The biggest problem the Big 10 has faced in recent bowl games has been bad matchups.  Some teams overachieve during the course of a season and are placed in a more prestigious bowl against a better opponent (MSU).  Other schools simply get leapfrogged by a team that the bowl thinks will bring more fans (Michigan over Iowa).  The fact that the Big 10 regularly receives 2 BCS invitations also adds to the unbalanced matchups.

 

For argument's sake lets take a look at how the Big 10 Bowl matchups might've played out with Nebraska in the mix

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It really is too bad when one of the defining moments of the 2009 College Football season had to be an incident like the one above.  In one short moment Lagarrette Blount became an internet sensation and a black eye for his program.  It is obvious that Blount didn't consider the impact that his actions would have on his reputation as well as the school he represents.

Following the incident Blount issued the following:

"I just apologize to everybody that was watching this - ESPN, national TV - I just apologize to all of our fans, all the Boise fans,'' Blount said after he punched Boise State linebacker Byron Hout in the wake of Oregon's 19-8 loss in Boise on Thursday night. "It was just something that I shouldn't have done. I lost my head, and I shouldn't have taken it that far."

 

Everybody knows an apology doesn't make everything better, or erase the stupidity of your actions, but the one thing it does do is show ownership of your decisions and actions. 

I always wondered why there was never a public apology from Glenn Winston during the AJ Sturges incident?

"Me and the other victims have not received any form of apology from
Glenn Winston. Nothing. He has not acknowledged to us in any way the
damage he caused. While this fact remains ignored, I cannot allow
myself to believe that his debts have been paid, or even understood."

Before Winston was reinstated to the team there should've been a public apology by Winston to Sturges and his family as well as the University he embarrassed by his actions.  

Obviously it is too late for both Winston and Jenrette but I would like to see a formal apology from each one of the players present at Rather Hall.  Will it erase the incident?  Will it save the University from more public embarrassment? No....but at least it will show that the players are responsible for their actions and their conduct while they represent Michigan State University as a Student Athlete.

You've heard it from The Red Cedar Message Board, fans in Spartan Stadium, and even your girlfriend who barely follows the team.

"Notre Dame/Wisconsin/Michigan/Illinois/Northwestern/Iowa/Minnesota IS THE BIGGEST GAME OF THE SEASON!

 

Well Spartan fans I'm here to clear it all up.....Purdue is the biggest game of the season.  Why you ask?  Because we are playing a team that in my opinion reminds me of.......well....us.

Heartbreaking 4th quarter loss to ND?  Check

Loss to a MAC school? Correct

Close loss to a possible BCS-Bowl headed program? Yep

 

Lets face it their personnel might be a little different from ours but Purdue is very Michigan State.  Both of our defenses decide to give up points in bunches and our WR have a habit of dropping balls.  Hell we both share a 24-14 victory over Illinois!

 

OK that logic might be a little shaky but lets look at couple keys to the game on Saturday:

 

MSU Keys:

1. CREATIVITY:  Yes Purdue has given up a ton of yards on the ground this year.....and I fully expect us to establish the run early and often.  I'm praying Larry Caper has shaken the cobwebs and is fully ready to go.  I expect a heavy dose of Caper/Baker with a sprinkling of Ashton Leggett in the 2nd half and goal-line situations.   That being said....lets see some CREATIVITY.  Keshawn Martin has been coming on like gangbusters lately so can we please find creative ways to GET HIM THE BALL.  I'd also like to see our WRs step up big time this week and get timely position grabs from BJ Cunningham and downfield passes to Blair White.

 

2. Don't get discouraged on D:  Lets face it right now....Purdue is going to score some points on us.  If we win the toss I don't know who I would rather see take the field first.  On one hand you have the potential of the Wisconsin game where the offense came out and ran twice and had one short pass during the shortest opening drive in Spartan history (baseless accusation).  Or the Minnesota debacle where they air-raided us to an opening two minute 14 point lead.  We've fought back in every game so far this year and it is up to our D to step up and help carry this team.

 

3.  DANTONIO:  As pointed out by people all across the internet...please don't get arrogant and put in Keith Nichol.  I don't know what you promised him to get him here and play backup to Kirk Cousins but please don't put Keith Nichol in the game unless Kirk Cousins can't walk.  Remember the Dantonio we all know and love?  The one who called for an onside kick @ ND to get us back in the game....the one who called for a Fake FG against Indiana in 2007.  That's the Mark Dantonio I want to see on Saturday.  What do we have to lose on Saturday?  It is time to pull out all the stops and throw in everything but the kitchen sink....because if Danny Hope proved anything last Saturday sometimes on the road you need to take a gamble to give your team a spark.

 

Purdue Keys: (what to watch out for)

1. TRICK PLAYS/ONSIDE KICKS/SWINGING GATE ETC:  Ok...I don't expect to see a swinging gate on Saturday but I'm not putting anything past Danny Hope at this point.  Please be on the lookout for anything....this is Purdue's Senior Day so I expect them to do anything to get the win.  Please see the Onside Kick vs. Michigan or the HB pass from the Oregon game or the....

 

2.  WATCH OUT KERRIGAN!  If anybody has watched any Purdue football this year (which I assume is pretty much nobody outside of Purdue or Hoosier fans) you will know that Kerrigan is a beast.  I'm sure Spartan Fans will remember him from such plays as "sack Forcier on the biggest play of the game"  during the 2-point conversion.  

 

3.  CAPITALIZE ON TOs:  Purdue is going to turn the football over.  Joey Elliot has 13 INTs alone this season and has thrown at least 2 picks in 4 games this season.   Purdue has also had a FG attempt blocked and various other miscues that have resulted in opponents TDs.   We have had our fair share of TOs and I expect Baker to put at least one ball on the ground on Saturday.  We win the TO battle we win this game. (I know...duh)

 

PREDICTION:

 

Lets face it...home field advantage this season in the Big 10 has been about as overrated as that stupid indie band Grizzly Bear.  That being said....Purdue will be playing at home in a stadium that has been a house of horrors for Michigan State.  I hate that damn train and my ears will be bleeding all day Saturday hearing the "BOILER UP TOOT TOOT" cheer all game long.

I like Purdue and its fans...my trip to Ross Ade Stadium in 2001 was a sad one as  TJ Duckett was held to just 19 yards on 11 carries.  I expect our stable of RBs to fare better but ultimately we will fall short.

 

Hopefully I'm wrong but I'm going to go with Purdue: 31 MSU: 28

 

 

 

via blog.mlive.com

I follow recruiting with a modest interest so its safe to say that my first impression of Ashton Leggett was the rivals profile which lists him as a 5'11 225 pound RB rated 3 stars.  The next stereotypical thing to do would be to look at his offers which included a bunch of MAC schools and MSU.  

According to a September 2nd 2009 column by Terry Foster: "Ashton had a magical Senior season rushing for a school-record 2,013 yards and 32 Touchdowns."  Muskegon is a good football program and I don't care who you play against 32 Touchdowns is a lot.  

Ashton arrived on campus and was redshirted his freshman year which seems to be the norm according to Mark Dantonio.  

2008 is where it gets interesting for me.  Early in the season it was pretty clear that we were going to rush Ringer whenever possible but every once in awhile we would give him a breather allowing somebody to step up in his absence.  Andre Anderson seemed to be the first option but after barely gaining any yardage in multiple games his fate was sealed with one play

MICHIGAN

2nd and 3 at MICH 27

Andre Anderson rush for 1 yard, fumbled, recovered by Mich Terrance Taylor at the Mich 26

If you remember in that game we were basically rushing Ringer to death and we wanted to give him one breather and this is what happened.

Jimmerson and Legett were given a chance in mop up duty against EMU  but this always sticks out to me from that game.

1st and Goal at EMU 4

Ashton Leggett rush for 4 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.

7

41

yes it was already 41-7 and it was against EMU but we actually decided to let one of our backups come in and build some confidence with a goal-line TD run.  Did we leave Ringer in too long?  Probably, but we were set on actually padding his TD totals after letting Caulcrick run it in from pretty much every goal-line situation.

Unfortunately for Leggett he had his own "Anderson" moment in the Purdue game at a crucial time.  Like Anderson, we were trying to give Ringer a break and he had his one moment to shine and this happened...

3rd and 2 at PUR 18

Ashton Leggett rush for a loss of 6 yards, fumbled, recovered by Prdue at the Prdue 22.

 

That was the last time we would see Leggett that season because Winston started receiving more carries and Dantonio went all pass happy down 42-7 in the 3rd quarter to PSU en route to a blowout 49-18 loss @ PSU.

 

In hindsight it is easy to criticize Dantonio but leaving Ringer in for pretty much the whole EMU game and letting him pad his stats with 5 TDs might have been the wrong thing to do.  We didn't develop any confidence or ability in our backups by letting them get valuable game experience.  You could also argue that we could've used the backups a little more when we started to pull away in the Indiana game.

 

Heading into 2009 this is what we get from Joe Rexrode's Blog April 16th 2009

A nugget of news from before today's MSU practice: Mark Dantonio says sophomore Ashton Leggett is distinguishing himself in the four-way spring battle at running back.

    "He’s separated himself a little bit," Dantonio said of Leggett, who is competing with Andre Anderson, A.J. Jimmerson and Caulton Ray, with freshmen Edwin Baker and Larry Caper set to join the mix in the fall.
    Leggett is the biggest of the backs at 237 pounds, and Dantonio said his ability to break from initial contact has been the difference.
    "At some point in time as a running back you’ve got to be able to break tackles," Dantonio said. "Ashton has shown that."
    Dantonio also said it's stilll a close race overall. But Leggett is the first guy to emerge.

 

 

So after Spring Ball we have Leggett bigger and stronger and up to around 237 pounds and supposedly breaking from initial contact and shedding tackles.  This seems to me to be something we are looking for in a red-zone back. So sometime during preseason practices Caper and Ray emerge as well as Winston and Edwin Baker.  This is pretty much confirmed in the opening win vs. Montana State with Ray getting 12 carries Caper  Baker 8 carries and Caper 7 carries.  Ashton is left with one carry for 0 yards.

 

 

Even after Caper emerged as the best MSU RB this from Eric Lacy's Big 10 Blog on October 17th 2009

 

"We’ve had a good week of practice. Whether it’s Caulton Ray, Andre Anderson or Edwin Baker, one of those three guys will probably emerge as the other guy with Larry Caper. Ashton Leggett possibly, he had a good day of practice today as well. We’d like to keep the redshirt on Edwin Baker… don’t know if we can, but we’ll see how it goes." - October 15th 2009 Shannon Shelton FREEP Blog

Baker said coach Mark Dantonio told him Thursday he wanted him to play, after coaches gave the other running backs a close look in practice - October 17th 2009 Eric Lacy DETNEWS Big 10 Blog

The biggest thing that strikes me about that last quote is that supposedly the other RBs were given a chance to step up but nobody did besides Baker.  Now that Ray and Anderson are gone and Winston injured it only seems logical to give Ashton a chance.  I believe there were some rumors of a Leggett transfer from Hondo or some other internet site so I say we give him a shot especially in goal-line situations.

 

I'm sorry this entry is a little scatter-brained and all over the board but hopefully somebody else can pickup and run with this idea or do a little more research.

 

 

 

 

"What about ME!" - Benjamin Linus

via graphics8.nytimes.com

What about you Wisconsin?  With all of the pre-season love going around to middle of the pack teams like Iowa Minnesota and even Northwestern (???) one team has been forgotten...and that team is the Wisconsin Badgers.

So you have your wish Badger nation, this Spartan fan is hopping on the Bandwagon and driving it straight to the Outback Bowl in Tampa.

The Good:

1.  How about that schedule?  Dodging the spread/speed of PSU and Illinois is huge, and getting MSU/Iowa at home is a major plus.  Looking at the schedule you see one game that stands out to you as an almost surefire loss (@tOSU).  Your other three league road games are @ NW @ IU and @ Minn.  

2.  John Clay:  Does anybody else remember last season when Clay went rumbling 32 yards into the endzone almost crushing our hopes against the Badgers?  Clay is a wrecking ball who served as the second option behind PJ Hill last year....I know many Badger fans who look at Hill's early departure as a blessing as it will bring Clay into the spotlight as the feature back.   Clay has had his fair share of bumps and bruises during the grueling Big 10 season but he also has a great compliment in RB Zach Brown.  

3.  WR/TE:  I witnessed the speed and explosiveness of David Gilreath last year as he took an end-around and ran by our whole defense.  Gilreath is due for a breakout year and will have support from stud TE Garrett Graham and Kyle Jefferson who you might remember from such hits as

#14 Kyle Jefferson Takes A Big Hit - Mich State @ Wisconsin (via TheFritter04)

I'm sure Kyle doesn't remember it.

4. Phillip Welch:  Last but not least you have a returning kicker who was a 2008 Lou Groza semi-finalist and a money kicker who turned in a career best 4 FG performance against Michigan last season (including a 52 yarder).

 

The Bad:

1. QB?  I know Curt Phillips is the future, but my money is on Dustin Sherer.  The guy had a rough 2008 but I look for him to have a Hoyer-esque year in 2009 trying to manage games with his arm while relying heavily on the run game.  Costly TOs ruined Wisconsin's chances in a lot of games last season and protecting the football should be a major concern in 2009.

The Ugly:

1. Bret Bielema:  Bielema walked into a great situation in 2006 and many thought he was the hottest young coach in the league (Sorry Fitz).  Well the honeymoon is over after the epic collapse vs. Michigan and the blown game vs. MSU.  The man with the Iowa Hawkeye tattoo on his leg is slowly losing supporters in Madison but he still has the confidence of the man who hired him.  I can't say I'm a huge Bilema fan...especially after his kick-off loophole antics vs. PSU in 2006.  If he wants to get off the hotseat in 2009 he will need at least 8-9 wins to make Badger fans happy.

 

Prediction:  I have Wisconsin going 9-3 finishing in 3rd place in the Big 10.   You have to see them going 4-0 in the non-conference (N.Ill, Fresno St. Wofford, Hawaii) and dropping the game @tOSU.  The two biggest games remaining are Iowa and MSU at home.  MSU hasn't won at Wisconsin since the Dortch injury game and I don't see them ending the drought.  The only other games I could possibly see Wisconsin losing would be Iowa and Michigan.  Both these games are at home and you should never count the Badgers out in games in Madtown.

 

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