and they're not minding Magnus' advice to never move back in a defense, move forward (though it could be the reverse of that what the hell do I know).
Frey is at LB again and he's a bezerkoid again, just the guy you'd expect at Sparty. Dowell is the other OLB and looks pretty good again. Bacie is in the middle and pretty entrenched there according to Dantonio, he's a downgrade from Bullough and the other guys they've had in recent year.
DL looks to be a strenth with the guys they had on the field and those not dressed. R. Williams is a player, and a guy named Naquan Jones looks like he can play. Big guys, great size. Panasiuk is the other guy they've said is really good, but I don't see it. I would have guessed walk-on. He's big and hard to move but doesn't do much beyond that. They have a DE that's a former walk-on that everyone's excited about, he looked good at times but overpursued at others. He's another long hair bezerkoid and looks just like you think he would. He may be good but I'm guessing just OK and the hype is there because they haven't seen his flaws yet. I think he was the guy that knocked down the TE above.
Overall the game was lazy and everyone just seemed to want it over. Lots of OG's engaging a defender, stalemate, and both just standing there. The typcial Sparty hyper agression seems lost. Frey is a madman, but limited, and Dowell come up and hit but there's little beyond that. The OL could be OK but won't scare anyone (with Scott OK may be good enough), and probably won't be OK. Some injuries and they're going to be bad. Though if Corley comes back and Jackson plays like this in games, they'll have two guys to worry about, a QB that can get it to them, and an OL that seems better at pass pro than running the ball.