Wrap Up: MSU @ Florida Atlantic

Well, it wasn't too pretty, but it definitely got the job done.  MSU improved to 2-0 on the year with a 30-17 victory against the Owls of Florida Atlantic University.  Some quick hits:

Positives:

- The impressive rushing onslaught continued.  Larry Caper was still out, but Edwin Baker racked up 183 yards on the ground.  Le'Veon Bell tacked on another 50.  The rushing game is head and shoulders better than it was last year at this point

- Dan Conroy has won the kicking job over Kevin Muma.  Kicked field goals of 41, 44, and 50 yards.  That's quite an accomplishment for your 2nd game as a starter.  Don't hold him to the same standards as Swenson, but I'm officially not worried about special teams anymore.

- Great game for Defensive Linemen Colin Neely.  He was in the FAU backfield all game.  If you read the Football 101 post last Tuesday, you know how important it is to get pressure on the QB.  If Neely can keep up the production, it will help the defense a ton.

Negatives:

- Kirk Cousins hasn't been able to find his groove yet.  He's been relatively quiet, throwing 9/17 for 142 yards yesterday.  The interception was bizarre - didn't seem like he was rushed into a throw.  However, Cousins was at his best last year when he needed to be.  The play calling hasn't been conducive to him developing a rhythm, but expect him to wake up a bit against Notre Dame this week.

- Pass defense is improved, but is still a bit of an issue.  The defense could not get off the field on Saturday - FAU converted almost 50% of their third downs.  Individually, there was some shining spots in the secondary - a few textbook pass break-ups which were absent last year and quick tackling and wrapping up.  However, the unit needs to improve consistently until the end of the season to have success.

What to take away from the game?

MSU looks sloppy, but all teams do this early in the season.  The defense was stingy against the run, as they were in Week 1, and had 2 sacks and 8 tackles for loss.  Again, most stats must be taken with a grain of salt, as we aren't in the meat of the schedule yet.  However, the team looks to be on track for another bowl game. Which one seems to depend on how much the pass defense improves.  Finally, one thing to keep in mind is that Dantonio and his staff have usually kept the playbook relatively simple for the first couple games of the season.  That includes offense and defense.  Reason for this is later opponents don't know what is up your sleeve, or what to expect.  Against ND and Big Ten opponents, expect a more exciting offense and some interesting blitzing packages.

Notre Dame comes to town on Saturday for an 8 o clock game under the lights.  Kirk Cousins said last year that he wants to make amends for the crucial interception that effectively ended the Notre Dame game last year, so expect to see guns a'blazin.  If anyone was in the stadium for the 2006 ND game, bring it as strong as you did for that game, and MSU will pull out a W. Go Green!