[Bumped, now that everyone's had a chance to wade through all the front page content from the weekend.  Final MSU pass defense stats in 8 conference games: 268.5 yards/game, 59.8% Comp%, 7.6 yards/attempts, 22-3 TD-INT ratio.  There's your first team all-Big Ten QB right there.  Indictment of Dantonio/Narduzzi 4-3-or-bust defensive approach complete? -KJ]

As I am sure everyone knows, the defense has pretty much been in the epic fail category all year.  I am going to talk about our scheme and Penn State's scheme.  Why their defense works and ours costs us several games each year.

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[Bumped.  Enough of this wussy basketball stuff.  Eyes on the prize, baby:

--LVS.]

I am fired up for another big game this weekend.  Michigan State's fake rival comes to town.  Dantonio is 1-1 against the Lions and this is a big game for both program.  PSU has hopes of getting their asses kicked in to a BCS game.  MSU wants to be above .500.  I'd rather be in their shoes. 

This is also a big game in my household as my wife is a Penn State alum.  I would love to rub an MSU win in her face, but she doesn't care about football and I have to live with her.  So, hpoefully its a good game to watch.  On with the preview!

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Or possibly lack there of.  A few notes.   I recommend not bumping this post until it is complete.  Hopefully that will be Wednesday night.  I am attempting to improve the rate of MSUFRs produced by doing a quarter a day rather than everything at once.  I am also including a new metric for the defense.  I am assigning passing yards against whom the play was completed.  IE if a LB was in coverage and pass is complete for 6 yards the metric reads, LB 6, DB 0.  It'll be a cumulative stat for the game.  I believe MSUs pass defense problems are by teams attacking our LBs in coverage.  Its why they go to 4WR sets against our 4-3 defense.  I am also included KJ's super metric about getting disruptive. 

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I like football.  Especially college football.  So, here are my thoughts on this weeks games.  I am still working on the MSUFR for the MN game and hope to have that up before the weekend.

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What better way to celebrate a big win over Western than to go back and look at the Minnesota game.

Since last year during the Michigan game when Michigan was awarded a TD, the Big Ten officiating for football has been on my radar for being bad.  I am sure everyone remembers the play, the receiver was in the air, hit the pylon with his foot and the play was called no catch on the field.  The play was reviewed by the replay official and he awarded Michigan a TD.  The pylon is out of bounds in the endzone, so when the player touched the pylon, he established himself as being out of bounds.  How they screwed that one up is beyond me, but they did. 

After that I have seen a few plays this year that were not exactly stellar calls, or really bad non calls.  So, back to the Minnesota game.

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I had every intention of making a good thread this week but never had time.  I normally try to write up what is going on with college football for the week with the most intriguing games.  I have not had a lot of time lately with the MSUFRs.  And I have also not had a lot of time for the MSUFRs either.  Hopefully I'll be able to get one done soon.  So, here is what I think is important this week. 

ACC
Virginia at Miami. Miami should be able to get an easy W this week. Virginia has been all over the map this year but has never been a great team.

Florida State at Clemson. Clemson has been a surprisingly good team this year. FSU has been shockingly bad. FSU has to win to have th possibility of 7 wins this year. A loss means FSU will be at best 6-6 and on the edge for a bowl game.

Big XII
Not a lot of excitement this week. Texas has a non-conference game against UCF. Other than that, Oklahoma is at Nebraska. Nebraska had a great start to the season, but has really fallen apart after beating Missouri. It will be interesting to see how they play today and if its a bellweather for the rest of the season.

Big East
Only three games and two of them are duds. UConn is at Cincinnati. UConn has been a little dissappointing this year, but I guess that has to be expected after pumping a bunch of kids into the NFL. Cinncy has been a monster and looks to stay undefeated for a possible BCS NC appearance.

Big Ten
I think this week the Big Ten admitted that everyone sucks so they put all the games on at noon except for OSU at PSU. Michigan and MSU need wins to have a chance at a bowl game. Michgian hosts Purdue who has lost in fumble tastic fashion throughout the year but also beat Ohio State. I think this is UMs best chance to get to 6 wins this year. MSU hosts Western Michigan who was drubbed by Michigan to start the season. MSU has been out coached four times this year and it didn't exactly take a lot of effort from their opponents. MSU is trying to avoid losing to two MAC teams in one season.

Iowa hosts NW in a hugely surprising hate game. Iowa has dominated the games against NW but has ended up with an L at the end of the day. NW does have an offense that can attack the Iowa defense. I think the Hawkeyes had their stumble last week and get a W this week.

The only 3:30 game is OSU at PSU. Penn State's only loss this year was against Iowa. Iowa dominated PSU's o-line and put a beating on Daryll Clark. OSU has a better defense and defensive line. I think Clark will throw a couple of INTs this game and the PSU running game will be a dud. Defensively PSU isn't special but plays very disciplined. If they can get to Pryor at all he'll probably continue to make mistakes. I think this game will be low scoring and decided by turnovers. Whoever turns the ball over in the worst spot losses, and I think that will be Penn State.

C-USA
0-8 Rice is at SMU.

MAC
The MAC has already played 3 games this week. Bowling Green nicked Buffalo. Buffalo has fallen apart this year after winning the MAC last year. Temple beat Miami OH. Temple is 5-0 in conf play and 7-2 overall. I still can't believe that isn't a typo. NIU drubbed Eastern Michigan. EMU is 0-9 but has played some great games this year.

MWC
8-0 TCU is at San Diego State. TCU is well on their way to a BCS game but has to stay undefeated to get one. 0-8 New Mexico is at Utah.

Pac 10
Washington State at Arizona. Arizona is one of the teams still vying for a conference title. Oregon who is leading the conf is at Stanford. USC, whom I predicted would not be in the race for the Pac 10 this year, is at Arizona State. USC still has a slim chance of winning the Pac 10.

SEC
A lot of non-conference games in the SEC this week. Furman is at Auburn. An Auburn victory gets them to a bowl game. South Carolina is at Arkansas. Should be a shoot out.

The big one this week is LSU at Alabama. Bama has been lackluster a few times this year and if they don't put it together this week LSU could steal one. I think Alabama with their defense and LSU's lack of offense will be enough to have some 3 toothed hillbillies scream Roll Tide.

Sun Belt
Troy is at 0-8 Western Kentucky.

WAC
9-0 Boise State beat La Tech last night 45-35. <!-- / message -->

[Rebumped due to added content. -KJ]

FInally.  So, upgrades from last time.  I added the new metric that KJ came up with for the defense.  I also cut up videos so that there are several through as opposed to just one at the end.  I will probably be adding a few more in the future so check back after Tuesday for a few more. 

I will be fixing errors and adding updates as time allows this weekend.

Updated:  Added the metrics and Nickel vs Base discussion.

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Looking ahead the rest of this season has teams on the schedule that have now started playing teams the Spartans have played.  Iowa beat Michigan and Penn State so far this year.  Is that good news for the Spartans?

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We have all been wondering about the defensive scheme that was run last year.  I am trying to find video of MSU last year to verify what the defense was doing.  So far, I have one of the Michigan game and the few plays that are shown indicate the defense is the same as last year.  I will link the videos and post more if/when I find them. 

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