MSU Red Cedar Message Board

Well, Boise seems to have some sort of knack for winning Week 1 games that they're supposed to lose
Notre Dame's been able to score 31 points on MSU the last two years despite mediocre at best QB play.
You never know what O$U will do with Meyer running the offense down there.
And Wisconsin still has Ball at running back

Wisconsin, Notre Dame, and...Michigan.

Eastern and our number one rival, Indiana.

Nebraska seemed to challenge our defense last year so I think they will do it again.

Yeah - IU is a given.

Unfortunately for MSU, Notre Dame and Wisconsin have averaged more points per game than any other team when playing the Spartans over the last three years. Wisconsin has averaged 33.75 points per game, while ND has averaged 31.67 points per game.

If Wisconsin can pass the ball. . . I'm worried about them because they are always going to have the big linemen and it will be a war up front during the rushing game. I really don't know how much the new QB adds to their overall offense. Michigan is the confusing game for me. . . in watching replays of last years game, Robinson missed so many receivers whether the rush was on or not. I'm confident we can stop their running game, but if he could ever complete a few passes it might be a different story. While I'm not a student of the game, the announcers were always talking about Robinson not setting his feet before throwing. Once our defensive rush really got going, and Robinson was rushing his passes the game was over. I guess my issue is whether Robinson has improved over the past year. . . if he is the same our defense will win.

Wisconsin is the only offense that actually concerns me. I don't know why people act like they had no offense before Russell Wilson. They were averaging 43 points a game with Scott Tolzien at QB, who was no special talent by any means.

Nebraska gave us some problems last year, but I attribute that more to the timing in which we played them. However, Burkhead is a beast who will get his.

Ohio State? I'll believe it when I see it. That defensive beatdown last year is still fresh in my mind.

Michigan? See Ohio State.

Boise State? Big unknown. First game of the year, so we could be a little rusty. Hell, we didn't look that great against Youngstown State last year, relatively speaking.

Notre Dame? Never know. In that game, expect the unexpected.

Boise
ND
@Wiscy
Nebraska

UM..hell no, what the hell games have you fools been watching the last 4 years. Our Defense matches up extremely well against UM. We could lose to UM but that would probably be because our O, not our D.

OSU, doubt it. Our D bitched slapped them last year in Columbus and they have a new offense. We will hurt Brackston this year.

Good call on Minnesota. Gray was an absolute beast in that game. I suspect we just got caught looking past Minnesota, and frankly, played flat and uninspired. Hopefully that doesn't happen this year.

1) Past years mean nothing for the current year.

2) Any team that makes you respect the run and the pass can challenge a defense. MSU has done a fantastic job of containing the run vs. UM during the last 4 game stretch, but State cannot afford to rest on their laurels (nor do I think they will). UM should average over 200 YPG on the ground once again, and if Shoelace improves as a passer (and he should, 3rd year starter, etc.) it'll be an offense to respect.

3) I'm not saying that any of these O's will get the better of the D, just that they'll force the D to be on their toes.

I think the team was just worn out and beat-up. State was using their 3rd string STAR LB (both Norman and Gardiner went down), 2nd string CB (Lippett, who gave up that 67 yard TD catch-and-run in the 1st Q that really set the tone) and 3rd string C (Ruhland got the start because Jackson was banged up). It was the game after the UM-WI-@Nebraska triumvirate of fun.

I think the '11 class is going to play a key role this year, because injuries are bound to happen. Having a 'fresh' group of RS FR, who have at least a full year of conditioning under their belt should keep the bottom from falling out.

It's also why I'm worried about the Iowa - Nebraska stretch. Those are games 7, 8, 9 and 10 and also represent 10 straight weeks of football for MSU. The bye is after the Nebraska game. That's a long time to go without rest, and MSU faces all 6 of their pre-season top 25 opponents during those first 10 games, plus an always-dangerous Iowa team. We saw MSU struggle at home vs. a bad Minny team just this past year. It's going to take better depth (which I think there is, I just don't know how much better) to have an MSU squad up to the physical challenge of stopping the option in Game 10.

The only saving grace is that the first 7 games set up for the team to get some rest; Boise, @CMU, ND, EMU, tOSU, @IU, Iowa. Basically "Tough, easy, Tough, easy, Tough, easy, Semi-tough", then @UM, @WI, Nebraska. Ideally, MSU is able to rest some guys against EMU and IU. Probably wishful thinking to go up on Iowa 31-7 again, but it'd help if that game was over by the 4th Q.

Sorry for the excessively long post. I don't think MSU is going to have a physical problem with Minny; it's the final game of the year, and though a road game, the 2 weeks prior are BYE and Northwestern at home for SR day.

Actually, should MSU do what they did last year, and lock up a CCG spot early, they should be in great shape for the CCG, as the last 3 weeks of the season (@Minny, preceded by Northwester and the bye) are about as good as you can hope for with regards to getting a team healthy.