3-0, and one last football blog

The Spartans are off to a perfect start in conference play with 3 straight wins including two on the road, and two against quality opponents (Minnesota and OSU).

Evaluate the team at this moment.  Are they better than the team that lost to Maryland and got blown out by UNC?  Are they progressing satisfactorily towards their goals of a conference championship and a deep run in the post-season tournaments?  Are they ready for defending National Champion Kansas on Saturday?

And the football team.  Your final thoughts on the season and predictions for next year.  Will the QB play improve?  The defense?  Who will carry the load on offense in place of Ringer?  Can next year's team match or even exceed this year's performance?  Will they be legitimate contenders for the conference title next year, the year after, etc...?

Comments

[Rocky]

I'm very much planning on a year at least as good next year from our football team. Nichol, a 4 star recruit some time ago, has the ability to be one of the premier quarterbacks in the Big Ten and is well respected on the team from what I understand. If Cousins is a legitimate challenge to Nichol getting the starting nod then we should have an exciting spring and fall.

I know I may be in the minority when I say this, but I think Javon Ringer's loss will be easier to manage than most think. I think he put up such amazing numbers because we had to lean heavy on our run game due to a poor pass game. Look at Javon's ypc, look at total yardage against quality defenses. Not bad, but not legendarily good either. We shouldn't have an exceedingly hard time finding someone who can get reasonably close to his running abilities. However, I do think he was a tremendous leader and motivator for the team, and for that he will be sorely missed.

All that being said, I don't think we're ready to compete with OSU and PSU, especially with the way those teams are looking for next year. And as long as Pryor is ay OSU I think we will be underdogs to them (watching him calmly scoot around defenders still amazes me). I think we should be in the title chase in the 2011 season, however, as Dantonio's quality recruiting classes come of age.

As far as basketball goes, I've been more confident this year than I have ever been that we could take home the Big Ten championship. I think we have a very different team from the one that lost to UNC and I think we still have a lot to gain in the coming months. The recent road wins have been the most impressive.

[jimmo]

The basketball team may be the best of an improved, but still very weak Big Ten. Think about it...if they don't hit the three's against OSU they probably lose.
As for football it won't matter who carries the ball or who QB's if the OL and defense aren't improved. They were good enough to beat equal or less talented teams this year but couldn't compete against the better teams on their schedule. Forget about Baker,Maxwell,Capers etc. The most important recruits so far are Barrent,Klatt,Treadwell and Norman.
RB's,WR's and QB's are a dime a dozen. Great OL,DL and LB's are gold.

[Tommy 'Zo]

I'm tired of the "if they didn't do X they would have lost" b.s. The point is, jimmo, they did hit their 3 pointers. Other games you could say if they didn't play good defense or rebound they would have lost. The point is they're doing what they have to do to win, and when is the last time State started off 3-0 in the Big [11]?

I agree that their OL are very important recruits, and I would like to see them pick up a enormous fellow to clog up the middle on the DL. That being said, the football team is on the up and up. Dantonio has proven he can recruit the players to succeed (see Cincy). They may not be 5 star recruits, but I think he'll have State not only competing with but beating OSU sooner than most think.

On a side note, if Cousins was that good he would have played more. I think Dantonio likes to win and succeed more than he likes to preserve a senior's feelings. If Nichol is nearly as good as advertised he'll win the starting job easily.

[VA_Sparty]

I'm expecting a year as good at this year next year in football. Nichol will be an upgrade at QB and he has the still young, but now experienced WR corps of Dell, Cunningham, White and Martin. I also think that the offense will be better with Javon gone because Treadwell won't have him to rely on. The offense was boring and predictable this year because Treadwell used Ringer as a crutch. If it's 3rd & 4 are you letting Hoyer throw it to Martin or Cunningham or handing it to Ringer? The young receiving corps had problems with drops and Hoyer had trouble with accuracy. So 9 times out of 10 it was a better bet to give it to Ringer. Now without Ringer there Treadwell has to dig into the playbook. The conservative offense that MSU ran this year was not the O that Devin Thomas had 1200yds receiving in! And Nichol will help the offensive line out with his mobility.

I couldn't have been more impressed with an aspect of the Cap 1 bowl as I was with our defense. And that performance of shutting down Moreno, should be all the proof this coaching staff needs to put Greg Jones at the MIKE full-time. He was phenomenal in that game. Secondary wise, Rucker, Weaver and Adams is the best set of DB's we've had since the late 90's. If Jenrette comes back, then he, Ware, Hyde and Fortener can hold down the safety spots. Trevor Anderson also will have a big year next year if the Cap 1 bowl is any indication.

One more thing...Can Keyshawn Martin please return punts next year!?!?!? He has the talent to be a gamebreaker...put him back there!!!!!

[VA_Sparty]

One other note...I do expect us to compete for the Big Ten championship next year. Penn St. loses A LOT on offense and we get them at home. Iowa loses Greene and we have them at home. Most important, OSU rotates off of our schedule. Key games next year for us that will determine our Big Ten title aspirations: @Wisconsin and @Illinois

[dmbtierney]

Our search for a B10 football title next year took a small shot in the arm with Beanie Wells and P.J. Hill stating today that they will enter the NFL draft. Our team took a step forward this past season when they found out they could beat equal and lesser teams. Next year they need to compete with (not necessarily defeat) the better teams. Of course, victories over the Blue Weasels and the Staggering Irish will make any season look very good.

[bob76]

"The basketball team may be the best of an improved, but still very weak Big Ten." What? Have you seen the RPI for the Big Ten? Have you seen the non-conference victories? I guess I would love to see what you believe is a "strong" Big Ten. You just look like another victim of the national media that downs the Big Ten in the major sports.

[dmbtierney]

Just took a look at the Kansas website. They are 11-3 with 10 games at home in Allen Fieldhouse (where they rarely lose), 1-2 in the Sprint Arena in KC (which is their home away from home), and 0-1 on the road with a bad loss in Arizona. I know Kansas is great at home, but unless their young team quickly discovers the secret to winning away from home, it is very possible that MSU could have thieir way with them Saturday. I'm looking for a 12-15 point victory margin for the Sparties.

[wc]

Football, Cousins will be the better QB, Winston will be more then servicable at RB if he can stay out of Trouble. We don't play OSU and we are 1 and 1 with PSU. We should have a great shot at Big Ten title. I will say it We win Big Ten.

Basketball, Yes we have improved since Maryland and NC.

[spartaninBoston]

Why all the football talk. MSU is 3-0 in the B10. When was the last time they started the B10 3-0 with two road wins. Kansas is an important game especially when it comes to tournament seeds. We should only get better. Our 9 is solid! And then we have 3 - 4 bodies beyond that can still provide some value in the right circumstances. And one of them is Ibok. The schedule is good this year because of only one game with Wisconsin at home if I remember correctly. That should be the big one. Win that and we should be in the driver seat. Did anyone watch IU blow a perfect opportunity to knock scUM down a peg?

[spartaninBoston]

And yes we should beat Kansas! And yes we are much better than the team that got embarrased by NC. Still don't think they beat NC with the current team. However in the tournament watch out. MSU at this pace should be a definitely national championship contender and serious dark horse with the likes of NC, Duke and UConn. Remember we've had Pitt's number so I don't see a Big East team beating us in the tourney.

[MayoSpartan]

Izzo seems to be more positive about this team than he has been in the past several years. Having only watched the UNC & OSU games, you gotta believe that this will be as good or better season for our Spartans on the court than the gridiron next fall... a tired team faced UNC.

Dantonio wanted to bring smash-mouth football game back to MSU and with a young and inexperience offensive line, QB and backfield, our football team has a more than a few question to answers.

No way can Coach D get ten or nine victories in '09. I'll be happy if we improve and win in October, November and a bowl in December. I'll dance a jig if we win eight in '09 (it must be the dark and stormies talking).

Go Green

[Fresh]

09 looks solid for the football team.

Very few losses on defense. I believe they will be the best LB corp in the B10. DLine must improve.

Offense will improve. This year we had a good QB with inexperienced WRs and a good (not great) OLine. Nichol will win the QB spot and be a HUGE upgrade. He has had a year to practice with these WRs. Cousins will be a good backup and Maxwell will get to watch and learn. The OLine will have less experience and more talent (competition is good).

We return the leagues best K and our special teams will be special.

As for basketball, we cannot forget the losses, they drive us. That was NOT our Spartans. They were injured and disjointed...confused. This team will continue to improve. They have only barely shown how well they can shoot. As things go better, they will be more relaxed and in rhythm at the line, so that will improve as well.

We will win the B10 regular season and tourney. Walton will get his Final Four appearance and, unfortunately, Lucas will go pro after winning POY.

Go State!

[Fresh]

BTW, where are all those haters who said Walton couldn't shoot and Morgan couldn't keep his head out his nether regions?

You guys really should watch more Summer League games. Chris Allen still hasn't shown everything he can do and Lucas is just getting going.

[Michael Motta]

First of all, with regard to what Jimmo posted, how do you figure the "very weak Big Ten"? As of the time of this post, the schools of the Big Ten have the highest average RPI of any of the 32 conferences and independents! http://realtimerpi.com/rpi_conf_Men.html

What has me mystified is that the MAC is so mediocre. Why is the MAC below a lot of conferences that either sponsor FCS football or no football at all? The MAC needs to take a serious look at its poor performance. One idea I have is that a lot of conferences that consist in smaller schools than the MAC actually have better TV coverage. There doesn't seem to be any regular basketball coverage of MAC basketball (there is with football). Quite frankly, Michigan TV stations especially have dropped the ball (Ohio does a slightly better job at covering MAC hoops).

The MSU men have improved since Maryland and UNC, no question. Suton was the big part, Roe a secondary part, but the overall picture is a team that's executing better on offense and playing tighter defense regardless of personnel. Personally, I think we have a better shot at a conference title than we've had in recent years, thanks mostly to Purdue's slow start (injuries), OSU's having Lighty out for a stretch, and Wisconsin's talent being down this year. Yes, the conference has improved, but the improvements are mostly by teams that went from average last year to good (but not outstanding) this year. I think MSU and Purdue (when healthy) clearly have the most talent, but MSU has more depth. I think OSU, PSU, Michigan, and Wisconsin are going to have problems on the road against everyone except Indiana (and Michigan even had problems against them), and that's what will keep them from competing with Purdue and MSU. In fact, Minnesota might end up third. Basically they're all going to beat up on each either when at home, but I think MSU can steal road games better than anyone else.

Football-wise: Yes, the quarterback position will improve. Yes, the defense will improve. The wideout situation will improve. I don't think anyone can replace Ringer, but two or three guys might be able to pick up the slack. As usual, it all boils down to the offensive line. The hope there is that we'll end up with at least somewhat better line-play almost by default (due to Dantonio's recruiting and coaching).