Ten things to take from today

1. Ashton Leggett is in the mix at running back, moving forward. Yes, Western Michigan's defense is poor, but Leggett can help MSU's running game, particularly around the goal line.

    2. Kirk Cousins has a chance to be All-Big Ten first team. Daryll Clark opened the door today. Purdue's Joey Elliott has to be considered. Mike Kafka? Terrelle Pryor? Two big weeks and two victories could get it done for Cousins.
    3. The Big Ten is probably only going to get one team in the BCS, and a nation stands and cheers.
    4. This means that MSU is probably out of the running for the Champs Sports Bowl, which picks before the Alamo Bowl this year. The safest bets right now are Ohio State-Rose, Iowa-Capital One, Penn State-Outback, Wisconsin-Champs, MSU-Alamo, Northwestern-Insight, Minnesota-Motor City.
    5. Notice that Michigan was excluded from that group. Saturday's home loss to Purdue was a killer for Rich Rodriguez. The Wolverines finish at Wisconsin and home against Ohio State. It's about to get even uglier in Ann Arbor (how many times has that been written in the past 14 months?).
    6. Meanwhile, Purdue has new life, and Danny Hope may be looking at Big Ten Coach of the Year. The Boilers can earn a bowl trip by beating MSU and Indiana. MSU fans cheered loudly when the U-M score flashed on the scoreboard, but Purdue now has tons of incentive next week on senior day to beat MSU.
    7. Speaking of the fans, I was quite surprised and impressed by the turnout today. Great weather yes, but 73,000-plus showing up for a 4-5 team playing Western is pretty good.
    8. MSU played well. Yes, Western is bad, but the Spartans had four minor penalties and good execution on both sides of the ball. Bouncing back, yet again.
    9. It was a valuable player development day for MSU, rare in November. Trenton Robinson got a whole afternoon at safety and did the job. Ishmyl Johnson got a lot of snaps. Chris Norman saw a lot of action. John Deyo and Jared McGaha worked with the No. 1 offensive line. Keith Nichol and Dion Sims hooked up for a touchdown.
    10. I can eat two brats in 21 seconds. Sorry, didn't really have a 10th thing. But it's true.

Comments

[Stone]

11. Danny Hope has the best mustache in the nation of coaches

[T-Bone]

12. UM and ND lose...good day...even IF Western looked like I-AAAAAAA caliber.

[townhousecracker]

Hey how'd the prayer go?

[Andy]

Here's a number ten... today's use of Nichol was finally (mostly) appropriate.

It is clear that Cousins makes this team go. He is unquestionably the leader, has the better arm, delivery, accuracy... and more escapability than people give him credit for.

We need to use Nichol inside of series, a la Minny with Gray.

[USMCSpartan(Ret)]

T-Bone, you stole my #10 with your #12. That's OK, though. Just lets me know that somebody else hates the Frakking Isaahs! Agree Andy, get some wildcat (call it whatever) plays going with Keith Nichol.

[palefan]

I'm not sure what to do - a Saturday without anything to b#*ch about after the Spartans played so well! Great job all around, men. I agree with Andy - this actually could have been a better blowout if they just left Cousins in for every snap of the first half, then let Nichol play the entire second half unless it was a disaster. Both guys know the offense is theirs and get the chance to own the game for a while. Western looks tired and ready to go home for Thanksgiving. Our team made them look that way.

GO GREEN

11. It's basketball season.

[Tanfan]

Liggitt come on strong baby !!!
Nickles waiting in the wings baby !!!
McGahey get time baby !!!
The Tanner is on fire baby !!!

[Mark]

I, too, was very impressed by the size of the crowd at SS today. Did not expect to see that many people there. It's a testiment to the continued loyalty of Spartan fans (of course, the weather was great too--that didn't hurt!)

The emergence of Leggett was extremely encouraging, and if Caper is able to play next week, it'll be great to have a trio of Baker, Caper, and Leggett for next week.

Next week against Purdue will be a real test--the Boilermakers will be confident and motivated to win on Senior Day. Danny Hope has done a great job this year.

Leggett, Linthicum, and Cousins were very impressive in their post-game interviews. Three very well-spoken, intelligent kids. They seem to be focused on the task at hand, which is to win out in November--hopefully this has rubbed off on the rest of the team.

[MayoSpartan]

Good points Mark. Listening to Leggett, Linthicum and Cousins reassured me the program is headed in the right direction. All three performed well and all have two more years eligibility (Cousins' QB rating was the highest in the nation, like 243).

Purdue can give up the big plays on the ground and in the air, like us. Our D must force some turnovers and make plays next week. Hopefully the Offense will be error free again ... no turnovers today!!!

Brats at Milwaukee's old ballpark were excellent.

GO GREEN!

[Spartan95]

Great job of coaching getting the team up to crush a team that they should have crushed. They looked focused and ready. Cousins was as sharp as Hiller was off and his future looks fabulous. With a line that can give him time...BABY!

[nordberg]

assuming we win out, we may very well finish 3rd in the big ten with a win over penn st. Wisconsin would need to lose one more but not an absurd possibility.

[nordberg]

Iowa is done. Luck has run out. they will not win another game this year. ouch

[MSUGOGREEN]

Nice. Thanks.

[Spartan Dave]

Can we finally end any debate - Keith Nichol is not in the same league as Kirk Cousins .... not even close!! Glad Nichol is on the team, however its not a arguement any reasonable person can make!!! Been saying all year = how much more prove do you need?

[rg]

Same old Wolverines! Anyone notice how quiet the trolls are when their team plays down to expectations? Apalachian State forever!

Anyone remember earlier this year when Lou Holtz predicted Notre Dumb would play in the BCS championship game? Let's see if now he starts inventing excuses.

Let's hope neither Rodrigues and Weis gets fired.

[Jim]

Nichol was a drive killer in the first half. Three or four times they ran a receiver around to take a hand-off and gained minimal yards. I swear on any one of those had Nichol kept the ball and gone the opposite direction he would have run 50+ yards untouched.

[NYSpartan]

rg, couldn't agree more! But can we at least get a Lou Holtz firing from ESPN? I can't stand listening to him........ not to mention wiping the spit off my tv every time he speaks. But part of me does enjoy watching that domer wax poetic every year and then watching "all hees hopes and dreams get flushed down the f***ing draeen"!! (sorry, couldn't resist the Rounders quote)

[rbe]

RichRod..fired UofscUM and Martin were foolish enough to hire this Moron. Most of the scUM faithful will follow anything/anyone who wears Maze/blue. RR can lie thought his teeth and Maze/blue just follow along...Now, they all hate Coach Carr...ND are the same, They don't know enough to ache when their in pain! Domers have empty Domes!
Lou Holtz: has screwed up every program he coached at....He needs to eat some more CROW!

Come on Green strap up and play some real football! Two games left!

[MSUinSC]

Nordberg-
I agree Iowa is done but that is due to attrition. Their top RB and QB are out and their O has come to a stand still. PSU and OSU will catch up in the standings. Hopefully, so will we. Personally, I love the dissention and turmoil in UofM. They are proving to the nation that they are just like eveyone else in todays society - results oriented and fickle. Please fire Rich Rod and give us 2 morer guaranteed years of success.... please. If you keep him he might beat us. If you decide to change staff then the past two years of recruiting may be erased due to a new team philosophy and direction. Please fire RR.

[msu76]

If U of M fires RR, maybe they'd hire Kelly, then we could get a true measure of who's a better Big Ten coach: MD or Kelly. My money's on Dantonio.

And speaking of toast- Michigan is also cone winning this year- after one win in the Big Ten!

[msu76]

"done" winning- sorry!

[Mark]

Great win by the Spartans today, all things considered. I still don't understand why everybody has to knock Nichol to build up Cousins? Also, Why were Jones and Gordon still on the field late in the 4th Q. up 49 -14? And why is Jones on kick coverage against WMU?

[bingo]

Just remember and I'll say it again, "it's only Western Michigan." Please note #6 and take note they have incentive to win at home where they beat osu. We have incentive to crumble and play with our tails tucked between our legs. Oh, Purdue is beatable, but unless our run game is "working" we will stall on drives or just do a lot of 3 and outs. Just 6 times - perhaps next week I'd like to see our offense sustain a drive for a score and not all of them field goals. I wonder if Treadwell could mastermind this? Maybe dust off an old playbook from 1966? Sure would be fun to watch. But the odds are against us being that the MSU offensive line splits time between practice and ballet classes. Leggett might appreciate some real blocking instead of twinkle toes dancing.

[bingo]

rich rod whining like a sally on the BTN. They gave those bums 25+ minutes of post game coverage. And Coach Hope called rich rod out after the post game coaches handshake and rich rod cried about it at the post game press conference. Scum is falling!

[townhousecracker]

This game was a softy thrown on the schedule to get into a bowl game...so crowing about winning is pointless. "The Problem" remains, we are ten games into this season and the head coach has yet to choose ONE and only quarterback. Saturday the rotation was particularly bizarre - but again we played a cupcake. To play after Christmas we must win these last two games. The head coach needs to make a final decision on this quarterback fiasco. The players chose their captain. Stats don't lie. Changing the most pivotal position on the team with no rhyme breaks consistency. If Nichol plays in games 11 or 12 States done for the year. There's a good chance they are anyhow. One week cupcake walk is over...and this team is poorly coached.