Football 101 will have to be delayed until tomorrow morning for this one.
TE Dion Sims has been charged for being involved with the theft and selling of over $150,000 worth of computers owned by the Detroit Public Schools (DPS).
You read that right.
Sims is a true sophomore this year and scouts have already said he has NFL-type size and potential. Sims has never been in trouble before, making this even more shocking. College kids get in trouble all the time, but stealing so much from a ridiculously impoverished school district is the lowest act I've ever heard a college athlete commit, if true.
Sims told the coaches that he was being investigated in February. He hasn't played a down this year because of it. Additionally, you may remember Sims having a short stint on the basketball team, then leaving abruptly during the middle of the season. It's hard to imagine the investigation didn't have something to do with that. Just try to imagine someone telling Izzo that and him saying "hmmm that sucks, but you can stay." Yea, you can't.
Today, when the Wayne County Prosecutor announced the charges against Sims, AD Hollis said Sims was suspended indefinitely. Basically, if he's cleared of all charges, he'll be back on the team. If not, expect him to be farther gone than a frat pledge on Welcome Week.These are serious charges - the worst being a felony that carries a 10-year prison sentence. I'll post when I hear more definitive news on the topic.
Not sure anyone in the Spartan family hasn't heard both the good and bad news from Saturday night, but in case you missed it, here is the long and short:
- Good News: The Spartans defeated the Irish on a fake FG in overtime. Aaron Bates, the FG kick holder and punter, threw a picture-perfect pass to TE Charlie Gantt to seal the game. Bates was named a team captain for this season and also played QB in high school. Easy to see why his teammates thought so highly of him.
- Bad News: Mark Dantonio suffered a heart attack almost immediately after the game Saturday Night. The physician working with him said he started experiencing symptoms at about 12:30am and he made a good decision to come to the hospital immediately. There was a small stent put in his artery to help blood flow and should make a full recovery. The doctor has said he is in extremely good health and still young, so no long-term problems are expected. There is obviously no necessary timeline for recovery, but I don't think there's many people on the planet who could keep this guy away from football for very long. Get well soon, coach!
Back to the football. Here's a couple analysis points from the game:
1. Kirk Cousins: Many people thought Cousins had a terrible game. Here's his final statline: 23-33 for 245 yards, 2 TD's and 1 INT. Completed more passes than he did against WMU and FAU...combined. This game's 63.4% completion percentage is higher than it was for the 2009 season. Definitely not as bad as people were making it out to be. The interception was bad. Real bad decision. He had time in the pocket, couldn't find an open receiver, and tried to force a throw to a receiver in coverage. The one thing I saw people upset about were his sacks. Cousins has rarely thrown it away this year and opts to take the sack more often. Not sure why this has been happening.
2. The Rushing Game: Baker - 90 yards, 6.4 yards per carry, Bell - 114 yards, 6.7 ypc. 1 TD each. That. Is. Impressive. Seeing that state, it is extremely hard to believe it was that close of a game. Spartans are 1st in the Big Ten in YPC, 2nd in total yardage (behind Michigan....well...Denard Robinson) and have done it on 20 less carries than 6 of the remaining 10 teams. Those teams include Wisconsin and Ohio State, usually some of the most efficient, nationally, at running the ball.
3. Pass Defense: This group looks like Jekyll and Hyde (we have a safety named Marcus Hyde...see what I did there?) There were some outstanding plays made on Saturday. I don't care what anyone says, holding a Brian Kelly-coached offense to 7 points in a half is a tough thing to do. Want to see how this group has improved? These guys recovered a fumble after ND got down to the 11 yard line, and after the offense absolutely sputtered and punted a total of 30 yards, Johnny Adams grabs an interception on the very next play. Last year's D would have crumbled in that situation. Other plus? They played the whole game without the fastest LB, Eric Gordon. John Misch came in and did a pretty decent job, all things considered. All that is not to say there weren't some extremely questionable plays - there is a LOT of work to be done still, but the defense is getting better individually and they did some of the little things to keep MSU in the game.
4. Injury Updates: As stated above, Eric Gordon went out in the 1st half. He took a knee to the chin and went down like a KO'ed boxer. Couldn't answer many questions after he came too and probably has a concussion. He'll probably sit out a game and be back soon. Larry Caper also made an appearance, but it was clear he was a step slow from being out the last two weeks. He came in, had a couple bad runs, and he sat for the rest of the game.
5. "The Play": Dantonio's reasoning for calling that play was that we have an inexperienced kicker with a long kick in front of him. He makes it, the game keeps going; he misses it, game over. The guy has balls of steel for going for the win. Many are up in arms, because it appeared the play clock expired RIGHT before the snap was given. The Big East, whose refs worked the game, released this statement today, saying their refs made the correct call.
"After review, the conference believes that the game officials correctly applied the proper mechanics and guidelines that are in place to determine, in a consistent manner, when a flag should be thrown for delay of game. The responsibility is assigned to the back judge, who in this situation was standing beneath the upright. Proper mechanics dictate that his focus be directed to the play clock as it approaches zero. When the play clock display reads zero, he must re-direct his attention to the ball. At that time, if the snap has not started, a flag will be thrown for delay of game. If the snap has begun, no flag will be thrown. Under these procedures, there will always be a small amount of lag time between the time the clock reads zero and the time the back judge is able to see the football. On the play in question, this lag time created the situation where it appears the play clock expired just before the snap. We believe the snap occurred well within the normal lag time for the back judge to make this determination. This play is not reviewable under currentNCAArules."
Feel free to send your Michigan/ND friends that when they give you crap. Enjoy the victory, Spartans. Since Dantonio took over, we are now 5-2 against ND and Michigan. 3-0 on the season with a lot of football left to play.
Northern Colorado comes to EL next week for a noon kickoff, Big Ten Network. This will be the last non-conference opponent before Wisconsin comes to town to start Big Ten play. Go Green!
It's that time of year again: the battle for the megaphone takes place at Spartan Stadium at 8pm tomorrow night. There's a million different places to get real "game analysis" but that stuff's overrated and usually has no effect on the game, right? So I'm going with this route: use this blog to pregame. Grab a drink, here we go.
- This is Brian Kelly's first season at his new home of Notre Dame. If you have moved in the last year, drink 2.
- This is Mark Dantonio's 4th season as MSU's head coach. If you've lived in the same city for the past 4 years, drink 2.
- Edwin Baker is currently 5th in the country in rushing yards. If you enjoy baking, drink 4 because you have shitty hobbies.
- ND holds two NFL-level weapons in Michael Floyd and Kyle Rudolph. If you can think of a pair of friends with lamer names than Floyd and Rudolph, drink 3.
- ND's last bowl victory (and only bowl victory of the decade) came against Hawaii two years ago. If you've ever been to Hawaii, drink 1.
- Night games at MSU haven't exactly been kind to fans. If you know what I'm talking about, stop crying and drink 4
- ND's band will also be attending the game. Drink 2 if you were even in High School marching band.
- Speaking of bands, get this: UMass visits Michigan in the Big House this week. Yesterday, as they were stopped to perform in Ohio, their director collapsed from a Heart Attack and was later pronounced dead. His band will still play on Saturday. Everyone, drink 5 for the late George Parks.
- There is a 30% chance of rain during the game. If you know who Ollie Williams is, drink 3.
- Brian Kelly took over as head coach for the University of Cincinnati in 2007, after then-current coach Mark Dantonio was hired by Michigan State. If you've realized, within 10 minutes of being there, that Cincinnati pretty much sucks, Drink 2. Pick a state, dammit. You can't be that close to Kentucky and still call yourselves "midwest." Jerks.
- In Las Vegas betting pools, Michigan State is favored in this game by 3 points. If you think Michigan State will win, finish your beverage.
- If you think ND will win, finish your beverage then take a shot of Bailey's, you Irish slappie. Ok so here are some mildly important facts you should know:
1. Last week, ND QB Dayne Crist suffered a very mild concussion in the first half against Michigan. He must have been ok later, because he played in the second half. Still, concussions take time to heal, so until proven otherwise, he is "playing hurt"
2. Larry Caper will (finally) play. He was held out last week because we didn't need him.
3. Sophomore DT Blake Treadwell (son of Offensive Coordinator Don Treadwell) will also play. He has not played yet this season due to injury, but saw quite a bit of time last season. His return will help the defensive line considerably.
4. TE Garrett Celek, who was the #2 TE behind Charlie Gantt, will not play due to a dislocated shoulder. You'll see either Brian Linthicum or Dion Sims (or both) out there on Saturday
5. Notre Dame's offense will run through QB Crist and 3 others: WR Michael Floyd (no. 3), TE Kyle Rudolph (9) and RB Armando Allen (5). Keep an eye on those three. If you can contain even one of those guys, the game gets significantly easier.
Game will be on at 8pm Saturday, ABC for the midwest area, ESPN2 for rest of the country. Here is a coverage map if you're not sure where you fall. Enjoy responsibly, and GO GREEN!
Welcome to Week 2 of Football 101. Hope you're not still hungover from the weekend. Throwing up in class is strictly prohibited. Today's topic is recruiting - an overview of where these players come from and how they end up in the College Football world.
Good recruiting is an essential part of having success as a team. You can't win games with 5'4" Wide Receivers and a QB who can't throw the ball longer than 10 yards. The theme of Mark Dantonio's first few years here has been to lay a solid foundation for the years to come. This starts with a talent upgrade across the board.
So how the heck does one find this talent? Pick a high school and go to a game? Slightly more complicated. For the MSU staff, they have developed relationships with the HS coaches around Michigan and Ohio. Every year or so, they'll call them up and say "hey, who's blowing it up for you? Got any players who'd be interested playing college ball?" As you can imagine, there are about 20 other coaches in the area asking the same thing. A HS Coach wants his kids to succeed in the future, so they'll probably respond to the coach(es) who gives their player the best chance of success (in the coach's eyes). Being an alumni of that school can't hurt, either.
Prized 5-star recruit William Gholston, in 2010 class, has already seen action this fall.
The other source for information is the scouting groups. The three major ones are Rivals.com, Scout.com, and ESPN. These groups are independent organizations who go around to High Schools across the country and look at players who catch their eye. They'll watch videos, look at their stats and size, and give them a "Star rating" that goes between 0-5. Usually you won't see 1's, it's pretty much 0,2,3,4,5. The Star Rating is meant to predict how good that player will be at the college level. The 5-star rating is reserved for only the elite players in the country. These are the guys who usually end up at USC, Ohio State, Florida, Texas, etc. Sometimes, however, a coach is good enough to snag a 5-star or two when they haven't had as much success as the aforementioned schools.
Keep in mind, those stars are predictors. There are always 4 and 5 stars that don't end up being outstanding at the college levels, and similarly 2 and 3 stars who end up being huge game changers. Example: The best recruit, by stars, of Dantonio's 2008 class (meaning they were freshmen in the Fall of '08) was WR Fred Smith. To this day, Smith has rarely seen the field. He has recently moved to Fullback in hopes of making an impact there and recently cracked the depth chart. On the flip side, Le'Veon Bell, the Freshman who has more than carried his weight in the first two games this season, was a 2-star recruit. Javon Ringer was a 3-star recruit and ended up being one of the best running backs in the nation.
Here's a few general statements about success in recruiting. You get more stars, you get more wins. Also, it takes about 3-4 years to see the results of recruiting, when those recruits become juniors and seniors. Here's the average star ratings of teams between 2003 - 2008. I'm assuming freshman and sophomores haven't done a ton to add to the win column.
What do we notice about this list? These are some of the top teams in recruiting and each and every one of them went to BCS games in the time period in question, if not National Championships. I threw Indiana in there as a comparison point - the Hoosiers have gone to one bowl game in 14 years...and as you can see recruit very little talent. There are teams, like Boise State, who also don't get high-star players, but are successful. This is evidence of a fantastic coaching job by their staff on developing players who had some flaws in high school ball. The previously mentioned flip side is Notre Dame: they may have gone to bowl games, but have been consistently hammered by most of the teams on this list. They've got the stars, but apparently the coaches haven't pulled their weight.
The Florida Gators are perennial contenders, winning the national title in 2006 and 2008
So there you have it! Again, much of the star rankings are rules of thumb: guys slip through the cracks and some guys are just over-hyped. For those curious, MSU's recruiting classes in 2009 and 2010 have been 3.3 and 3.05, respectively. Good things are happening in East Lansing with recruiting and it should translate to good things on the field, as well. Go Green!
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!
