Embarassment. The Spartans weren't even competitive. The game against Penn State was a joke. Coach Mark Dantonio, D-coord Pat Narduzzi, and O-coord Don Treadwell all owe the Spartan nation an apology for the pathetic performance of the Spartans in the second half of
yesterday's 42-14 loss. This is a team that looked lost and disengaged as it wore on. They were pathetic. It was the worst performance of the year by Michigan State against a very good Penn State team. Where do you start?
Kirk Cousins had the worst game of his career (16-28-155-2 INT), and overthrew receivers, mistimed passes, or just made poor decisions. Especially on third down, after going 2-5 on third down in the first quarter, the Spartans finished 0-7 the rest of the way (2-12 for the game). Much of it was terrible play calling by Treadwell, who couldn't put three effective play calls together if he tried. Poor game planning - the screen plays were telegraphed, running on second down when trailing by 21 points was STUPID and ineffective, Cousins couldn't hit an out pattern if he tried.... and, then when MSU goes to the hurry up offense down 28-7 with 5 minutes left in the third quarter, they get an offsides call... and then quit the hurry up? Huh? What the hell are they thinking? What kind of ad hoc coaching is that?
To top it off, after Cousins misses on the fifth consecutive 3-and-out... at the end of the 3rd quarter, the coaches still fail to put in Nichol? This, after early in the year they disrupt the timing of the offense in the second quarter of games to deliberately insert Nichol? What the hell is going on? Brain dead coaching. Just the poorest effort out of Dantonio and his staff all year.
Defensively, the secondary looked completely lost as JoePa crossed receivers in motion and RBs on deep post patterns, with no Spartan safeties or DBs within 5-10 yards of coverage. What the hell was going on? Dantonio can learn about some Xs and Os from the Old Man.
Give credit to the Old Man - we got out butts kicked, and this Spartan team doesn't deserve to be in the top tier of the Big Ten. We're just average at best. Like last year vs Ohio State, this team just can't compete against the Big Boys. We're just not good enough.
I'm glad I painted my hair green and yelled my heart out. So much for being an avid Spartan fan. It was pathetic. I should send my bill for $2.99 for green hair spray to Coach Dantonio and request a refund.
SEND MICHIGAN STATE TO DETROIT
The way they played, the Spartans don't deserve a bowl game. They'd stink up any matchup unless it was against the Sun Belt conference. OK, so MSU is bowl eligible... so what should the league do? Michigan State and Notre Dame (who lost to UConn) deserve each other in a bowl game - send the two to Detroit for the Pizza Pizza Bowl.
The highlight of the game (below) was the balloons let go at the end of the first quarter.
or, little miss Santa gal (center below) who braved the 55-degree weather...
PSU-MSU STATS
PSU MSU
FIRST DOWNS................... 24 16
Rushing..................... 7 5
Passing..................... 16 10
Penalty..................... 1 1
NET YARDS RUSHING............. 188 94
Rushing Attempts............ 38 25
Average Per Rush............ 4.9 3.8
Rushing Touchdowns.......... 1 0
Yards Gained Rushing........ 213 121
Yards Lost Rushing.......... 25 27
NET YARDS PASSING............. 324 239
Completions-Attempts-Int.... 20-28-0 20-33-2
Average Per Attempt......... 11.6 7.2
Average Per Completion...... 16.2 11.9
Passing Touchdowns.......... 5 2
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS........... 512 333
Total offense plays......... 66 58
Average Gain Per Play....... 7.8 5.7
Fumbles: Number-Lost.......... 0-0 0-0
Penalties: Number-Yards....... 6-27 6-60
PUNTS-YARDS................... 5-192 9-337
Average Yards Per Punt...... 38.4 37.4
Net Yards Per Punt.......... 38.2 36.0
Inside 20................... 5 3
50+ Yards................... 1 0
Touchbacks.................. 0 0
Fair catch.................. 1 3
KICKOFFS-YARDS................ 7-475 2-125
Average Yards Per Kickoff... 67.9 62.5
Net Yards Per Kickoff....... 44.0 31.0
Touchbacks.................. 2 0
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD. 4-13-0 2-1-0
Average Per Return.......... 3.2 0.5
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD 2-63-0 5-127-0
Average Per Return.......... 31.5 25.4
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD.. 2-47-0 0-0-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD. 0-0-0 0-0-0
Miscellaneous Yards........... 0 0
Possession Time............... 33:56 26:04
1st Quarter................. 6:35 8:25
2nd Quarter................. 8:49 6:11
3rd Quarter................. 7:43 7:17
4th Quarter................. 10:49 4:11
Third-Down Conversions........ 6 of 13 2 of 12
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 0 0 of 0
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 2-2 1-1
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-9 4-20
PAT Kicks..................... 6-6 2-2
Field Goals................... 0-2 0-0
