Dantonio: "That was a long football game. I can't remember a lot of things. A lot going on."

— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) October 26, 2019

It's probably over. It's Michigan State week, and in 2019 that means surveying a program down the road that is finally reaping what it's sown. Years of operating in a virtually lawless environment caught up with MSU after their breakthrough recruiting class saw four players leave school for two different sexual assault incidents. That class is, or should be, this year's seniors. Their outcomes, in order of ranking: sexual assault, sexual assault, sexual assault, NFL, on roster, transfer, transfer, sexual assault, transfer, transfer, transfer, transfer, on roster, transfer, transfer, on roster, PEDs, on roster, on roster, kicker.

[After the JUMP: Jim Henson doesn't deserve this]

MSU set up Curtis Blackwell as the fall guy for three of the guys kicked out of school, which has landed them in court. Whether it's Blackwell or an athletic department seeing its football program suffer the consequences it should—finally!—when it is revealed to be disastrously amoral, recruiting has cratered. There was a remarkable moment in the Penn State game when the announcers said that KJ Hamler avoided Michigan State because people there were going the wrong direction, and it seems like that opinion is shared:

MSU's instate recruiting haul consists of the #17 and #21 guys, and that's it. They've had a half-dozen guys transfer in-season. Their starting MLB was suspended for PEDs. Their version of Shane Morris concussion-gate saw Brian Lewerke immediately throw a pick-six that would eventually lead to a loss against Illinois after leading 28-3. Their athletic director resigned instead of facing the Nassar-related fallout and his replacement is this guy:

the King of Queens guest star on the left

Bill Beekman just said Dantonio was under no threat whatsoever and he probably means it.

MSU may be the worst AD in the country but at least they're going to crash hard as a result.

Meanwhile, injuries. MSU has many:

• WR Darrell Stewart and OL Matt Allen missed the Illinois game and it doesn't really sound like either is likely to be back Saturday. Dantonio five days ago: “Darrell is out for a time period, should be back (this season) … Matt should be back probably a little earlier, but we’ll wait and see. I think we’ll get them both back."
• CB Josiah Scott and TE Matt Dotson both left the Illinois game and did not return. Dotson had a boot and crutches after returning to the sideline, so you'd have to assume he's a no-go.
• OL Luke Campbell didn't play thanks to an illness. You'd think that gets cleared up but apparently he'd only practiced once in the previous two weeks before Illinois.
• OL Cole Chewins, Kevin Jarvis, and Tyler Higby all missed the Illinois game. Jarvis has been out a while and his recovery timeline is right about now; Chewins has been out all year with back issues; Higby has missed the last two weeks with an undisclosed issue.
• Also MLB Joe Bachie is suspended for PED use.
• WR Jalen Nailor is out for the year; CJ Hayes almost missed the Illinois game.

MSU started two true freshmen on the OL and two at WR against the Illini. They're down to scraps on an already miserable offensive line.

I don't feel bad about MSU, but this is incredible content. I recently learned that the LSJ has put Graham Couch columns behind a hard paywall. Am I going to pay to read Graham Couch? Absolutely not.

Couch: The worse it gets for MSU, the more Dantonio has to stay https://t.co/gd5aMZpe0l

— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) November 10, 2019

Okay. Probably not.

Well done, Mr. Peters. Brandon Peters is taking Illinois to a bowl game, and executed some instant karma last weekend:

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Brandon Peters spent the bulk of four quarters Saturday hearing noise nearly every time he came off the field. Noise from Michigan State’s defense, but also from fans in the Spartan Stadium stands behind the Illinois sideline.

“The whole game,” Peters said Saturday night. “I had people behind me calling me a Michigan reject.”

After roughly 59 minutes and 50 seconds of this, Peters — a fourth-year former Michigan quarterback who joined Illinois as a graduate transfer this spring — took a shotgun snap from the MSU 5-yard line. He rolled hard to his right, bought just enough time with his legs and eventually found an open Daniel Barker in the back of the end zone to complete a 25-point comeback, the largest in Illini history.

Once the play was over, Peters made his way back to the Illinois sideline and looked up at those same stands. He didn’t hear a word.

“They got what they deserved,” Peters said with a grin.

So that's Peters, who has a Michigan degree, getting called a Michigan reject by a bunch of literal Michigan rejects, and then dunking on them with a last-second W. May all of Michigan's transfers do as much for the cause.

A dollar says that there aren't any Illinois sites dumping on Brandon Peters for being a "big mistake" this week.

Learn about the pick and roll. Watching these plays happen nearly consecutively was an educational experience, and now it's more so since Eric Shapiro helpfully breaks it down:

How Matt Coleman (and his ball screen passing) led Texas to a road win at Purdue: pic.twitter.com/jtrmRqN1KI

— Eric Shapiro (@eric_shap) November 10, 2019

Purdue ended up losing a tight game to Texas but looked a lot more comfortable in a post-Carsen-Edwards environment than I thought they would. They'll be all right, shouldn't drop too far.

This week in Kick Rutgers Out. Probably an all-time record for a conference game?

Ohio State favored by 50.5 against Rutgers, the total is 55 https://t.co/zuMYTLMoVd

— Bill Landis (@BillLandis25) November 10, 2019

Etc.: 2001 Nick Zabaneh has decommitted from hockey. He was likely to get deferred and can probably find a landing spot that will take him for 2020. MSU's Super Bowl. Please leave "little sister" for the MSU frat bros.