Preview: MSU @ Florida Atlantic University

Greetings, sports fans.  Week 2 of college football is upon us, meaning the Spartans take on the Owls of Florida Atlantic University in their first road game.  Road game, you ask?  Well, my inquiring friend, here is my response: SHUT UP AND LISTEN, I'M GETTING TO THAT PART.

The two teams met in 2008 at Spartan Stadium, where the final score was 17-0 in favor of the Spartans.  Javon Ringer had either 232 or 282 yards of rushing, but it's hard to tell because every single document in a 50 mile radius of East Lansing that day was irreparably soaked.  MSU was supposed to make a return trip this year, at the unveiling of FAU's new stadium....but it's not done yet.  FAU then decided that it would be a good idea of having the game at Ford Field - FAU is still technically the home team and will take all profits (and costs) resulting from the game.  Also, here's what Ford Field looks like right now:

On to the football! While last week's opponent, Western Michigan, ran a pass-happy spread offense, FAU brings a different look with a pro-style set.  Although ticket sales aren't exactly spectacular, this game will provide a much-needed test for the Spartan defense.  If Western Michigan can be looked at as a tune-up game for other spread teams (like Michigan, Minnesota, and Purdue), FAU can be a tune-up for games against pro-style teams like Wisconsin and Iowa.

Primary concern for the game will happen at the line of scrimmage.  FAU, while being a pro-style team, likes to pass quite a bit -- their QB, Jeff Van Camp, threw for 254 yards last week in their win over UAB.  However, the line in front of him is new....and by that I mean all 5 of them started their first game last week.   Look for Michigan State to get quite a bit of pressure on Van Camp.  However, if by some chance they can't, it will signal bad things ahead for the Michigan State defense - an ineffective pass rush was their biggest weakness last year (we know how that turned out).

On the other side of the ball, MSU will get a chance to replicate last week's successful running game.  Larry Caper sat out last week with a cast on his hand, but will play tomorrow.  Whether he is at 100% or not remains to be seen.  Expect freshman Le'Veon Bell to get touches once again, along with Edwin Baker to form a Voltron-esque team that you'd expect to comprise a southern rock band called "Smashmouth Beatdown."  Yes, I have been drinking.

However, one bit of bad news is that 5th-year starting Fullback Josh Rouse is out for the season.  Rouse injured his neck during a special teams play against Western and walked off the field shaken up a bit.  Turns out, he fractured a vertebrae and had surgery early in the week.  He's expected to make a full recovery, but it's unlikely he will see the field again this fall.  Worse yet, Rouse missed all last year for a foot injury.  Get well soon!

Last thing to watch is the hands of the deep MSU receiving corps.  The MSU WR's and TE's dropped 6 passes last week - 2 by Cunningham, 1 by Nichol, 2 by Gantt, and 1 by Martin.  Nichol? ok...I guess you get slack for never playing WR before in your life, but the other 5 drops were puzzling, especially Gantt.  MSU definitely has the gusto and talent to be one of the most potent passing attacks in the Big Ten, but only if the drops stop.  Personally, I'm anxious to see if Keith Nichol can continue his success while he's competing with Dell, Martin, and Cunningham for catches.

That's all for now.  Game is on ESPNU at Noon, but make sure to check out some other games tomorrow - Ohio State/Miami and ND/UMich come to mind...  Go Green!

Tucson to D.C. and Everything In Between

Thursdays I will be throwing together some news from other  Big Ten teams and national news, if it happens to be either entertaining of interesting.  Not much Big Ten news this week, however - everyone played cupcakes except for Purdue and Northwestern.

Best Game of the Past Week - Boise State @ Virginia Tech

Both BSU and VaTech have been consistently high on the national radar in recent memory.  After winning all 14 of their games last season, BSU faced Virginia Tech in the clash of hideous jerseys (my retinas are bleeding, if that's possible).

Boise State went up 17 - 0 in the first half, VT rallied all the way back to take the lead in the 4th, then Boise won it in the final minute.  Sucks to be you, Tyrod Taylor.  Interesting to note that Boise has gotten only one 4-star recruit in the last 3 years I think?  By comparison, Michigan State has 6 or 7 of those in this year's freshmen class.  Boise State's only other test before engaging the cupcakes of the WAC conference is Oregon State.  Go Beavers!

Worst Game of the Past Week - Army @ Eastern Michigan

The two teams combined for 96 yards of passing.  That's both...together...A handful of QB's around the country had more than that in a half last Saturday.  More or less all you need to know.  I cant' even find pictures of this debacle.  Apparently that's how bad it was.  EMU's coach, Ron English, is now 0-13.  He used to be the Defensive Coordinator at Michigan and some had hoped he'd get the hire after Lloyd Carr retired - just remember, Michigan fans, it can get worse.

Other National News

- Mark Herzlich, a Boston College LB, returned to the field on Saturday for the first time in two years.  This after recovering from Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare bone cancer.  This is a pretty good wrap up of his day: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/2010/09/05/2010-09-05_mark_herzlich_returns_to_field_after_beating_ewings_sarcoma_and_boston_college_b.html

- Nick Foles is only getting more publicity at the University of Arizona.  Foles was an underclassmen at MSU when he made the decision to transfer - Brian Hoyer was starting and it appeared Kirk Cousins would beat him out for the backup spot.  When news came that Keith Nichol would also be competing, he sought playing time elsewhere.  It has worked out amazingly well for him, as he was All Pac-10 Honorable mention last year, and is considered one of the best QB's in the Pac10 heading into this season.  Definitely keep an eye on him.

Big Ten News....or...lack thereof

I'd like to go over things that happened to Big Ten teams this weekend, but I just don't care about OSU vs. Marshall.  Michigan State fans should watch the ND-UMich game this weekend to get a glimpse of both rivals' true abilities.  MSU plays ND the week after and goes on the road to Michigan on October 9th.

There you have it.  Pregame analysis and predictions are coming tomorrow for the FAU game at Ford Field.  THE PLACE WILL BE ROCKING.  Actually, they've sold less than half the tickets available...good thing it's on FAU's tab.  Go Green!

Football 101 - MSU Pass Defense

Welcome to Football 101 – lessons in college football that, at the very least, will help you understand football Saturdays a bit better.  Screw syllabus day, lets get right to it.

The biggest concern heading into this season was the MSU pass defense.  Last year, many may remember the MSU defense making every quarterback look like a Heisman candidate as they put the ball in their receivers' hands over and over again.  Well, here's an explanation on what we do and why it should work, but didn't work last season.

The Spartans, for the most part, run a 4-3 defense, referring to 4 defensive linemen and 3 linebackers.  This is an extremely popular scheme across the country that you'll see many of MSU opponents use, as well.  Below is a diagram of the defense, lined up against a spread offense variation – which a majority of Big Ten teams use now.

Notations: DE – Defensive End, DT – Defensive Tackle, LB – Linebackers, FS – Free Safety, SS – Strong Safety, CB – Cornerbacks, OL – Offensive Line, WR – Wide Receiver, QB – Quarterback, 
RB – Running Back

Here's the general idea: 4 defensive linemen go against 5 offensive linemen.  The remaining 3 LB's, CB's, and Safeties then watch and defend the remaining 6 offensive players – the secondary (CB's and Safeties) protect against the pass normally, while the 3 LB's primarily protect against running plays.  There are exceptions to the rule, but we'll keep it simple.  In the above picture, you'll notice 4 Wide Receivers, but only 2 CB's, one on each side, to cover them.  This is where the Safeties come in.  Diagram 2 – Hypothetical situation!

In a basic play, the Cornerback will stay to the outside, and cover the receiver closest to the sideline.  On the right side of the picture, this is simple – WR runs, CB follows him.  However, on the left side, the WR's cross, and the CB has to switch who he covers to the WR heading left.  What about the other receiver heading right? It is either the responsibility of the FS or the leftmost LB to pick him up.

Specifically, what MSU's CB's do is line up about 4 yards in front of the line of scrimmage, giving a 5 yard “cushion” to the WR's (usually they're about a yard behind the line of scrimmage...that's hard math, I know).  Reason for this? The CB's usually lose a step on the WR's every play – the WR knows exactly where he's going, but the CB has to react to his actions. The only way they don't lose that step is if they're extremely good at what they do...not many Spartans are close to this category (right now).  Assuming no one screws up, this will protect the receivers from getting a deep pass for a big gain.  However, there are a few holes in this scheme:

Position 1: At the point where the WR's cross, there is an exchange – the CB picks up the WR going left, the other defenders pick up the WR going right.  At that switch point, it is necessary to have a smooth transition.  If the FS/LB doesn't notice this switch happening right away, 9/10 times it leaves a man open for a catch.

Position 2: Hey, don't know if you remember, but you know when I said it's the FS or LB's job to pick up the other receiver? Well who picks him up is dependent on where he is on the field.  If he stays closer to the line of scrimmage, the LB is on him.  If he goes further downfield, the FS keeps an eye out.  However, if a WR manages to find a seam between the FS and LB, he's got a hole to make a catch.  Ball goes over the LB's head and FS is still too far away to make a play on the ball.

Position 3: Last but not least is where MSU got burned the most last season.  Since the CB's are 4 yards downfield, it leaves the possibility for a WR or RB to catch the ball behind the line of scrimmage and proceed to run for a gain.  At that point, the only 3 players who can make that tackle quickly are the right CB, the right LB, and the SS (if he's close enough to the LB).  As you see in the above picture, there will be two WR's in front of the RB if he makes a catch.  They can then block 2 out of 3 potential tacklers.  If the SS doesn't know this is coming, then two good WR blocks lead to a big gain for the RB catching the pass.  Solution to this is the CB's and LB's must know how to get around blockers quickly and be able to react quickly.

However, what if no one screws up?  Or the QB doesn't recognize one of the three options that would work?  Why did MSU get burned?  The problem lies at the line of scrimmage.  Next picture!

Remember that there are 4 Defensive Linemen trying to get by 5 offensive linemen to get to the QB.  Just like I said between the WR's and CB's, the OL's have to guess where the DL's are going to prevent losing a step and their man getting by them.  Usually, someone on the Dline can beat their man and get to the QB...MSU couldn't do that last year.  Gave the QB enough time to find an open receiver and get a gain.  Solution for the Spartans? They had to blitz, ie send a LB or two towards the QB to generate some pressure.  This leaves the position 2 very vulnerable to the pass.  Any non-blitzing defender who tries to defend that area loses their assignment so an obvious hole opens up elsewhere.

Here’s a real world example that is somewhat relevant: 2009, MSU vs. Iowa.  Here is the setup for the last down:

In this case, you can see pretty much everyone blitzing in to try to pressure the QB.  Positives? Probably going to scare the crap out of him into making a mistake, or sack him within 2 seconds, if it’s a passing play.  If it’s a running play, no chance the back gains a yard.  Negatives? No one can help pick up a receiver if a CB loses a step.  At the top of the screen, without a LB left to help the CB, QB Ricky Stanzi is able to get it to his WR immediately.  Ball game, MSU fans enjoy drinking their sorrows away.

There you have it.  Although the MSU scheme prevents a deep pass in most every situation (unless someone screws up), it allows an opponent to make short passes continuously all the way down the field.  The idea is that at some point, the QB will screw up, or close to the end zone there is so little room for the WR's to work that they'll be unable to find a seam.  The key is getting more penetration along the lines.  If they can do that, then the pass defense will be significantly better and more success will come.

Next week, I'll cover the recruiting aspect for MSU and how that translates into performance on the field.  Thursday will be some national and Big Ten news, while Friday will be the preview for the MSU – Florida Atlantic game at Ford Field this Saturday.  Thanks for reading!

College Football returns!!!

After a long hiatus, the college football season has returned! After last year's experiment in the blogosphere, I think this will become a consistent football blog for the remainder of the year. I'll try to keep the following schedule for updates:

Saturday Nights/Sunday: MSU game recap along with big picture Big Ten news.
Tuesday: Football 101 - Explanations of MSU's schemes and more technical observations past the normal "our pass defense sucks!"
Thursday: National news - noteworthy musings from around the country such as the rankings, Notre Dame's latest exercise in futility, and potential bowl game lineups later in the year
Friday: Preview of the upcoming weekend's game...read with a beer because I'm turning it into a drinking manifesto.

Let's get to it.

MSU vs. Western Michigan University (East Lansing, MI)

Final Score: 38-14

In true Mark Dantonio fashion, the Spartans put up 297 yards of rushing in the home opener. Since Coach D took over, that is the second highest rushing total since Dantonio's first game against UAB in 2007. This should be an extremely welcome surprise, considering where the yardage came from. Sophmore Edwin Baker, who became the no. 2 option behind Larry Caper last year, and true freshman man-child Le'Veon Bell both eclipsed 100 yards each. In fact, Le'Veon Bell is the first freshman in MSU history to run for over 100 yards in his first game. That's quite an honor if you're familiar with the names TJ Duckett and Lorenzo White.

Other positive notes include Keith Nichol (above) making a name for himself at WR after switching from QB, the three new starters on the Offensive line seeming to enter their new roles smoothly, and Dan Conroy earning the starting kicker spot. However, there are a few things that left Spartan fans shaking their heads.

MSU Receivers dropped 6 passes during the game, in similar fashion to the Brian Hoyer era. I counted 1 from Nichol, 2 from Cunningham, and at least 1 from Martin. This is an anomaly considering the veteran WR corps returning for MSU that finished second in the conference in passing last season. The primary concern for many heading into this season was the play of the MSU pass defense, which looked improved, but only slightly. It's a complicated question to look at, so check back on Tuesday for Football 101 for my take on it. Western QB Alex Carder 220 yards, but it took him 49 passes to do so.

Overall, the Spartan faithful should be happy with the weekend's results. The team has looked improved, to some extent, at every position except for kicker. Can't blame that last part - Brett Swenson holds every Spartan kicking record there is. However, this team's true potential won't be known until they face a strong opponent when Notre Dame comes to town on the 18th.

Next game: @ Florida Atlantic (Ford Field, Detroit, MI) on September 11th.

Offseason Musings

Hello all, the absence of football and basketball apparently makes me forget about this thing. Here's a few summarized happenings for both:

Basketball
Biggest piece of news is that Center Tom Herzog (aka The Zogger) will be transferring to the University of Central Florida. Herzog was redshirted his Freshman year so he could have played one more year for MSU. Normally, transferring players have to burn a year of eligibility, however Herzog has graduated and is enrolling in a graduate program, allowing him to play next year.
It could be clearly seen that he would not be playing much for the Spartans next year - Sophomores Derrick Nix and Garrick Sherman have all but eclipsed him and star recruit Adrien Payne (6'10") will be joining the team this summer. All the best to Mr. Herzog next year, Go Knights!

More news will definitely come out as summer workouts commence, with Kalin Lucas and Delvon Roe coming back from surgery, and two freshmen (Adrien Payne, All American Keith Appling) who will make an immediate impact.

Football
Only news on this front came from the Spring Game - which was pretty uneventful. One thing to be hopeful about is that the MSU Secondary looked reasonably improved. For all intensive purposes, most of the players suspended from the Rather Hall fight have been working out with the team.
Keith Nichol is now at WR and looked SOLID out there. It appears MSU will have no shortage of firepower this season at the WR, RB, and QB positions. Might get fun.