SB Nation - San Jose St. Spartans

MSU v TT in the Alamo Bowl: Musings on TRE's first press conference

grahamfiller10 — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 06:01:11 -0000

The Spartans held their official press conference for the Alamo Bowl on Friday. I attended as the microphone holder for a Channel 12 reporter. For those who attend pressers consistently and interact with players/coaches, it's just another meeting. Since this was my first one, ever, it was intriguing on a personal and philosophical level.

Coach Dantonio took questions and also served up the truest quote of the day. "Coach, what are you going to do with your backups getting significant playing time?"...to which Dantonio said, "We have football players. They are going to play."

TRE ranks the Big Ten bowls in chances of winning.

Judging the impact of the MSU suspensions.

A quick look at Texas Tech's surprising bowl performances of late.

It's impossible not to say possibly incriminating, embarrassing, or stupid things at a press conference. That truth leads me to another statement - If you think the male-female relationship is weird (and it is), the sportswriter-athlete/coach relationship is on the same weird plane. The media holds tremendous power, but at the same time, many have the air of a proud father or a weak kneed N'Sync fan around the athletes.

We watched Jack Ebling interview Greg Jones, who showed humbleness amidst his impressive accolades (1st team All-American, etc). Jones gave more insight into the frat fight which led suspensions - "When I hang out (with the suspended players), we don't talk about it much. I know how they feel so why discuss it?"

Apparently ESPN named Michigan State the least likely team to win a bowl game this season. I know this because it was brought up 333 times during the Q and A with the players. How's a player supposed to react? "You're right, sir, ESPN has a valid point and we'll be lucky to get out of there with a three touchdown defeat." Lot's of stupid questions were asked - but there were some great ones too. Kirk Cousins was challenged - "How are you going to react with inexperienced wide receivers? How will you lead?" Cousins said that he'll do what great quarterbacks do - make the wide receivers better and lead by example.

I learned something about Cousins too. He's intense, smart, and well spoken. Cousin's sincerity and warmth is rivaled only by Mr. Rogers. The first time I looked in his eyes, it was like the first time I heard the Beatles. (H/T to Superbad)

Anger seeped through some of the players statements. Blair White used the word "pissed" to describe his emotions toward the suspended players actions. White, who's went from walk-on to 1st team All-Big Ten and team leader, shared an emotion that was echoed throughout the presser: excitement at going to Texas.

Larry Caper (above) shared that excitement and didn't seem phased at the thought of being a freshman who will get half the carries against TT, not to mention part of a team that's a 10 point underdog. "We can win if we execute," was his mantra.

It was surreal, asking questions and eating lunch with players I've written about all year. Weird thoughts ("I thought everyone would look bigger", "These pressers will pay off for the players via improved public speaking skills") seeped into my brain as I was surviving the somewhat monotonous Q and A. I'll leave with two thoughts: 1) Michigan State might get killed, but it won't be for lack of leadership. White, Jones, and Cousins bring that in spades. 2) In my mind, I don't kowtow to the players or idolize them especially. I'm far more interested in the schemes and the CFB culture. But it's the players that make this all go around.

MSU-TT in the Alamo Bowl: Suspension Impact?

grahamfiller10 — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 01:52:33 -0000

Tearing on another team's disciplinary or academic problems is usually an uninteresting pursuit that can quickly turn against you. For every Ed Martin (Michigan booster who gave 280k to Chris Webber), there's a Maurice Clarett and a Charles Rogers. So MSU's reputation, although tarnished by the fact that there are gangs of unruly Spartan football players roving around East Lansing, will remain similar to any other major program.

So will there be any REAL impact on the Texas Tech game? What does Leach need to know about Animal House 2: When Players Attack?

Here is a list from TOC of the players suspended over the incident -

Roderick Jenrette, 22, of East Lansing; conspiracy and three counts of assault or assault and battery.

Glenn Winston, 20, East Lansing; conspiracy and two counts of assault or assault and battery.

Frederick Smith, 19, Macomb Township; conspiracy and a count of assault or assault and battery.

B.J. Cunningham, 20, Lansing; conspiracy and a count of assault or assault and battery.

Jamiihr Williams, 20, East Lansing; conspiracy and count of assault or assault and battery.

Mark Dell, 20, Lansing; a count of assault or assault and battery.

Ashton Leggett, 20, Muskegon; conspiracy and two counts of assault or assault and battery.

J'Micheal Deane, 23, East Lansing; conspiracy and a count of assault or assault and battery.

Chris L. Rucker, 21, East Lansing; conspiracy and a count of assault or assault and battery.

All nine individuals are charged with conspiracy, which is a misdemeanor with a one-year maximum. The other charges are also misdemeanors, and have a 93-day maximum sentence.

You know what happens every time TO gets traded from a a team? Everyone breathes a sign of relief because the negative distraction is gone. Might that be at play here with some of these players? Probably not. Dell, Cunningham, and Rucker were healthy and would have started versus TT if not for the Night of the Long Masks. Although the secondary was generally horrendous, Rucker was an aggressive corner, which is obviously helpful if DC Narduzzi had decided to pull up his corners in bump coverage. Dell and Cunningham were #2 and #3 in reception yards for Sparty, which leads me to believe that 1) Blair White is going to be doubled, 2) we're going to see a TE in a slot position and 3) if a backup WR drops a ball early or runs a wrong route, there is going to be great wailing and gnashing of teeth (H/T: Book of Job).

Is Mike Leach giggling like a schoolgirl ~~in the hopes that Saint Nicholas will soon be there~~ because of the general upheaval that has enveloped the depth chart and pissed off some of the Spartan fan base? Probably not. Vegas will steadily increase that 8 point line for the Red Raiders and overconfidence can grow, which will give Leach incentive to push his troops. Kirk Cousins is still around with his laser rocket arm, though featuring less weapons to throw too. Adversity usually has one of two effects on individuals: Either people step up and play more minutes than usual while making plays...or they wilt under the scrutiny and added responsibility. Blair White and Keshawn Martin are talented enough to play the whole game, while MSU's tight end depth is the best in the Big Ten. Both Sims or Linthicum are quick enough to play slot.

A huge gut check is in line for Michigan State at the Alamo Bowl. Will they go out like Jim Bowie, cursing and firing until bayoneted? Or will the tumult and addition of walk-ons getting PT be too much for the Spartans to endure?

Spaulding Roundup: Latest Non-Drama Around Chow & Malcolm Jones Excitement

Nestor — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:46:09 -0000

Well let's see what we have here. So the San Jose State Spartans are on the market for a new head football coach. Jon Wiliner from the San Jose Mercury News wrote up a post couple of nights ago speculating who the Spartans might be interviewing for the gig and throwing out names in the mix. Well he threw in Coach Norm Chow's into the mix upon the suggestion of San Jose State alum Steve Clarkson:

Yep, the quarterback guru is interested in SJSU, according to former Spartans quarterback Steve Clarkson, who has known Chow for years.

"The one thing he hasn’t been, is a head coach,’’ said Clarkson, one of the top quarterback tutors in the game. "When you’re that creative, you want to give it a shot.’’

Whether Chow would accept the job if offered and whether SJSU would offer are differently matters entirely.

"You have to build with a quarterback, so you need somebody with a proven track record of developing quarterbacks,’’ Clarkson said, "and that’s Norm."

Yeah, okay. Sure. As CAJason80 noted Clarkson is hardly an unbiased source. So, when one read this story, he or she should have taken with grain of salt before running with it. Well, that didn't stop Adam Maya, the Trojan shill from the OC Register (who was earlier exposed this season for pimping a BS facebook attack on Rick Neuheisel) from running a breathless blogpost with the headline "Chow To San Jose State?"

All that excitement among Maya and his fellow Trojies were quashed by the end of the day yesterday with the following post from Chris Foster in the LA Times (emphasis added throughout):

UCLA offensive coordinator Norm Chow said he has no interest in the San Jose State head coach job.

Spartans Coach Dick Tomey retired, and the San Jose Mercury News reported that Chow is on the preliminary list of candidates. But Chow said he has not been contacted by San Jose State officials and intends to remain at UCLA.

But wait! There is more!! "Just to clarify" Jon Gold from the Daily News got in touch with his UCLA contacts and got the following response:

When asked about filling the coaching vacancy at San Jose State, I'm told Norm Chow just laughed. He's not interested.

Looks like Maya and his Trojie cohorts will have to look for another angle to hit Neuheisel to push for that "Neuheisels program is falling apart" narrative. Idiots. More on Chow and some other thoughts/notes after the jump.

Why would Chow leave his current gig with a Pac-10 program for a HCing job at WAC? Does anyone really think at this stage of his career when he has one of more highly visible coordinator position in BCS conferences and living with his family in Southern California, he would leave all that for a non BCS conference job? I'd understand if it was a position involving University of Hawaii (where he could truly go home) or a high profile head coaching position at another BCS program.

At this point of his career, my gut tells me that Chow will finish out next two years at UCLA before moving on.Yeah, lot was made this year out of the drama around Prince and Brehaut. Yet, as CRN noted to Ted Miller little more than a week ago, he has an "outstanding" relationship with Chow:

I think our relationship before and after is outstanding. We didn't agree on that. Norm has been up-front with me all along that he thinks that Kevin Prince is our quarterback and that Richard shouldn't be forced in there before he is ready and so forth. I was of the mind that Kevin needed to have a different perspective and see it from the sidelines and realize that when you're in there, you have to be ready to be in there, and that Richard, because we were playing him his freshman year, needed more chances to mature. I think both philosophies are right. I really do. I think you can make arguments for both. Since I had my hand over the top of the handle of the bat at the end, I got my way. But I certainly respect Norm Chow's opinion on quarterbacking. I think he is as advertised as an offensive coordinator. I love working with him on a daily basis.

I still LOL at all the people who were pushing that "OMG! Chow and Neuheisel disagree!!" storyline fully expecting Chow to be a bobbing offensive-coordinator robot (like the lapdogs roaming around Petey's sidelines). Given the experience both Chow and Neheisel have, of course it is totally reasonable to expect they will have disagreements from time to time. It happens all the time when intelligent individuals work together on issues where they have similar background experiences. From what I see is two coaches working together and finding common ground despite occasional differences, and then get behind it. From what I have seen, so far so good.

Given that our offense took encouraging steps forward this season, I think it's a good bet that he feels encouraged about the on going developments in our football program and wants to follow through with the rebuilding project he undertook with CRN two years. Oh and CRN is working to bring more offensive toys for Chow in Westwood. Case in point we have Malcolm Jones, the Oaks Christian running back, who was just named California Gatorade Player Of the Year. Jon Gold wrote up the story:

Now that Jones was named Gatorade state Player of the Year after a 1,989-yard, 34-touchdown season, Redell (Bill Redell, Head Coach of Oaks Christian High School, BN Ed.) knows he was right about that first glimpse.

"I couldn't have said he'd be state player of the year, but you recognize it right away," Redell said. "The first scrimmage his freshman year, I remember telling a college scout, "You better offer this kid a scholarship right away if you're smart. You could just tell early."

Redell saw in the UCLA-bound running back/linebacker a seriousness, a non-nonsense dedication to football that has served Jones well. Jones has become a force on both sides of the ball for the Lions (12-0), who face Cathedral of Los Angeles in a Northwest Division semifinal game Saturday.

As I said, why would Chow leave Westwood to toil at some WAC school when he will have opportunities to coach kids like Jones, James and other talents Neuheisel and his staff are working so hard to reel into into UCLA.

Only Trojan shills and Neuheisel/UCLA haters anxious to see Chow move on from UCLA, will push that kind of laughable storyline whenever any faint or remote possibility of it appears in the traditional media. I am sure this will not be the last time we see it. Expect Maya and his ilk to grind away and churn out more nonsense in the future.

GO BRUINS.

2009 Quarterback Rankings, Final Edition: Across The Board, Marked Improvement Over 2008

grahamfiller10 — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 05:08:08 -0000

Another year has passed and no Big Ten QB has made any kind of national impact...or at least a positive one. Terrelle Pryor was on the tail end of some Heisman lists, but the USC game quickly bucked him off those. Daryll Clark found himself spewing astronomical stats in almost every game...except the ones that mattered on a BCS level.

2009 QB Rankings, First Edition: Optimism!

2009 QB Rankings, Second Edition: Back to Reality!

2009 QB Rankings, Third Edition: You're Better Than This!

One obvious observation - the quarterback play was improved all the way across the Big Ten. In fact, let me illustrate this:

Improved QB Situation from 2008: Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, NW, Wisconsin, Indiana,

Declining QB Situation from 2008: Illinois, Minnesota

Similar QB Situation of 2008: Penn State, OSU, Iowa

In the running back focused league of 2008, QB's struggled with injuries and consistency. Although two of them (Painter, Hoyer) made it to 3rd string status in the NFL, the ratings were horrendous and offenses stagnated badly when the run game was slowed. Last year, only four quarterbacks had a 126 QB rating or higher. This year, that number rose to nine.

Our group of QB's here, who mostly avoided injuries, consists of four seniors, four juniors, two sophomores, and one freshman. Since none of the seven non-seniors are good enough to jump to the NFL right now, that's a good amount of returning starters for next year. Weber and Forcier will face major challenges to their hold on the starting job. Without further adieu, enjoy the 2009 Big Ten Quarterback Rankings, Final Edition.

	QB	Team	Comments
#1	Daryll Clark	PSU	Destroyed Michigan State last week. Rivals has him as the 27th best QB in the nation, for what it's worth. Since this rankings inception in 2008, has always been #1 in my rankings.
#2	Mike Kafka	NW	Played his best game of the year versus Wisky, a mistake free 326 yard, 2 TD performance. Ran the NW Spread well all year and would have semi-torched PSU if not for injury.
#3	Kirk Cousins	MSU	Laser-rocket armed Baptist boy will be an asset for the Spartans for the next two years. Hit a bit of a sophomore wall toward the end of the year, running into Penn State and Purdue defenses who confused him into picks and incompletions. Cousins v. Western: 22-25, 353 yards, 2 TD's. Nice.
#4	Terrelle Pryor	OSU	All he does is win games, right? That's bullshit. He would have won more games if he didn't go noodle armed against Purdue and USC. Does TreS misuse him? Yes. But when Pryor get's unleashed, things get wild. TP is almost impossible to slow on the ground, as witnessed in AA Saturday.
#5	Joey Elliot	PU	A great leader and less injury prone than Painter. 22/13 TD/INT ratio compared to 13/11 for 2008 Painter. Also sported a QB Rating 13 points higher. 8 TD's in his final three games. Definitely one of the pleasant surprises in the Big Ten.
#6	Scott Tolzien	WI	FAR better than the 2008 combo of Evridge/Sherer. Blew apart a couple opponents selling out to stop the run. Things to work on in the offseason: 1) Mobility and 2) Not being so cavalier throwing the ball into coverage. 16/10 TD/INT Ratio.
#7	Ricky Stanzi	Iowa	Worse QB rating than 2008 and almost lost a couple of games with INT's. After an offseason of Tom Brady comparisons and TRE's orgasmic musings about perfect mechanics, took a step backward by throwing some inconceivable picks. Injury won't affect 2010 performance.
#8	Ben Chappell	IND	Another pleasant surprise who made a habit of scaring the hell out of teams in the first half, only to regress terrible in the second half. Stats v. Wisky three weeks ago: 25-35, 323 yards, 3 TD's, 2 Picks. Microcosm of a thoroughly entertaining Hoosier team.
#9	Adam Weber	MN	I called for his benching four weeks ago. After torching State like Stewie torching Brian during the "Got My Money" Family Guy episode, had three consecutive bad performances. This offense can't transition to MarQueis Gray quick enough. Threw the single worst Big Ten pass of the year (the pick6 to Derek Domino of South Dakota St).
#10	Juice Williams	ILL	Juice shredded Michigan and was generally effective versus NW. Early season struggles are hard to overcome on this list though, especially coming from the main catalyst of the Big Ten's most disappointing team.
#11	Tate Forcier	UM	He's not REALLY the worst QB in the Big Ten. But I'm a Michigan fan and he threw four picks against OSU, thus prolonging a 5 game losing streak.

I can't handle the truth: A Gopher Football diatribe

jerdogg1 — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:11:28 -0000

Call me Lt. Daniel Kaffee if you must. If it was me standing there, yelling at Col. Nathan Jessep, demanding the truth, and he yelled back at me "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!" He'd be right. I can't handle the truth, not today.

Here are the facts:

The Gophers finished the season 6-6, which happens to be exactly where a lot of people thought they would end up.

Unless you believed Graham, Law Buck and Bama Hawk. And if you did, I'm sorry.

The Gophers beat Syracuse, Air Force, Northwestern, Purdue, Michigan State and South Dakota State. They were absolutely expected to win 5 of those games, with Michigan State being the trump card. They lost to Cal, Wisconsin, Penn State, Ohio State, Illinois and Iowa. Five of those teams are very good teams. Illinois is the game that stings the most.

So, the facts can be summed up as such: The Gophers finished the season with the record that many people felt they would, they won the games that they were supposed to win, most of the games they lost were to better teams, and they didn't do enough in the fence games to get them past a .500 record.

Now the truth...

I told you, I am having trouble swallowing this part... you know, the truth. The truth about the Gopher football team is something that we probably should have realized when we struggled with Purdue (yes, I said struggled even though we won by 15). It was painfully obvious when we were shut out by PSU, and again when we laid a proverbial second half egg against OSU.

But then came Sparty, who rolled into The Bank with a 5-4 record, just like us, and seemed like a pretty good team. The Gophers were all over the Spartans on Halloween putting up 42 points while Adam Weber threw for 416 yards and 5 TD's. And suddenly, as a fan, I forgot all about struggling with Purdue, and getting crushed by PSU and OSU. I thought maybe we had broken out of our shell.

Boy was I wrong.

You see, what I should have come to grips with after Purdue, and without question after PSU and OSU, was the fact that our football team is not good. We just aren't. You want the truth, that's the truth. And like I said in the title to this post, I can't handle the truth.

I can't handle the truth because this was supposed to be the year that, even though we might finish with a poorer record than 2008, we might be a better football team who just ran into a tougher schedule. In Tim Brewster's third season we were supposed to be a better football team, no matter what our record ended up being.

I can't handle the truth because even though we finished about where we were expected to, it sure didn't feel like it. The fact is, when we won, we often won ugly (Syracuse, AF, Purdue, SDSU), and when we lost, we sometimes lost even uglier. Our best efforts were against Cal & Northwestern (1-1), our worst efforts were against PSU & SDSU (1-1). No matter how you slice it, we're a .500 team.

I can't handle the truth because I firmly believe that this Gopher football program is the most talented that we have seen, top to bottom, in the last decade. We maybe didn't have the superstars that some of the past Gopher teams had (Barber, Maroney), but I still believe that top to bottom we have the most talented team we've had in a long time. You can't look at this Gopher team and tell me that we don't have the best defense that we've had in a generation. You can't look at this Gopher team and tell me that we don't have the most talented receiving group that we've had in a decade.

I can't handle the truth because a coaching staff that is supposed to be young and aggressive and creative and enterprising couldn't figure out just what the hell to do with all of that talent. Hayo Carpenter was the top rated JUCO WR in the nation... where was he all year? MarQueis Gray was the second rated dual-threat QB in the country coming out of HS (the top rated just happens to be the starter for the conference champions)... and he barely got a sniff of the field. This coaching staff had ZERO idea how to use the talent that it had patted itself on the back for recruiting.

I can't handle the truth because a Gopher offense that has been our strength since the Mason era, a Gopher offense that was supposed to be the strength of our team last year, a third year starter at QB, an aggressive head coach and a wunderkind offensive coordinator spent an entire season showing nothing but ineptitude and not holding up its end of the bargain as the Gopher defense went out and did work nearly every week.

I can't handle the truth because I really wanted to believe that Tim Brewster was the right man for this program. Not only did I want to believe it, I did believe it. But I'm not so sure anymore. He came in guns blazing, hitting the recruiting trail, saying all of the things that those of us who were thirsty for a change wanted to hear. But none of it has translated to W's on the field.

But mostly I can't handle the truth because the results that we got with the previous regime, the results that we thought we were working to put behind us, are staring us right in the face yet again. A .500 record, meeting the very lowest expectations, beating only the teams you are supposed to beat, a mid-tier bowl game... this has been Gopher football for the past 10 years.

And that is Gopher football yet again this year. Not an easy truth for a die-hard fan to swallo.

Why Do Spartans Dislike RichRod So Much?

grahamfiller10 — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:04:53 -0000

I got a text message today from a Spartan friend who was obviously excited about the Purdue win enough to feel condescending. He texted:

In RichRod We Trust

That was all. And it confounds me, because there was never this kind of dislike toward Bo or Lloyd Carr in East Lansing, both who resided over numerous thrashings of Michigan State. This isn't an isolated text either, all anyone around here (East Lansing) wants to discuss with me is whether RichRod is running the program into the ground. No discussion about the changed offense or the worst UM defense maybe ever. Just vitriol and sarcasm pointed directly at Rodriguez.

Why in the world would a Michigan State fan have nothing but positive things to say about RichRod? Hell, I'd be starting a "Keep RR" website. Consider the things that have happened since Rich took over-

MSU has two inspiring victories over Michigan, both showing a superior Spartan team.
Michigan has featured it's two worst defenses in Ann Arbor history, scoring wise.
The "never lost to a MAC school" meme has been shattered.
MSU won the in-state recruiting battle this year, which Dantonio has repeatedly mentioned as a vital part of his building.
The Maize and Blue boosters and big names have been split into Old Guard and Not Old Guard, and this fissure hasn't been pretty, as the Rick Leach-Lloyd Carr incident showed.
Michigan may miss a bowl game for a 2nd consecutive year.
The Detroit Free Press and former players were so disenchanted with RR that they organized a nice attack piece regarding his practice habits, leading to an NCAA investigation.

So remind me again why Spartan fans would be anything but positive towards RichRod staying in Ann Arbor for years to come? Either supporters of Michigan State are stupid, and long for the days of inferiority to return...Or they think that by mocking the head coach, I will be deeply hurt because I have to support a team that he coaches...Or the specific Spartans I deal with are closeted UM fans, secretly hoping for a resurgence in AA...Or they fear the eventual dominance of his Spread offense and want him out before it comes to fruition...Or these fans don't know anything about schemes or football and just spout what they read online.

Whatever it is, my East Lansing brothers, I encourage you to focus on our 5-6 record, our talentless defense, and our Big Ten slide. There's plenty of material there for annoying text messages and chat room LOL's. Don't worry about our head coach. He's getting at least one more year (and probably two) to sharpen his system with his recruits.

Defensive Discussions, Week 11 In The Big Ten: Pryor v. Angerer, Clay v. Graham

grahamfiller10 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:54:50 -0000

Here's the questions I asked last week with some answers -

Will Wisconsin go for the jugular early against Indiana? Nope. The Badgers ran their base 4-3 and showed tremendous confidence in their corners, a confidence that Chappell exploited as the game went on. Although O'Brien Schofield had a couple impact plays, the Badgers never blitzed and stayed contently in their zone.

Will Illinois bring pressure against Adam Weber? Clay Nurse and co had 7 sacks, so the answer is most definitely YES...I think that's the most in the Big Ten for a single game this year. Another quick example of why I tear my hair out at Weber dropping back so much behind that horrible pass blocking line.

How will Greg Robinson stop the bleeding against Purdue? He won't. But it's looking more and more like a talent issue in Ann Arbor - Robinson has altered his players and his schemes but no one makes plays. The safeties are the worst in Michigan history.

Who will smash Pryor first? No one. Pryor's legs helped OSU pick up huge first downs and avoid getting stuck in 3rd and long.

How will Northwestern stop Brandon Wegher? Pressure and stacking the box. The Wildcats attacked with their base defense, but this time their playmakers made a difference. After ending Ricky Stanzi's regular season, the Wildcats forced Iowa to throw into deep zones by jamming LB's into gaps at the LOS. Wegher had 63 yards and the Iowa QB's were a predictable 13-36 passing.

So onto this weeks' questions...

How will Iowa contain TP? I checked BHGP for some analysis on this. Finding none, I checked my DVR for a hint on the Iowa defensive gameplan for the monster game on Sat. Frankly (and any semi-coherent Iowa fan will know this), Iowa doesn't exactly mix up its defensive schemes. That 4-3 depends on the individual talent and toughness of every player, not on blitzing, stunting, or mixed coverages. In fact, Indiana burnt Iowa 3-4 times when the Hawkeyes blitzed. So when TP and the Buckeye shotgun attack comes 'acallin', expect more of the same. A linebacker will spy Pryor and I expect the DE's will take wider splits to force TP back into Klug. The OSU power run game has been consistently okay, but Iowa won't fear it thanks to the experience of Angerer and Hunter.

How will Northwestern slow the sudden threat of Illinois' downfield passing attack? Charest completed passes of 42, 31, 27, 24, 23, 17, and 14 yards last week against Mini. This new facet has been added because Juice was incompetent at throwing the ball and what does Zook have to lose by giving his future QB some experience? Northwestern has put it's pants on after early season defensive debacles, due mostly to injuries and missed tackles. Now that Wootton has turned into a probable double team drawer and the linebackers are actually tackling, it seems some early blitzes to rile young Charest might be in line. Don't sleep on this Wildcat D - every single position has improved throughout the season, even while playing harder opponents.

Make sure to go back and submit your picks for Week 11 of the Obligatory Predictions Contest. Weekly winners get a chance to write 500 words on the site.

Will NO IT WON'T HAPPEN Michigan be able HAHA WRONG FAIL to slow John Clay? Um. IDK. Early season Michigan was a comeback team, but if Wisconsin takes a lead on the back of it's Student Body Right/Left/Middle running game, this contest is over. DE Brandon Graham is a 1st Team All Big 10 Performer, probably the best run stopping DE in the conference, while Martin and Van Bergen are above average defensive lineman. If the DE's can shoot up field and kill the off tackles/sweeps (like Graham has been doing regularly), the Wolverines stand a chance. If not, the horrendous LB's get to handfight 320 lb. linemen while I cry softly in my man cave.

Can Indiana continue it's yard gobbling offensive form against a solid PSU defense? Penn State's defense has been the cause of zero of it's big game problems this year. If Ray Small doesn't slash a 40 yard punt return at the start of last weeks game, it's a 10-7 game late into the 4th quarter. And it's so obvious why they succeed - probably the Big Ten's best collection of linebackers in the last 10 years (Lee, Bowman, Hull) and a good front four. But Indiana has come out firing on all cylinders against just about everyone except Virginia - I'm talking trick plays, constant misdirection, incredibly effective slants to big receivers. Indiana does break down when Chappell gets pressured and I'm sure a Penn State defensive coach noticed this. So pressure early? Is that a Penn State MO? Or will they follow the Wisconsin route (sit back in zone coverage and forget about blitzing)?

The Spartans play a decent passing offense. Will we finally see some wrinkles in the Big Ten's worst pass defense? No. Next question. Narduzzi doesn't wrinkle, he simply watches his talented front 7 stop everyone's run game while the bedraggled secondary gives up lots of points and yards. And when he does switch to a 3-3, THIS HAPPENS.

Burnt Like a Couch on Grand River: The Michigan State Secondary

grahamfiller10 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:45:38 -0000

During that wild Minnesota win Saturday, I had the luxury of drinking some Japanese beer at a sushi bar and strolling over to an Animal House-esque Michigan State Halloween house party. Amidst this fine East Lansing bedlam, I was unable to watch the entire contest between the Gophers and Spartans.

Today, I remedied this by watching the memorable game in its entirety. I wanted to see if, upon further review, the Spartans defense was as bad as advertised.

Here are the non quantifiable stats I picked from the Minnesota offensive possessions:

Missed Tackles in the Spartan Secondary: 1...Surprisingly low for a unit that gave up 416 yards passing. Instead of whiffing on tackles completely, the defenders were simply in bad position.

Completely Blown Coverages: 3...Most of these were early in the game, as the Spartan defenders were unable to keep their zone integrity. When a receiver cut across the field towards the opposite sideline, the zone wouldn't move with that player. Ross Weaver and Eric Gordon were the main culprits early, but Chris L. Rucker spent the second half being lit up.

QB Pressures: 4...The Spartans didn't touch Weber until the third quarter. Talk all you want about the confused zone, but any cornerback looks bad when he has to maintain coverage for 4-5 seconds.

Important Defense Adjustments: 2...If you give up 270 first half passing yards, I would hope for some changes. In the second half, I saw one cornerback blitz and a few linebacker blitzes. Also, MSU threw in a 3-3 scheme on one third down scenario - the Gophers converted anyways. Narduzzi has his base defense and really won't do anything - three linebackers ALWAYS and little change elsewhere.

Impressive Minnesota Catches: 4...Sweet catches were plentiful as Weber had time to whip the ball deep and to the sidelines. Tow-Arnett made a touchdown grab so sweet that the announcer referred to Tow-Arnett as Weber's "blankie." Love it.

Impressive Weber Throws: 4...The man was dialed in all night, but he zipped a couple balls down the middle that were especially well done. He also tossed two touchdowns on one possession - the first got reversed, but the second stood.

So in conclusion, the torchable Spartan secondary (Jeremy Ware, Rucker, Weaver, Marcus Hyde) showed little interest in keeping their zone coverage intact, while the front four refused to pressure Weber. Pat Narduzzi stuck to his 4-3 guns and failed to mix up his coverages, but he can't be blamed for the circus catches made by the Gopher WR's. I'll be keeping a close watch on this Spartan team as Mark Dantonio tries to pull his squad back from the edge of the Queso Bowl.

Who in the heck was that?

jerdogg1 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:58:02 -0000

I was at The Bank (TCF Bank Stadium) on Saturday evening for a Halloween Gopher match-up with the Michigan State Spartans. I was sitting in the top row of the upper deck (as a side note, still great seats). I was wearing layers of warm clothing. I was wearing a Gophers stocking cap (a tuque for you Canadians). I was surrounded by other Gopher fans, and I was two sections away from a large group of Michigan State fans.

As I walked out of The Bank the scoreboard read Minnesota 42, Michigan State 34. I saw all of these things with my very own eyes.

I also saw Adam Weber throwing to 6 different receivers. I saw Nick Tow-Arnett lead the team in receptions. I saw Da'Jon McKnight emerge as a Gopher receiver. I saw the Gophers get yellow-flagged 17 times, and I saw those penalties cost them 157 yards. Again, I saw all of these things with my very own eyes, so I have to believe that they happened.

Graham made a compelling case for benching Weber...

I talked last week about optimism leaving Gopher Nation after Decker went down...

But there is something else that I saw with my own eyes that I am just not sure I believe...

Adam Weber: 19 for 31, 416 yards, 5 TD's, 1 INT.

THAT. JUST. HAPPENED.

And do you know what that does? That blows my mind.

On a Halloween Night at The Bank, Adam Weber blew my mind. I'm not so sure that that wasn't somebody else masquerading as Adam Weber on Halloween, because the dude who threw for over 400 yards and 5 touchdowns was not the same guy we have seen lead our offense for the past five games or so.

Do you realize...

... Adam Weber threw for 129 more yards in this single game than he did in his last 3 games COMBINED?

... Weber threw as many TD's against MSU (5) as he did against the Gophers previous SIX opponents?

... Weber had the game of his life WITHOUT Eric Decker?

But do you also realize...

... Weber has 12 total TD's this season, and 10 of them have come in just 3 games: Cal (3), NWestern (2), and Michigan State (5)?

... Saturday's game was Weber's only game this season over 300 yards?

... Weber has thrown an INT in 6 of 7 games this season... his only non-INT game was against Air Force, where he also did not throw a TD?

So again, I have no idea who that guy was wearing Weber's jersey on Saturday, but whoever he was, I'm glad he was there.

Boise State hammers San Jose State, 45-7; Broncos move to 8-0 on the season

Kevan Lee — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:17:47 -0000

More photos » by Matt Cilley - AP

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Boise State started slowly but finished strong, hammering San Jose State with timely takeaways and Kellen Moore TDs for the 45-7 win. Moore had three passing TDs and a rushing TD, Kyle Wilson took a pick for a score, and the Bronco defense confused and confounded SJSU QBs all afternoon long.

What stood out for you in the Broncos' big win? Who was your MVP? Vote in the poll below and leave your thoughts in the comments. Analysis coming.

The five minutes that changed everything

Late in the first half, Boise State led only 10-7. And then San Jose State's world caved in.

Q2 1:15 Kellen Moore completes a 3rd and 10 pass for 12 yards to Matt Kaiserman down to the San Jose State 18.
Q2 0:44 Kellen Moore to Mitch Burroughs for an 18-yard TD. Broncos lead 17-7.
Q2 0:35 With first and 10 from their own 23, SJSU's Lamon Muldrow is stripped by Jason Robinson who recovers the fumble and gives Boise State the ball at the 22.
Q2 0:20 On third and 10, Kellen Moore completes a 21-yard pass to Tyler Shoemaker for a first down at the SJSU 1.
Q2 0:03 Kellen Moore scores on QB sneak. Broncos lead 24-7.
Q3 San Jose State goes three-and-out on first possession.
Q3 Boise State goes 62 yards in 8 plays and 2:26, capped by an Austin Pettis TD catch. Broncos lead 31-7.
Q3 9:26 On the second play of San Jose State's next possession, Jordan La Secla is picked off by Kyle Wilson who returns the pick 27 yards for a TD. Broncos lead 38-7.

In less than five minutes of actual game time, the Broncos score 28 unanswered points. And that was all she wrote.

Kellen Moore's Heisman invite gaining legs

Moore was clutch against San Jose, converting some important third downs and making some pretty throws. He finished with typical Moore numbers: 21-for-33, 278 yards, 3 TDs, no picks. And he's going to get better in his junior and senior years? I can hardly imagine that at this point.

The Kirby Moore era will undoubtedly be a good one

Kellen's brother had his best day as a collegian, catching 4 passes for 80 yards and a beautiful TD catch from older brother Kellen. Moore got extra playing time with the half-benching of Titus Young who was left out of several packages thanks to his celebration antics in last week's Hawaii game. With Moore seeming to hit his stride, could regular playing time be in store regardless of who's half-benched?

Kyle Wilson gets what he deserves

Wilson got both his first INT and his first TD out of the way on the same play early in the second half with a pick-six of Jordan La Secla. Wilson stepped in front of SJSU's Kevin Jurovich and took the pass 27 yards to the end zone. Wilson was oh-so-close on a couple of completions to Jurovich in the first half, and he finally got the extra step he needed on the INT.

Good for him. Wilson was due, and it could be the first of many big plays that Wilson records as the season winds down.

Did anyone get the number of the truck that hit San Jose State's offense?

Take away 77 yards on San Jose State's lone touchdown drive, and the Spartans finished the afternoon with less than 150 yards of total offense. Credit the Bronco defense, which played fundamentally sound all afternoon. The fact that the defense might get overlooked for its performance in today's game just goes to show how far this defense has come that we fans expect performances like this week in and week out.

Fortunately, Kellen Moore had plans to dress up as a giant bruise for the post-game Halloween party

Saturday may have been the roughest game for Kellen Moore since last season's P-Bowl. Moore took several heavy hits, including a crushing blow on the sack-fumble in the first quarter that seriously hindered his double high-fiving for the rest of the game. As noted in the game comments, was the offensive line mad at Kellen Moore? The pass blocking was as leaky as ever, and for the first time all season I mentally prepared myself for Michael Coughlin taking meaningful first half snaps. I then wept softly for a few minutes.

The Mitch Burroughs Experience finding new ways to shock and awe

Burroughs scored his first collegiate touchdown on a blown assignment to end all blown assignments by the San Jose secondary. At least it wasn't a bubble screen. Am I right, people?

Did Burroughs' TD catch raise his profile in your eyes? My jury is still out.

Garrett Pendergast and Co. with the biggest turnaround since San Jose State in pass coverage

Pendergast was the goat of the first half with his blown block on Kellen's sack-fumble. He struggled to contain Adonis Davis on nearly every snap for the first quarter-and-a-half, as did much of the rest of the line with whoever they were supposed to block.

Credit the Bronco coaching staff and the offensive line for making adjustments and making it work from late second quarter and on. That was a different game once the Broncos flipped the switch. It was a game I could watch without sweating every drop back.

Doug Martin makes it a real blowout again

Martin worked some more last drive magic to add seven more points to the Broncos' total and make the final score even worse than it would have been.

Was 38-7 going to look that hot? Like I say every night before I go to bed, "Thank God for Doug Martin."

Other notes

Is Winston Venable on the blitz the scariest thing you can imagine?
Only one fumbled snap is probably a moral victory at this point for the Broncos.
Was that the worst drop of Austin Pettis' career? Same for Tyler Shoemaker?
Crowd of 31,000 was lowest in a long time. Is there really that much else to do in Boise on a Saturday afternoon?
Pettis should trademark that jump back move he does in the open field. 60 percent of the time it works every time.
Aaron Tevis has been coming on strong as of late, and it's good to see Derrell Acrey back in the lineup again.
Kaiserman continued to get carries over Doug Martin. I'm not sure how this makes me feel.
Defensive tackle update: J.P. Nisby had his knee scoped and will miss a couple weeks, and Michael Atkinson's balky ankle kept him out against SJSU. Billy Winn was out temporarily with an injury, but he appeared fine.

Poll

Who was Boise State's player of the game versus San Jose State?

Kellen Moore

166 votes

Kyle Wilson

24 votes

Kirby Moore

34 votes

Jason Robinson

12 votes

236 votes | Poll has closed