Stats comparison between Mich and MSU

(edit:deleted) 
Too early for me... ]V[ Go Blue!

Can we talk about statistical comparisions to MSU after we beat MSU? Or do we have to beat MSU and OSU?

I guess I understand why some Michigan fans are a little apprehensive going into this game.

We have suffered since 2008 and waited for a team that would come out on Saturdays and compete.  As fans, we were beat down with ugly losses, terrible teams and clueless coaches.

We hung in there. We waited.

We now have a Championship caliber team with elite players and coaches and it somehow feels surreal.

Get on them EARLY, no dicking around. 2 first quarter touchdowns and State will fold like a lawn chair. Suck the life out of them and get 55! (The opponent scoring record which NW now has at 54).

I keep thinking I should be worried, but MSU lost to Indiana, Maryland, NW and BYU! The numbers, stats, players, coaching, its all in our favor. Just take care of the ball and do your job.

But, we will eventually pull ahead in the 4th quarter and win.  But, I'd be surprised if MSU does not make it a decently close game for most if not the entire game.  This will be their Super Bowl, and they hate UM.  As Barry Melrose likes to say "Will beats skill."  So, we'll have to match their will, which I think we will, but they will play hard and keep it close IMHO.

The last 46 times we've played, the team that had more rushing yards won 42 times. I like that 1800 to 1087 yards rushing stat. State has really had trouble moving the ball. That portends well for us.

Going back to the very beginning of the U-M/MSU rivalry, there's only one other season when we've played a Spartan team that had five losses by the time we played: 1954. We won 33-7.

Yes, to a significant extent that's a function of normally playing them too early in the year for Sparty to have racked up five losses, but this year is a historical anomaly nonetheless.

For those old enough to remember the losses to them going back to Bo's era and ending with Lloyd's, one fact stands out: in all but one of those losses, we lost to a Spartan team that didn't finish any worse than .500 for their regular season. The only exception is 1969, when we got beat 23-12 up in EL in Bo's first year by a MSU team that finished 4-6.

And, going all the way back to 1950, only two Spartan teams that finished the season with losing records beat Michigan: that 1969 team, and the '67 Spartan team. The latter finished a miserable 3-7, but they were defending two-time national champions so there was undoubtedly still talent on the team. And Michigan was only 4-6 in '67.

No, history isn't absolutely predictive, but the likelihood of what looks like a very bad Spartan team beating what looks like a very, very good Michigan team is not high. To me, the only remotely worrisome thing is that it's up in EL—some crazy shit has happened in games up there. I think that's the only chance Sparty has: something as improbable as last year's horror.

if we beat MSU the way we should based on the way each team has played so far this year, how does that impact your opinion regarding The Game?  I know MSU and OSU are two completely different teams this year, but they both seem to have a common talk amongst our fans in that they always play their best game against us.  Make plays they normally don't make, run plays they normally don't run, etc.  I am already a believer of Harbaugh as a coach, but if we win handily this weekend, I will begin to believe Jim Harbaugh is different than almost any coach we have ever seen and experienced.

Go Blue!

Refs, Spartan Stadium, trash tornadoes, weather, unnecessary roughness, clockwork, etc.

All of it is horseshit.

Against all of this crap, MSU and Michigan football players still have to line up and play the game.

I do not doubt that Dantonio will leverage anger and disrespect to get his guys high as a kite emotionally for this one game.  But it still requires the MSU OL to protect the quarterback and open holes for LJ Scott against a Michigan defense that has been lights out. It still requires MSU to cover the deep ball, which they've been unable to stop all year.

The common opponent between MSU and Michigan is Wisconsin. Both played the Badgers at home.

Michigan held Wisconsin to 159 total yards and 7 points and caused 3 turnovers.

MSU allowed Wisconsin 317 yards and 30 pts and committed 3 turnovers themselves.

MSU is not good at football.

But I agree that Michigan's schedule is back-weighted, and they must take care of business.  I'm confident that Jim Harbaugh and Don Brown, as they are, Michigan will do precisely that.

In fact, I think a shutout is very likely.

Of course the only stat that matters will be evident around 3:30 on Saturday.  However, having 1 Harbaugh, 1 Peppers, 1 Michigan D-Line, 1 Stable of Running Backs, 1 Butt and a dish of revenge ready to be served cold should be all the stats we need to find the 3:30 news very likeable. 

and crap.

The only real concern is injuries. Once Sparty figures out they can't win, they may decide that an attempt at ruining our run is the only option. Speight and Peppers in particular will have to be vigilant, but the OL and Lewis could also be significant targets.

It's so sad that we have to worry about cheap shots from a classless team.