ES Preview: MSU Spartans host Tulsa Time

Michigan State Spartans (0-0, #18/20) vs Don Williams, The Gentle Giant (0-0)

Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI
August 30, 2019.  7 pm ET
TV:  Fox Sports 1
Weather: 72, partly cloudy, 8 mph wind WNW

Sagarin Ratings:  MSU #20,  Tulsa #111.  Projected margin of victory:  MSU by 25
Line outta Vegas:  MSU by 23 1/2

Never been to Tulsa.  The ES has been to Oklahoma - actually Norman, OK for an interview at the Univ of Oklahoma (ugly) where a tornado blast through the town, hitting the ES with hail on his 2012 visit.  Didn't care for the state then, and don't care today - especially today.

The Tulsa Hurricanes waltz into town coming off a 3-9 season.  Let's do a little quiz:

1.  What conference is Tulsa in?  a) Sun Belt b) AAC c) Independent d) Conference USA e) Big 12.
2.  Did former Ohio State Coach John Cooper really win five consecutive conference championships as coach at Tulsa?  a) Duh b) Nope
3.  Tulsa is a girls' school.  It is, or it was.   a) True  b) False
4.  Which infamous songwriter has an archive at U Tulsa?  (hint: "to be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again")

Answers at the bottom of the post.

Predictions for today's stint:

Tulsa World (newspaper): MSU 30-14
Sloth:  Sunny, warm, and drunk
Big Bob:  MSU 7-2.  MSU will win 7-2 with the defense scoring the only TD in the game. Rocky Balboa will be sacked in his own end zone, giving up 2 points in his only series in the game.
RGM3:  MSU 38-10
Oakland Ronnie:  MSU 42-10
GVSU Gregger:  MSU 34-17
Freep:  MSU 33-6
Wojo/Det News:  MSU 30-9
Sensoli: Dantonio is going to switch around his coaching staff again......42-14 MSU
Kat:  still sleeping...

ES sez:  MSU 30-6






Answers (ES tried to turn the font upside down, but that's out of his league in HTML):

1.  b) American Athletic Conference (AAC). Have not.
2.  a) Yes, he did.  Mr. Cooper is a member of the College FB Hall of Fame, he is.
3.  a) True. If you're from Tulsa, you don't smoke marijuana but you're proud to be an Okie from Muskogee.  From Wiki: The Presbyterian School for Girls (also known as "Minerva Home") was founded in Muskogee, Indian Territory, in 1882 to offer a primary education to young women of the Creek Nation.  The Tulsa Chamber of Commerce bought the school for $100k in 1907 with 20 acres of land to relocate it.

4.  Noble Prize winner for Literature, Bob Dylan.  See the archives.  Even so, still don't wanna go back to Oklahoma. 

ES Foxhole Preview of your Michigan State Spartans

2019 FOXHOLE edition of the ES Season Preview of the MSU Spartans

ES been prevewin' since 2001 - beat that!

No, coach D didn't fire Dave Warner, with a lame excuse.  "I'm a foxhole guy," he said, noting loyalty.  And we all know coach D is TOO LOYAL (coach Warner, QBs Maxwell, O'Connor, and even Lewerke with injury)... As Sloth noted, "if I'm in a foxhole, I want someone who can shoot."  Umm, yeah, maybe Dantonio had a bad metaphor. 

That said, there's one bright spot:  the offense can't get any worse.  Another bright spot:  the defense should, once again, rank as the best in the country.   With the worst offense and best defense, Big Green ended up, predictably, 7-6 last year.  

Will the bright uniforms lead to more wins or will it help to blind the Spartan Nation from the agony on the field?  

Probably both.  The ES is bullish on the defense again (it is worth ticket price to see Bachie and Willikes... and see the d-interior of Panasiuk and Williams.  Potentially a No Fly Zone with Scott and Dowell with depth).  Offense is bearish, with more injuries on the line from preseason and an overall  ho-hum running corps.  But, it can't be worse than 2018.... can it? 

So, what do you say, pundits?  Here's the Sparty faithful giving its predictions:

It's that time of year! Need to know your thoughts for the 2019 edition of the Enlightened Spartan Season Preview: 1. Final Record for MSU (W-L). 2. Record in Big Ten (W-L). 3. Bowl Game Prediction? 4. Best Win (vs who, score, why?). 5. Worst Loss (vs who, score, why?). 6. Other general comments about MSU football. GO GREEN!

• Keith: 7-5, 5-4 dantonio seems excited.....im not. Surprise me sparty !!!!#
• Big Bob: 1) 6-6, 2) 4-5, 3) New President announces MSU won’t go bowling until it it has a real chance of victory, 4) WMU - the only game with more than one offensive TD scored, 5) OSU - Oscar Meyer is retired but his team will still win by 3 TDs, 6) MSU hoops team will win it all making it easier to forget about football woes
• C Hock:  1.) 6-7 2.) 6-6 3.) MSU 6 vs. UCLA 14 in the Holiday Bowl 4) Best win: all of them because it means our defense will have held the opponent to under 6 points, which is very impressive 5) Worst Loss: all of our losses, because our defense will have held the opponent to 7 points (also impressive) but our offense would have failed to score more than 6 points. Make or break year for "6 point Mark"
• Chef Tom: undefeated national champions
• Carter: 1. 8-4: because it looks a lot better than 7-5. 2. 5-4: same reason as number 1. 3. Arby’s Au’ Jus Bowl. 4. Illinois...it would be sad if they lose this one. 5. UM because it is just sad. 6. All depends on the shoulder health of QB....wishing Lewerke, good luck!!! Defense could make us even better....help us beat UM or OSU....
• Sloth:  1. 7-5 2. 4-5 3. The Fucking Fire Dave Warner Bowl 4. The Day That Dave Warner is Fired 5. Every Day That Dave Warner Is Not Fired 6. Nepotism sucks, and don't pay Lou Anna Simon a Goddamned nickel!!!
• Oakland Ronnie:  12-1 Something and 1 Citrus bowl Northwestern: MSU 40 something nw 13. Offense finally arrives and avenges last years terrible showing to set pace the rest of the year. Loss: Michigan. Blowout victory for Michigan to warrant Jesus harbaugh’s position on the throne. All over the place with this one.
• Doc:   1. 14-0 2. 9-0 3. Beat $aban in final 4. Tie between UM & Ala 5. Loss? That's sooo 2018 6. Back on top
• RGM3: 1. Overall Record: 9-3 2. B1G: 6-3 3. Citrus Bowl 4. Best Win: Michigan 21-17 Revenge from last years disrespect they showed us 5. Worst Loss: Penn State 24-21 i think our luck against them will end even tho they are highly overrated 6. Dantonio needs 9 wins and show an improved offense or he should be heavily on the hot seat
• Kat: MSU is 6-6/5-4 in Big Ten.  Cereal Bowl.  BEST: Tulsa.  WORST: Michigan. Go GREEN!
• ES:  MSU ends up 10-2/7-2 in the Big Ten.  Citrus Bowl.  ES will take it.  

Here's a game-by-game breakdown:

MSU 30, Tulsa 6.
MSU 24, Western Michigan 10.
MSU 17, Arizona State 9.
MSU 17, @ Northwestern 13.
MSU 20, Indiana 10
@ Ohio State 24, MSU 10.
@ Wisconsin 21, MSU 7.  WORST LOSS.
MSU 21, Penn State 17.
MSU 30, Illinois 0.
MSU 14, @ Michigan 13.  BEST WIN.
MSU 28, @ Rutgers 7.
MSU 24, @ Maryland 7.