SB Nation User Blog: grahamfiller10

MSU-TT in the Alamo Bowl: Suspension Impact?

grahamfiller10 — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 23:34:16 -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?

sometimes I feel like a motherless child*

grahamfiller10 — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:38:52 -0000

It's always such a horrific feeling, this first Saturday without a slate of cfb contests to gorge myself on. As personal cynicism toward my Michigan fandom increases, I find myself attached to the schemes and formations and individual talents that make up football. What a sense of euphoria I gained this year, posted up at the gym with 4 TV's all tuned to a noon game in full swing.

Now I sit in my recliner, the tail end of a Saturday morning cartoon showing as I sit and wait for Kentucky-Indiana. I'm missing the absolute absurdity of Saturday's, the foolish notion of putting 22 oversized men on a small field and telling them to destroy each other for three hours, the idea that watching football from 11 am (Gameday) until 1 am (catch those Pac 10 games) is healthy. I'll bet you can imagine strapping on some old Nike's and running for two hours at an open gym. Could you imagine strapping on shoulder pads and getting smashed to the ground for that same amount of time?

But that's what college football is - absurd. It sports the fewest official contests of any major American sport, but we manage to over analyze and engross ourselves with every aspect. The tailgating (Jeremy's line about drinking bloody mary's and plowing through a snowy Minnesota morning to a Gophers game is one of my all time favorites)...the ridiculous hubbub surrounding 19 year old kids under intense pressure (witness our 10k hit day when LawBuck opined that Pryor should should be used like Vince Young)...

I would finish this "in memorian" post for the '09 regular season with a Rick Reillyesque, Mitch Albom-approved story that brought my thoughts together while bringing tears to your eyes. But the truth of the matter is, I'm just angry there isn't football on all day, and that I'm not hanging out with 100k of my closest friends in AA or EL. Enjoy Army-Navy though, it's all we got today.

*I have a great mother, no worries.

PSU v LSU in the 2010 Capital One Bowl: Is this the most intriguing non-BCS bowl of the season?

grahamfiller10 — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:14:13 -0000

Things that make non-BCS games interesting, interesting meaning "this game will draw my attention even though I have a family and the stakes aren't particularly high":

- Gambling

- Huge fan bases that travel well

- Storied programs for cool bowl flashbacks and highlights

- NFL-caliber players on either side of the ball

- Intriguing offensive/defensive match-ups

Assuming that none of you gamble, I would argue that only a handful of non-BCS bowls really stick out to me using this or any other criteria. Stanford-Oklahoma (who wants to watch a white person succeed from the running back position? ME - oh and millions others)...Miami (FL) v. Wisky (Fast v Slow?)...Virginia Tech-Tenn (maybe in 1999-2000)...OSU-BYU (Lots of crisply thrown short passes)...and of course Penn State-LSU in the Cap One. When pressed, I put my slight Big Ten homerism to the side and think that it's either Stan-OK or PSU.

A fellow writer on TRE believes that this game is, quote, bo-ring...Presumably because of the thought that these two excellent defenses will pile this game into an unwatchable 13-10 clusterf*** with 400 total yards and zero memorable plays. It's not about points scored or points not scored for me. It's about 2 things.

1) When I switch my TV to the Cap One Bowl, I'll feel like I'm not only watching two monster programs (Linebacker U v the third best program of the 2000's), but I'm witnessing solid 2009 squads. Here are the teams that have defeated PSU and LSU: Floribama, Preseason Top 5 Ole Miss, OSU, and Iowa. That's money baby, that's decent coaching helping avoid big upset losses to teams like Georgia and Indiana.

2) When I watch the highlight montage at the onset of the broadcast (a must for getting the adrenaline pumping), I'll see Bowman, LaFell, Peterson, Lee, Clark, Royster, Scott...and I'll feel the excitement one feels when NFL-caliber talent is displayed on a college field.

So tear this game down for no reason, Jason King*, and I'll get giddy as that NFL bound linebacker takes on that NFL bound halfback at the goal line during a nailbiter.

*Links to BSD, who is so tired of King's ineptitude they couldn't even muster enough energy to fisk him...Which is understandable.

Texas Tech v MSU in the Alamo Bowl: Do past bowl results tell us anything about this game?

grahamfiller10 — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:31:54 -0000

I am hardly excited about this match-up, as everyone can explain what exactly Michigan State needs to do for a chance at winning, but no one can explain how exactly this is going to happen. Everyone and their mother knows Michigan State can't defend the pass and that defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi refuses to play anything other than two ineffective schemes. Everyone also knows that the magic of the Texas Tech attack comes from the Air Raid principles of Mike Leach, which includes an amalgamation of shallow crossing routes, comeback routes, dumpoffs in space, and quick screens.

Here is the numbers breakdown from The Only Colors, of course highlighting the fact that TT has the #2 passing offense in the nation and MSU has the #103 pass defense.

But let's save the scheming and gnashing of Spartan teeth for another day and discuss some past bowl games results. Could this game be closer than everyone believes?

How do the Spartans look in bowl games and what does this say about the 2010 Alamo Bowl? MSU is currently on a 3 game bowl losing streak: '03 to Nebraska, '07 to BC and '08 to Georgia. The Georgia game was a decent indicator - MSU played tough against the run and kept the game close until it became apparent that Brian Hoyer wasn't going to be able lead the Spartans to victory through the air with Ringer bottled up. MSU even led at the half, 6-3. So essentially, they were who everyone thought they were, a solid defense with not enough offense.

How do the Red Raiders look in bowl games and what does this say about the 2010 Alamo Bowl? A 10-21-1 bowl record doesn't diminish the fact that Texas Tech has been bowling consistently for two decades, competing in 16 bowl games in the last 25 years. However, the last three years give excellent indication of what happens come Holiday time to Leach's Raiders.

30	W	12-29-2006	44	Minnesota	41	Insight Bowl
31	W	01-01-2008	31	Virginia	28	Gator Bowl
32	L	01-02-2009	34	Mississippi	47	Cotton Bowl

No shortage of points, but not exactly stingy defense either. Don't forget that the 2008 version featured Graham Harrell and Mike Crabtree, but Ole Miss put a lickin' on 'em anyways.

Now I understand perfectly that football games exist in a vacuum and that some TT defensive back isn't going to be thinking about an '06 performance while on the field. This is a brand new matchup with new players at key positions (no Otis Wiley, Crabtree, Ringer, Harrell). But I've decided that, in the spirit of the holidays, each Alamo Bowl post will have some form of optimistic Spartan bent to it. It's not propaganda, more like inspiration for all those Sparties depressed about the 10 suspended players, no running back depth, and a matchup from hell with Leach's minions.

So let me say this: Texas Tech's offensive makes them seem like an unattractive bowl match-up, including last year when only 1 out of 12 OPC contestants picked Ole Miss over TT. This is perfectly understandable, especially when one sees the Air Raid scenario's and plays like the one below. How is my team going to prepare for this in one month, you ask, and do we really have the horses to stop a team scoring almost 40 points a game? Well for the last three years, medium-level programs from the ACC, SEC, and Big Ten have held their own against Texas Tech. So don't lose all hope yet Spartans.

Wild ending of Fresno-Illinois...

grahamfiller10 — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:15:00 -0000

Wild ending of Fresno-Illinois...

Live From the Windy City: Brian Kelly to ND?

grahamfiller10 — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:33:50 -0000

I am sitting on Michigan Avenue at something called the Corner Bakery and I'm thinking about Brian Kelly. Such is the power of the Notre Dame job search. I have this vague feeling that Kelly is gone, toast, off to the Dome for upwards of 5 million per year. Law Buck thinks he should go, reasoning that this is still a marquee college football head coaching job. Even if Kelly fails Weis-style, LB reasons, he still gets to put on his tombstone "College Football Coach for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish." ...Yeah.

Brian Kelly fits the Notre Dame profile.

So wipe the vomit off your sweater caused by that last sentence and look at a couple facts at play here. First, Cinci's stadium is low-grade, the facilities are low-grade, and no matter how high he takes Cinci, it's still JUST Cincinnati to a national audience. But on the other hand, if Notre Dame and Cinci played next year or in 2011, I would wager all of my money on the Bearcats. 2010 Notre Dame is going 5-7 or 6-6, depending on the schedule. Plus, we all saw the national skewering of Chuck Weis, does BK really want to go through that?

If he stays, Kelly runs the risk of turning down oodles of money and the opportunity to resurrect a storied program. If he goes, Kelly takes a daunting job that has lost some of its luster in the last 20 years. Either way, we're going to learn a hell of a lot about BK in the next week. Law Buck and I decided the odds were 80-20 that he goes to South Bend. We'll see.

Is Nick Saban actually Agent Smith from The Matrix?

grahamfiller10 — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 22:12:08 -0000

These are the things I do when I'm viciously rooting for Florida...C'mon Gators, beat Agent Smith!

Fresno State 53, Illinois 52: We got your Big Ten Game of the Year here

grahamfiller10 — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:04:00 -0000

Woah.

4th and 10, six seconds on the clock, Fresno down by seven. A simple 20 yard post is caught by the Bulldog receiver, who stretches from the 2 yard line and barely pushes the ball over the end zone line. Review confirms touchdown...

Illinois 52, FSU 51...

Pat Hill, the "play anywhere, play anyone" coach, decides he'll go for two on the road. The Illini blow up the play, forcing an off-balance throw which is tipped forward into the waiting arms of a 310 lb. Fresno lineman, who barely falls into the end zone...Review confirms that he made it over the line before being felled.

FSU 53, Illinois 52...

So many highlights...Almost 1000 total yards, a circus catch by Hoomanawanui, a completely airborne flip touchdown by LeShour (not to mention 184 yards rushing and two touchdowns by Mikel)...

I know it was a 3 win Illini team fighting for respect only, but the offense looked cohesive against a tough Fresno unit. And I know I've angrily eviscerated the Illinois offensive playcalling all year, but it was a varied and gutsy gameplan from Zook.

The defense was horrendous, getting overrun on power sweeps and rarely making plays on the wide open Bulldog receivers.

Oh and a final note...My prediction for this game...

GRAHAMFILLER10 predicts FRESNO STATE by 7

Balanced Bulldogs versus revitalized Juice Williams in his final game. This game has points written all over it. FSU gets an early lead behind their balanced attack and hangs on.

Charlie Weis was a supernova in my world who burned out too quickly...He will be missed

grahamfiller10 — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 06:38:28 -0000

I loved having Charlie Weis walk the sidelines of Notre Dame. His press conferences were magical, a gift to opposing teams quoteboards. He even added a white player to the incredibly hard to reach pantheon of white stars we love to hate, the Christian Laettner's, JJ Reddicks...Jimmy Clausen.

And now, 6-6 tail dragging behind him, Weis departs to an OC job in the No Fun League.

Sigh.

Charlie Weis embodied all the things we hate about Notre Dame. His rudeness and unearned snottiness were grating on my ears. But after awhile, I realized how much I enjoyed having Chuck in South Bend. Here are my reasons:

Charlie was an arrogant mofo...And this was refreshing in the era of coachspeak and say nothing press conferences. He hated the thought of Navy so much that he refused to discuss an opponent that vanquished him twice in three years. That is some rudeness you just can't find anywhere else. He created a villainous personality, much like Bill Bellichick did in New England, and he played it up for the cameras. If this was a movie, the Navy coaches would be the overachieving heart of gold kids who overcame their lack of talent to defeat ND and their too-arrogant-too-be-true leader. This overwhelming hubris led to one wonderful result -

Charlie made it fun to hate Notre Dame...as if we needed any more prompting. Nothing brings a bar together more than a closely contested ND game. People start sharing knowing glances that say, "oh yeah, you want these overrated m*****f****** to fail too!" And the presence of Darth Charlie helped bring this vibe to a whole other level. This was because...

Weis embodied every Notre Dame stereotype that exists..."Undeserved Hubris" being my favorite. When a horrific 3-9 ND team was in full swoon, he refused to check his ego at the door or be humble about the situation. When coaching schemes came into question, Chuck blamed his players. And even when he softened his rhetoric in the last two years of his reign, so much damage had been done to his rep that it didn't matter. Charlie Weis became the most polarizing coach in CFB; either you were a Domer who cringed when he did something stupid..or you were everyone else, laughing at this ass of a man who walked like he owned the earth, but who constantly underperformed. Which obscured the fact that...

Charlie ran some good offenses in South Bend...The schemes this year took full advantage of Notre Dame's strengths: downfield passing. He dialed up Clausen to Tate/Floyd/Rudolph to the tune of 320 passing ypg. His draw plays were effective and he diagrammed a wide range of effective sideline and sitdown routes. But his defenses caved at the worst times and his red zone offensive play calls were horrendous, costing them games against USC and Navy.

I guess this season was just a blessing from God, with each ND game being decided in the last minutes, usually in some heartbreaking manner for Notre Dame. I give Weis some of the credit for this wonderful season, seeing that his inability to develop talent and inspire players helped Notre Dame become increasingly mediocre.

But now he's gone and I'm angry. Charlie Weis was a blast of uncompromising hubris, a welcome addition to the yearly games against Purdue, Michigan, and Michigan State. I guess I'll find it in my soul to continue rooting against Notre Dame teams, but it was more fun with Chuck prowling the sidelines.

Dantonio suspends 8 Spartans, decides that "Gangs of East Lansing" isn't a film he wants to see

grahamfiller10 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:08:37 -0000

Dantonio suspends 8 Spartans, decides that "Gangs of East Lansing" isn't a film he wants to see

Wow. Mark Dantonio has a rep of coddling and inviting thugs to his program (email me for the Mark Ingram story), but who knew that a disappointing 6-6 season would inspire the players to act out like that.