I feel like we've been in this situation before. We had victories earlier in the season against Florida Atlantic, Notre Dame, and were coming off a road vicroty at Northwestern. Michigan State was undefeated in Big Ten play and was receiving a lot of hype before a big game. Once the game began it was immediately clear that we could not rise to the occasion or were perhaps not as good as promoted. By the end of the first quarter, we were already down 21-0. That heartbreaker of a game was our 2008 matchup with Ohio State that ended in a 45-7 loss. The box score of that one is very similar to yesterday's - completely stuffed on the running game (only 52 and 31 yards respectively), an unusually high number of turnovers (5 and 3). I was excited and confident going into that 2008 game and felt immediately deflated (see also 2008 National Championship game vs. North Carolina.) Perhaps I learned my lesson from those games, because I was leery going into Saturday.
I bring up these bad sports memories not to dwell on the past, but to make a point: before Michigan State can take it to the top level, they need to learn how to deal with success and come prepared to play their hardest as a team against the top opponents. Note that I said "top level" - I think that their performance this season has been notably superior to any MSU team in the past decade (as long as they win out, of course). While this season no longer has the potential to be an incredibly amazing season, it still has the ability to become a very special season with a trip to the Rose Bowl. The new goal of the team should be to close out the season strong and win its first bowl game in several years.
-Since we no longer have a chance at the National Championship game, did anyone else jump the "give Boise State a chance" bandwagon? I would much rather see them than Ohio State. After all, OSU didn't even have to play us (that one gives my coworkers a good laugh).
-What happened to our running game? It used to be a strength, but now we can't run on anybody? Is our o-line not creating gaps or did our running backs lose that spark?
-Seeing Chris Rucker play yesterday was a disappointment. I wonder if the situation would have played out differently if we were playing against Eastern Michigan or if we were the ones that came out to the quick lead.
1 comment:
I think the offensive line was probably a bit too hyped to start the year. Pushing around ND, Florida Atlantic, Michigan, and Northern Colorado doesn't mean you have a good offensive line. We've really been exposed against some tougher Big Ten defenses who have just plain out-muscled us.
That said, Bell has to learn to run more north-and-south. Like a lot of young backs, he runs sideways too much; dancing around to try and make a play. That doesn't help.
I hope we can make that Rose Bowl. I never felt like we were a championship caliber team in the first place (it was cool to dream about, though), so perhaps we are going for something more realistic anyway. An 11-1 season would be awesome.
Not on the Boise bandwagon...I think Oregon-Auburn would be highly entertaining. 70-69 Oregon. Highest scoring game EVER.
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