It's very simple

Penn State owned Michigan State in the trenches. Both sides of the ball. MSU is not up to tasks like this yet.

   Some will point out that MSU beat Penn State just last season. And that's true. But you take Devin Thomas, Jehuu Caulcrick and four good lineman from MSU. You replace Anthony Morelli with Daryll Clark, replace a predictable offense with a varied, explosive attack. Replace Spartan Stadium with Beaver Stadium and cover your eyes.
    The talent gap aside, MSU did not play its best. And I think its offensive approach was too conservative. There was no way they were going to run the ball on this defense.
    Don't lose perspective on this season. It has been better than most imagined, and MSU is the third-best team in the Big Ten. It's just that the top two are way, way better. Wins over Iowa, Wisconsin and Northwestern are quality victories.
    Still, the bowl game, in Orlando or Tampa on Jan. 1, will be a "respect" game for this team, no question about it.

Comments

[tanfan]

Should have played Cousins

[Stats]

Joe, do you know what Bowl reps have scouted MSU the most this year? I'm just nervous right now because the Iowa papers are talking about the Outback guys watching them for the fifth time today, and given the beatdown they laid on Minnesota, plus the fact they knocked off PSU, who in turn destroyed us, it suddenly appears very plausible that they'll jump us in bowl lineup....

[Stone]

It is that simple.

I would again focus on the intensity early. Our kids just didn't have enough to block anyone. Unable to block anyone, slipping around on the early ice, and giving up the back breaking 3rd and long screen @ 14-0, just too much to overcome.

Great season following last year!

[xwing]

stats: that is the same thing i was thinking. the thing that makes it hard for that to happen though is that msu has a better overall record, a better big ten record, and beat them head to head. northwestern also beat iowa and has a better overall record than them. msu had to play osu while iowa did not. i am pretty sure with msu's strength of schedule and with all the other factors they will be in a new years day bowl in florida.

[sparty81]

The Outback cannot take Iowa at 8-4 over MSU at 9-3 Relax
Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay is excellent by the way

[xwing]

stats: if osu gets chosen as the final bcs at large spot (oregon would have to beat oregon state) then msu would jump up to the capital one bowl and then iowa may get chosen to play in the outback bowl (although they would have to be chosen over NW who beat them and has a better overall record). msu and iowa both have strong fan bases that would travel well to a florida bowl but i am not so sure about NW.

[OhioSpartan]

Joe, absolutely MSU was owned in the trenches. The question is how does this problem get fixed, by whom, and when?

[xwing]

sparty81: actually they can. they probably won't though.

[SpartyOn]

Outback bowl gives us a much better chance at a 10 win season.

[Ricky]

Get to the Outback Bowl website, www.outbackbowl.com. Tell their poll you want Michigan State in that game.

For those who think MSU is a shoo-in to the Outback Bowl remember State beat Michigan in 1999, was ranked higher in the BCS standings, and wound up in the Citrus Bowl while Michigan played Alabama in the Orange Bowl.

Iowa sends huge numbers of fans to whatever bowl game they play in and the bowl gets the right to a "third selection", not to a "third place team".

[SpartanRep]

49-18 doesn't feel so bad watching 65-14 OU over TTU.

[Cmoney]

Joe- Well said as always. Agreed. They were just better at every position on almost every play. Cousins looked good again and so did Winston. I just hope we take this BEATING to the bowl game. But yes way to conservative in the play calling.

On a side note, I love that MD is faithful to his seniors and I would probably do the same thing, but I truly feel that Wiley and Hoyer should have been on the bench in the 3rdQ. But he knows more than I.

[xwing]

ricky: michigan and msu had identical records(9-2)back in 1999 but this year msu has a better record than iowa plus they beat them head to head. it would be a shock if iowa got picked over msu especially with how well msu traveled to the florida bowl game last year. iowa has the better win (psu) but they also have a bad loss (illinois is 5-7) and played an easier schedule.

[B Man]

Before the season I think most of the Spartan fans would have been ecstatic with a 9-3 season and a chance for a Big 10 Championship. Let's be realistic as the mess the 2 previous regimes left for MD was a big obstacle to overcome.

Lets keep things in perspective and trust MD in what he's doing. He's grossly overachieved with the talent he has and lets not forget the 2 teams we have lost to in the Big 10 are solidified powers in the Big 10 and in the nation.

Go State!

[Stone]

Outback bowl??? We're lined up for the Citrus. The Beave will lose to the Ducks next week so the Bucks get bumped to the BCS. Outback seems a fall back.

[Marc]

It's hard to tell how Hoyer and Ringer played today because the offensive line was so terrible. They just got blown away, and were jumping offsides way too often. Especially the 5th year seniors. Those two were terrible.
Defensively, they just couldn't keep up. Jones is a playmaker on defense, but there aren't many others when going up against a talented offensive team. Gordon is awful in coverage, and Fortener is out of position way too often.

[Mr. C]

MSU will always be mediocre at everything except teaching landscaping. frauds.

[NotEvenClose]

What we learned here is that Michigan State HAS NOT arrived. Not even close to it. Sure they won 9 games, which is better than most seasons, but against who? Mark Dantonio has yet to beat a ranked opponent in his 2 years, and MSU should think about that before he gets a 10 year contract extension.

Sure they beat a bad Notre Dame team and the worst Michigan team in history. Yes they won games against Wisconsin and Iowa that in past years they may have lost. But they didn't do anything spectacular, and you have to think they take a serious step down next year without Ringer and Hoyer. I think if MSU gets picked for a New Year's Day bowl against an SEC team they will get clobbered like they did against PSU and OSU, which they lost by a combined score of 102-25. You have to be at least competitive with the top teams of your conference in order to say that you are a quality team and to be truly good you have to beat an elite team, which MSU hasn't done since who can remember when? Wisconsin in 04?

Mark Dantonio may go on to win 5 conference championships, but right now I don't think MSU should jump the gun and get all giddy like they did with Bobby Williams after he won a big bowl game with Nick Saban's team. That turned out to be a disaster. Spartans are clamoring for success in football, but don't be surprised if the next few years hold more of the same of what MSU fans saw the majority of this decade: Mediocrity.

[dmbtierney]

I guess for some fans, if you don't go 12-0 and win every game by 30 plus points you are mediocre. Not good, not bad, but mediocre. Look, we've gone from 4-8 to 7-6 to 9-3. That's steady improvement, people! You don't go from 4-8 to 12-0 overnight. All you naysayers need a reality check--and be happy with the progress. I guess by your standards, Texas Tech is lower than a snake's belly in Death Valley and shouldn't be considered for any bowl because they lost and gave up 65 points in the process. I'm going to the bowl, wherever it is, and win or lose, I'm going to enjoy it and not get all anal like some of you posters. Go State!--some of us still love you.

[Bingo]

You said it Joe. Both sides of the ball the lines couldn't compete and that's a sad statement. You want respect? Play with some heart. How do they figure it out? Hit the weight room, get the sleds out, push Dantonia's car around campus for him while he runs his errands. Coaching for this game sucked too. Two weeks of preparations and that's the best you can come up with KNOWING what your heading into??? Thanks Treadwell.

[tom f]

How did they know that we run on every single first down?Thanks Treadwell!

[Big Sean]

I believe it was the right gameplan but there was no execution, not to speak how the same two linemen kept us back peddaling all day. As far as the defense, it wasn't their best but I thought they were on the field too long! Dont' worry guys the program is getting there!
go Green

[Lycurgus13]

Well, at least there is not as much negativity on this board as I thought there would be. We just need to be realistic: they're not there yet. They have come a long way in the last 2yrs, but before they're able to grapple with the big boys they must get better in the trenches on both sides of the ball. The incoming freshmen will be a good start for that, and hopefully Tyler Hoover will eventually be as good as he was projected to be coming out of HS. They are not too away with their linebacker & DB play; the biggest problem is that the MSU D-Line was invisible. Ringer is a special player, but the bigger issue is, once again, they need better guys blocking up-front. As for Hoyer, he was far from flawless during this game, but he was not given much time to do anything. In the long term I believe Cousins or Nichol will be an upgrade @ the QB position. I look forward to having an athletic QB again who can run a little option (something that is very effective on 3rd & 3) and use his legs to make things happen when nobody is open. That said, don't read too much into Cousins' play this game. Yes, he did well, but Penn State had their back-ups in for mop-up duty. I would have put him in earlier, yes, but that's beside the point.

Even with their getting thumped twice, this has still been a special season. Remember: the last very good team MSU had was thumped twice (by Purdue and Wisconsin) and yet they beat Florida in the Citrus Bowl. Hence, I'm not "sold" on this team automatically being cannon fodder for an SEC team. Could it happen? Sure. Does it have to? No. Neither Georgia or LSU are all that great this yr. I watched some of the LSU Ole Miss game yesterday and I'm convinced we can beat Les Miles' team.

Enjoy this season, Spartan fans. It's doubly sweet with U-M's struggles, and even better days are ahead for Spartan football.

Thus spake Lycurgus

[ChuckfromSt.Johns]

dmbtierney,

Don't think the "fraud" and "mediocre" posters are MSU fans. Their loyalty is to a rapidly declining sports program that can't even meet the test(s) of mediocrity or fraud. Their team(s) are.......... Well......
So much LESS......................

[Jimmy in Indy]

The conservative plays to start the game led to 3 and outs and put the defense in bad positions. Penn States first scoring drive resulted from two different plays where the defender slipped.
D'Antonio is the opposite of John L in many ways (which is good), and especially in play calling. The current coach likes to start out conservative and then open it up later. John L was aggressive and then always went way too conservative later causing us to lose leads. We need to be in the middle.