Let’s talk about the Spartans
Put me in that category of fans who never takes this game for granted. Since we have a bye, I will be checking out their game vs Illinois pretty closely. The line right now is very surprising in my opinion. Currently MSU -16. That seems really high but it’s tough to know for sure how they will respond to adversity. Their offense is currently putrid, but they have also played 3 consecutive games vs top defenses. Looks like they are missing their center Matt Allen and their top WR Stewart for the Illinioos game, and who knows how long after that. Their top OL is Jarvis and he might be back vs us but was not listed on the Illinois depth chart.
Overall, I feel like they are a similar team to what they were last year. A below average OL, a QB that can make plays if given the chance, and a set of mediocre play makers. On defense they are good at stopping the run but have been suspect in the secondary. With the loss of Bachie, it will be interesting to see if their run stopping will take a big hit. If they blow out Illinois, they probably come into AA with confidence that they have weathered the storm and can salvage the season. If they lose, or win a close one, it might be an indicator they have rolled over and quit on the season.
We should be very solid favorites in this game. If I had a concern it would be that they manage to score some on some scripted stuff, we struggle to run the ball and Shea makes enough mistakes to keep them in the game. Feels like we are due for a blowout though and I’m hoping this is the year where it all comes together vs them.
November 5th, 2019 at 12:45 PM ^
I don't see either of these things coming to fruition. I do think he will retire after this year, but I don't see Fickell wanting to take over a program with such a depleted roster. I think the deposition will bring out enough dirt, that he won't be an option to become AD
November 5th, 2019 at 12:55 PM ^
I had not heard about MD being AD. It would not surprise me at all. MSU would make him AD to "prove" he's done nothing wrong.
Fickell would take the MSU job, IMO.
November 5th, 2019 at 1:51 PM ^
Dantonio to AD seems like a bad idea to me, but the Blackwell lawsuit has to play out first.
I think Fickell is the best MSU can do, but I wonder. Would Dantonio step down without having a big say in who replaces him? What happens to all his assistants if Fickell comes in? Would Fickell take the job with conditions about his staff and/or Dantonio hanging around? I've heard Dantonio wants Mike Tressel to succeed him. I wouldn't bet against Dantonio getting his way.
November 5th, 2019 at 2:11 PM ^
If he's the AD I guess he definitely gets his way.
November 5th, 2019 at 3:52 PM ^
For sure.
But he also has a lot of leverage if he is willing to retire. Pushing him out would be messy and expensive. A moot point if MSU wants him to stay on indefinitely, but I kind of doubt that's the case.
November 5th, 2019 at 12:53 PM ^
He's certainly recruiting and coaching like it's his last year and he's checked out. I wonder if they'll make him AD so he can be charge of paying off his current assistants to keep their mouths shut when the new staff takes over.
They'll come out tough as usual but I think this team rolls over after getting a punch. This isn't a team of rough and tumble middling to good talent Spartans fighting for respect. The talent isnt there. They've got no running game, their O-Line is suspect, and their WRs are decidedly meh. The defense has been paved by any decent teams they've played and their offense has managed 17 points in three games vs Top 10 SP+ defenses like ours, 7 of which was a garbage time TD.
Their wins have come against 2-7 Tulsa, 1-7 NU, 5-4 WMU, and an Indiana team who is an unknown quantity, but is their best win by far as they are 7-2..
They also lost to a 5-3 ASU team at home. Screw BPONE. This team sucks and we need to bury their corpse.
November 5th, 2019 at 12:58 PM ^
i think they would go after narduzzi, which is funny because his pitt tenure has been anything but impressive.
it would be nice if they hired the waterboy from cinci, that's such great meme fodder.
November 5th, 2019 at 1:05 PM ^
I have a feeling those two are their top choices. I personally want to see Nard there so we can get some payback for the 60 minutes of unnecessary roughness game. I think that would be an example of fit over resume. Mork had a terrible record as a head coach before coming to MSU.
November 5th, 2019 at 1:21 PM ^
Question is, if we beat them, will he delay his retirement a year to try and go out with a win against scUM.
I don't see that happening anytime soon. He has a pretty good record against us, I doubt he wants to further dilute that. His retirement is the quintessential quitting while one's ahead. He was awfully lucky with his two wins over Harbaugh and he knows it.
November 5th, 2019 at 1:34 PM ^
Ive heard from a very reliable source, that Dantonio has already informed the school that he plans for this to be his last year. The rumor is that they plan to have Mike Tressel take over the team. This will make for a very heated last game for him I'M\m sure, Id expect a lot of low blows and cheap shots from the spartans. It will be fun.
November 5th, 2019 at 5:11 PM ^
Ive heard from a very reliable source, that Dantonio has already informed the school that he plans for this to be his last year. The rumor is that they plan to have Mike Tressel take over the team.
B1G if true.
November 5th, 2019 at 1:47 PM ^
Interesting. Does he have the people skills to be AD? The patience? Guess I've never seen that side of him.
November 5th, 2019 at 2:25 PM ^
It would be a hilariously dumb decision for MSU to hire Dantonio as AD so I am hoping this report is true. This isn't the 1980s anymore. ADs are $100+ million dollar operations that involve a lot of management and fundraising skills. Hiring a former legendary coach or star player in the 21st century has usually ended in a mess (see USC).
November 5th, 2019 at 12:39 PM ^
No clue how this game will play out. I have not been anywhere close to picking this game correctly in like 15 years.
November 5th, 2019 at 3:16 PM ^
Really? It's been a very chalky series since Dantonio got there. The better team has won pretty much every time.
November 5th, 2019 at 8:48 PM ^
Yeah.... because the better team usually wins the games. It has not been clear who that is any given year with the exception of 13-14.
November 5th, 2019 at 12:41 PM ^
That game is going to be a murder.
Perhaps it will be a slow motion murder (‘18) or a murdered with dignity (‘16) but it’s not gonna go well for them.
November 5th, 2019 at 12:41 PM ^
Until reading AdamBomb's link, I wasn't aware of Bachie's drug-related suspension. Not tremendously surprised to learn of it though...given the usual goings-on in E.L.
Impossible to tell (for sure) if Dumbtonio's lost the team, and/or if they've quit on the season.
But I feel very, very confident in saying the team as a whole is not playing with the same resolve as it was before their lopsided three-game losing streak. I simply can't see how they could be...
Then again, as Larry A. says, I cannot see them rolling over for us. They will at least have that game to salvage what can be salvaged from their '19 season. Still, given our burgeoning confidence, team-wide camaraderie and above all, quality of play of late, I can't see them presenting us with any real test. If they play their best (whatever that might mean) and are lucky, they might keep it close. If we play as we have for the last 10 quarters, and get most/all of the funky bounces/breaks, expect our first string to watch most of the fourth quarter.
November 5th, 2019 at 12:48 PM ^
Wow, you didn't know of Bachie's suspension?
So, you did not have the TV, newspaper, radio, or the internet on at all since last Wednesday?
November 5th, 2019 at 2:07 PM ^
Believe it or not, not everyone spends their life on here.
November 5th, 2019 at 2:26 PM ^
Do they spend it...... ya know, conscious though?
This got 2 full days as the biggest story in state of Michigan sports, and something that was covered nationally.
November 5th, 2019 at 3:06 PM ^
What if something was going on in his life that prevented him from keeping up on sports?
November 5th, 2019 at 8:50 PM ^
Fuck all that.
November 5th, 2019 at 4:55 PM ^
Really so Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, etc. covered his suspension night and day since Wednesday?
November 5th, 2019 at 12:42 PM ^
Yeah, I'm taking those points on Bovada. Seems way too much, especially with potential locker room turmoil with Bachie.
November 5th, 2019 at 12:45 PM ^
MSU's football season was over when they effed up that FG vs. Arizona State and lost the game to Herm Edwards.
Coaching. Preparedness. Things have been off in EL since the jump this year.
They are just coming out of the murder's row of their schedule (at Ohio St, at Wiscy, PSU) and lost all three by a combined score of 100 to 17.
The Spartans' injuries are piling up, but they are still huge favorites to beat Illinois this weekend.
At 4-4 and likely 5-4 going into Ann Arbor, the game versus Michigan IS their season. Dantonio will have them prepped and emotionally high for that game. Prepare for more scripted drives on offense, lots of stupid, over-aggressive Spartan penalties, until the anger and RESPEKT indignation wears off and they just can't pretend anymore to be the football team they are not.
MSU's offense is dreadful. They can move the ball somewhat, but they just can't seem to get into scoring position. Michigan's defense is good and improving and should be able to hold them scoreless in this game.
Three weeks ago MSU's defense was one of the best in the league. That luster has worn off, and now with Bachie being kicked off the team for roids Mandarich and Bullough Style, Michigan could have a lot of fun screwing with safeties and LBs heads.
At this point, with the Wolverines' season outcome already pretty much academic, my guess is that Harbaugh has pretty much had it, and if given the opportunity would hang 50 on these a-holes and their enabling coach, and not lose a wink of sleep over it.
November 5th, 2019 at 1:27 PM ^
The Spartans' injuries are piling up, but they are still huge favorites to beat Illinois this weekend.
It would be fantastic to see them lose to Illinois. I think the Illini have a decent chance—they've looked okay this year and they beat Wisconsin. Plus, they're super close to qualifying for a bowl game. They have all the motivation while MSU is probably just practicing trick plays to pull out against us this week.
November 5th, 2019 at 12:50 PM ^
Favored by 16?
Are the bookies thinking Illinois will score in negative numbers?
November 5th, 2019 at 12:51 PM ^
Put me in the cautiously optimistic camp. While they are struggling, they just went through a brutal run on their schedule. I’ll feel a lot better if they don’t look strong against a bad Illini team.
November 5th, 2019 at 12:51 PM ^
Honorary captain should be Mike Hart.
MMB show theme should be Star Wars acting out the Jedi knights defeating the storm trooper march.
Full force trolling should be in effect.
Frankly we should have started talking trash this week about it to distract them from Illinois.
November 5th, 2019 at 1:27 PM ^
Stuck in the past... name checks out.
November 5th, 2019 at 1:50 PM ^
140 years of beautiful tradition from Fielding Yost to Devin Bush you're goddamn right I'm living in the fucking past!
November 5th, 2019 at 12:52 PM ^
On paper, Michigan should beat them convincingly. But "on paper" doesn't mean a damn thing against Dantonio. If it did, he would never have beaten OSU in Columbus with a backup QB. His team's been gameplanning for Michigan since Fall Camp, and when the season started going sideways, I wouldn't be even remotely surprised if he scrapped parts of his gameplans for other teams to start prepping for Michigan even more.
Michigan is getting their best game. Whatever is left in the tank for MSU, all of it, every last drop, is being expended on next Saturday's result. Whatever trick plays are left in the playbook are coming out next week. They'll make the tackles they don't normally make, catch the balls they normally drop, you get the drift. I think Dantonio knows his days are numbered, so he might as well empty the playbook and give himself a chance to ride off into the sunset with one last win over Michigan.
On paper, Michigan should still win. Its at home, they're more talented, a better team, executing better, etc. But I am not expecting a blowout. In fact, I am fully preparing myself to watch Michigan enter the fourth quarter and be locked into a one-score game.
November 5th, 2019 at 12:53 PM ^
Their offense is currently putrid, but they have also played 3 consecutive games vs top defenses.
True, the defenses they've faced in recent weeks are all in the Top 10 statistically in the NCAA and provide a more than reasonable explanation for their recent turn of fortune for the worst. Wisconsin is 1st, OSU is 2nd, and PSU is 9th.
Michigan is 7th.
There's no reason to expect that MSU is going to show up in Ann Arbor in 2 weeks and suddenly be world beaters when they've been consistently shut down by defenses of similar competency. Michigan has only lost to MSU in the past 4 seasons by their own sloppiness and mistakes. We don't turn the ball over, we win. I will concede that covering 16 points in this game is optimistic, but this game will not be particularly competitive.
November 5th, 2019 at 12:57 PM ^
That spread is -16 for Michigan State over Illinois. I don't think the M v. MSU line is out. If MSU beats Illinois convincingly-ish I would expect something like UM -10 to open.
November 5th, 2019 at 1:02 PM ^
What does Vegas know to have the Spartys 16.5 point favorites against IL. We should beat down the Spartys by at least 21 and maybe more as the foot does not come off of the petal. Both was 17-4 against the Spartys and Coach will match that before he retires. Go Blue !!!????
November 5th, 2019 at 1:29 PM ^
Has just as much to do with betting tendencies of fanbase as it does with the teams on the field.
November 5th, 2019 at 12:59 PM ^
I'm more concerned with Indiana.
November 5th, 2019 at 1:02 PM ^
Sparty has been practicing for this game since the day after last year's game...probably 50% of every practice is Michigan practice. When a guy like Mork watches Michigan game film every night 365 days a year you can't take him for granted.
I hope we talk with the refs about keeping the game clean this one has high potential for over the top Sparty goonery.
November 5th, 2019 at 1:02 PM ^
Heard Baumgardner on a podcast yesterday throw out this scenario: Dantonio announces his retirement at his press conference this Monday, irrespective of the result this weekend, and gets the guys super fired up, ala Earle Bruce.
November 5th, 2019 at 3:02 PM ^
If he does that, the public won't know about it. He'll tell his team the day before or the day of, all of the players will keep it quiet (which is what East Lansing excels at, to the detriment of any woman that wanders within city limits), and they hold that energy inside and bust it out during the game.
It will lead to a FG drive. The spark is all gone there.
Bachie was a critical lynchpin in that defense. I think they're much, much worse with him out. Warinner's kid may be fine, but he won't be Bachie at this point. And my guess is Dantonio goes with Tyriq Thompson - his dad was a captain at Michigan and he chose MSU in the Hoke years. It's exactly the kind of Dantonio voodoo football justice he thinks is part of "pride cometh before the fall", and doesn't understand that he's run out of talismans. Thompson will be a terribly unsound LB in the middle, IMO. He's not bad in that he can play and have good downs. It's just that he runs around blockers (goes over or under them) and plays the ball instead of his assignment much too often. That's not terrible in their defense because he's free much of the time, but there will be a good chunk of plays where he's MIA and it will cost them.
Rod Smith will probably make them pay for it this weekend. The Michigan coaches will see it, and the traps and run game will have him confused all afternoon.
November 5th, 2019 at 1:04 PM ^
The game could be a slugfest in the first half. Sparty will put up a fight in a score difference in which Michigan is up by a TD. Like last year, Sparty should wear down in the second half or 3rd quarter and Mich will pull away.
Usually a hard game to forecast but Mich is playing it's best ball at home so home field advantage will be important.
GO BLUE!!
November 5th, 2019 at 1:10 PM ^
Agreed, Sparty will fight hard for a half. They have zero D Line depth behind the starters and the starters wear out every week.
Time to drop the hammer that has been long overdue!!
November 5th, 2019 at 1:05 PM ^
How does UM not hammer MSU this year? Without UM turnovers deep in its own end, how does MSU score?
November 5th, 2019 at 1:08 PM ^
I feel that State scoring on their first drive often proves a difference-maker in their games. They work very hard at that, and that seven points and the confidence it transmits can prove pretty helpful two hours later, as they try to keep things close.* I hope that King Don will have the kids really primed right out of the gate.
*Would love to see some statistical examination of effects and strategy around opening-game scores, but I do not find any on a quick look around the internet.
November 5th, 2019 at 2:55 PM ^
They scored first in 2016 and it didn't help much
November 5th, 2019 at 4:24 PM ^
Scored first in the Bobby Williams game. Final score 49-3.
November 5th, 2019 at 1:11 PM ^
It will be a close game. No matter what has been going on at MSU, they will play hard against UM and they have beaten them in the Big House.
November 5th, 2019 at 1:23 PM ^
Dantonio will use the famous "chip on the shoulder" mentality to get his players up for this game. That might be all he will have to offer. (it's worked well in the past)
November 5th, 2019 at 1:13 PM ^
- Our offense is meh, their defense is (even with the injuries, etc.) solid. 21-28 points for Michigan
- Their offense is putrid, and our defense is dope. Yet, they'll bring out some wrinkle and get a score out of it. 3-7 points.
- This can get impacted by turnovers, kicking game, and weather.
- Even if they lose to Illinois, they won't come into this game with a quit mentality. This will be their Super Bowl and play very inspired. We should equal that intensity.
- 24-7 Michigan