Spartans waste TE talent in medicore Big Ten offense: MSU favored by FG at Iowa; Spartans up to #13

OK, the ES isn't going to spit-shine a turd, so let's call it like it is.  ES ain't going to brag about a 31-24 ho-hum win over 2-7, the Minnesoter "we got pounded at home by North Dakota State" Gophers. And, the ES ain't going to get into the worst defensive performance of the season.  That will improve, no doubt.  If it doesn't, well, we're going to spend the holidays in San Antonio, or worse. 

Mind, you, let's say it right out loud:  WHERE THE HELL ARE THE SPARTAN TIGHT-ENDS?

Other than the wonderful game vs Wisconsin and the pounding of overrated scUM, the Spartan offense is mediocre in Big Ten play.  Why?  Let the ES point to a lack of completing-passes-to-tight ends as one (or THE) instrumental area of concern.  Of the 81 completions in Big Ten play, just 13 (16%) are to tight ends, with a long of 25 yards to Linthicum vs Wisky.  The Big Green is NOT using its Tight Ends effectively, efficiently, or wisely.  Rarely does Cousins look for his TEs off the line of scrimmage unless he is dialed in from the huddle; this is unfortunate and must be addressed if the Spartans are to have any offensive success late into the season.  And, Spartan OC Dan Roushar's lack of ingenuity with his TEs, not using these giants off of picks, not directing TEs to drop into zones off of 3rd down blocks, or more importantly, not directing Cousins to attack the MIDDLE OF THE FIELD by dropping teardrops into TEs on fly or post patterns is -- well, puzzling -- and dammit, it ain't the Spartan "get the ball to Bob Organ" Tight-End way of doing things.

The lack of TE production is far more absent than anything the ES or the Spartan Nation expected this year, particularly considering it may have the strongest and deepest TE crew in the conference.  The lack of use of tight ends is a prime suspect in the loss at Nebraska, and was problematic in the close win this past weekend vs Minnesota.  There is far too much talent for the Spartans at TE with Celek, Linthicum, and Sims to just sit in blocking schemes without partaking of their soft hands.   Check out these measly stats:

• W vs Minn:  Linthicum, 2 catches for 14 yards.
• L vs Neb:  Linthicum, 2 catches for 16 yards. 
• W vs Wisky:  Linthicum 3 for 58 yards, Sims 2 for 12 yards. 
• W vs scUM: Linthicum, 2 catches for 22 yards. 
• W vs Ohio State: Linthicum 1 for 7; Celek, 1 for 6. 

Note to Roushar and the Doctor:  better get yer Spartan TEs in the game plan at Iowa, or you will be playing in San Antonio again instead of in Pasadena.  Use your TE talent, don't neglect it. So far for 2011, it's a shame to see such talent wasted.

SPARTANS FAVORED BY FG AT IOWA
As of Sunday night, according to VegasInsider.com, Michigan State (-3) is favored by a FG at Iowa.

MSU MOVES UP TO #13

AP Top 25
RK	TEAM	RECORD	PTS
1	LSU (59)	9-0	1499
2	Oklahoma State	9-0	1398
3	Stanford	9-0	1369
4	Alabama	8-1	1334
5	Boise State (1)	8-0	1288
6	Oregon	8-1	1184
7	Oklahoma	8-1	1138
8	Arkansas	8-1	1107
9	Clemson	8-1	979
10	Virginia Tech	8-1	885
11	Houston	9-0	804
12	Penn State	8-1	725
13	Michigan State	7-2	718
14	Georgia	7-2	657
15	South Carolina	7-2	654
16	Wisconsin	7-2	602
17	Kansas State	7-2	546
18	USC	7-2	502
19	Nebraska	7-2	491
20	Georgia Tech	7-2	340
21	Texas	6-2	313
22	Michigan	7-2	264
23	Cincinnati	7-1	206
24	Auburn	6-3	181
25	Southern Miss	8-1	161

• Dropped from rankings: Arizona State 20, West Virginia 24

• Others receiving votes: TCU 56, Ohio State 50, Arizona State 15, Florida State 12, Washington 8, Iowa 4, Notre Dame 4, Baylor 3, West Virginia 1, Tulsa 1, Virginia 1

TE Sims accused of computer theft

No wonder Dion Sims isn't playing at TE for the Spartans. He was accused in a laptop theft ring. This MAY be a reason (or not) for his not playing for MSU so far this fall, despite his talent. He has now been suspended, according to USA Today.

Wow, how many ups and downs for MSU? last second win over Irish, heart attack for head coach, suspension for talented TE?

Michigan State 44, Montana State 3

Congrats to our opening, 44-3 whitewashing of Montana State. Yeah.

OK, we didn't learn much today -- which is why the ES traveled and spent the weekend at Disney World. But, from the stats and info from his Brudda, we learned the following: offensive line needs to run block better - it was a perceived weakness entering the fall, and vs a FCS team, it is confirmed. The longest run of the day was from Caulton Ray, with a 20 yarder. He was 12-71 (5.9). Our two freshmen studs, Larry Caper (7-34) and Ed Baker (8-27) sufficed but were nothing special.

Most of all, what we learned is that we need to STOP DROPPING PASSES. What's going on? The stats looks good, but official stats should also count dropped passes. According to my bro, we must have dropped 6-10 passes today, and it resulted in truncated drives. Blair White was 9-162, and BJ Cunningham was 3-62. What was more significant was that opponents (Mont St) could not keep Dion Sims off the field - and he caught 2-32 and 1 TD as a true frosh. He's a stud.

As for which QB is better? I have to go with my bro's opinion from personally witnessing game action and he said that Keith Nichol (9-18-0-135, 2 TD) looked to perform "a little bit" better than Kirk Cousins (10-17-0-183, 3 TD) and "seemed better in control of the offense."

Overall, Mich St outgained Mont St. 493-160. Just obliteration, as expected.

Montana State will receive at least $650,000 for traveling to East Lansing, enough to pay nearly a third of its annual football budget.

MONST - MSU

FIRST DOWNS................... 12 29
NET YARDS RUSHING............. 62 175
Rushing Attempts............ 28 40
Average Per Rush............ 2.2 4.4
NET YARDS PASSING............. 98 318
Completions-Attempts-Int.... 13-26-0 19-35-0
Passing Touchdowns.......... 0 5
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS........... 160 493
Total offense plays......... 54 75
Average Gain Per Play....... 3.0 6.6
Penalties: Number-Yards....... 7-55 5-46
PUNTS-YARDS................... 9-335 2-114
Average Yards Per Punt...... 37.2 57.0
Net Yards Per Punt.......... 28.6 51.5
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD. 1-11-0 5-58-0
Average Per Return.......... 11.0 11.6
Possession Time............... 29:19 30:41
Third-Down Conversions........ 2 of 14 7 of 13
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 2 of 2 0 of 0
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 1-1 3-4
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 0-0 3-22

OK, and then I saw the defensive stats and WTF - Greg Jones was a hoss, with 14 tackles, including 2.5 for loss:

53 Jones, Greg        5    9   14  2.5/16   .   .     .      .    .   1.5/11   .
11 Hyde, Marcus       2    4    6     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

Link here for video of the matchup


Of those 92 who voted in the ES' poll of margin of victory, only 28% said that MSU would win by 36 or more. 40% said by 20-29 points, 18% said 30-35 points. 6% said 10-19 points, and 1% said 1-9 points. Four people said Montana State would win.

Second scrimmage: The Cousins and Caper show

The LSJ has a brief writeup of yesterday's scrimmage, the second of the week, and the ES broke out the statistics below to make it easier to follow. Highlighting the performance on offense was improvement from Kirk Cousins, which just tightens the QB race back up with Keith Nichol. TE Dion Sims made big plays, and RB Larry Caper has seemingly taken the lead with a productive 4.9 yards per carry average yesterday. And, you gotta love it when our LBs are our leading two tacklers. Said the Doctor, "I thought the offense played and executed better... The quarterbacks threw the ball effectively, and the offense ran the ball better, especially in third-and-short situations... Defensively, the guys up front know what they're doing, so they play fast and there aren't many missed assignments. We're 16 practices into camp and the guys are playing at game speed." Statistics from Friday's scrimmage:

Quarterbacks:

• Cousins: 6-13-119. 1 TD, 1 INT.
  
• Nichol: 7-14-54. 0 TD, 0 INT.
  

Running Backs:

• Caper: 14-68. 1 TD (7 yards). 4.9 ypc.
• Ray: 16-37. 2.3 ypc.
• Baker: 14-32. 2.3 ypc.
  

Receivers:

• White: 3-66.
• Sims: 2-38. 1 TD.
  

Defense:

• Jones: 10 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack.
  
• Gordon: 8 tackles.
• Rucker: 1 INT, 1 TD.
  

QB/RB battle results, MSU #18 says NBC, ESPN gives cautious praise

Let's reflect on this past week's preparations by your Spartan gridders, with just 15 days left until we take on the Montana State Bobcats.

Obviously, the two main spots gaining all the attention are in the Spartan backfield - and a Monday scrimmage gives a better line on who may get the nod to start the season. It looks that Keith Nichol took the early lead in the QB race. Nichol completed 17-of-26 passes for 241 yards and three touchdowns,; his counterpart, Kirk Cousins, hit 13-of-30 throws for 127 yards, two TDs and one interception. Stats may not be anything, but there's a wide disparity between the two here. At RB, sophomore Ashton Leggett led all rushers with 91 yards on 10 carries, including a 63-yard TD run (sans the long run, Leggett was 9-28, or 3.1 average). AJ Jimmerson had 38 yards on 10 carries, and Caulton Ray had 15 carries for 29 yards. Freshman TE stud Dion Sims had seven catches for 60 yards, and wideout Keshawn Martin caught five passes for 85 yards and a TD. Chris Rucker (who dropped about everything thrown his way last year) had four catches for 90 yards. On defense, linebacker Adam Decker was a standout with eight tackles. Along the line, Tyler Hoover had six tackles (two for losses) and recovered a fumble.

Over at MSUspartans.com, they posted an update late Thursday in advance of a Friday scrimmage, with comments from Cousins, Nichol, Joel Nitchman, and DL Coach Ted Gill.

THE PUNDITS ARE OUT - NBC LOVES MICHIGAN STATE

The Associated Press will release its preseason poll tomorrow, Saturday, Aug. 22. Over at NBC Sports, they list Michigan State #18 ("Dantonio’s program has an opportunity to take the next step — maybe even a giant step"), thusly, lowering expectations of the annual Spartan dispatching of their beloved #22 Irish on national TV. LSUfootball.net has published its final preseason compilation of preseason rankings, and lists MSU at #32.

Over at ESPN, they've got a preseason prognostication of Michigan State's postseason plans, with Bruce Feldman pitting MSU vs Kansas State in the Insight Bowl, and Mark Schlabach listing MSU vs Texas Tech in the Alamo Bowl... Adam Rittenberg slots MSU in the Outback Bowl. All three would be a step DOWN for the Spartans this year. Rittenberg is the most prolific blogger on the Big Ten over at ESPN, and he also lists MSU at #4 in his conference power rankings: "The more I look at the Spartans' depth chart, the more I like their chances this fall... if Michigan State solidifies its offensive backfield, look out." And, can you say "team"? Michigan State is picked by most to finish either #3 or #4 in the conference, including by Rittenberg, yet the Spartans have only two players on the Big Ten's First Team All Conference, which ranks them tied with scUM for next-to-last.

Dion Sims impresses Big Ten Network, Dantonio

One big positive out of the Big Ten Network is the ability to catch a glimpse of practice sessions, and today was Exhibit A as the BTN took a glimpse at Michigan State under 90-degree weather. It was a sweat box.

From some of what the ES saw, on offense pass protection seemed pretty good, but the Spartan defense -- particularly the 'backers -- were able to tee off on the running game, plugging the holes effectively. There was a particularly nice roll out right by QB Keith Nichol as he dodged out of the pocket, and threw across his body with great strength and accuracy, and hit a streaking receiver across the middle.

The Doctor was interviewed... and what was telling were the particular names he mentioned. He singled out Brandon Denson for his work ethic and the whole LB corps as a strength. He mentioned he expected to have a 3-RB rotation of 100+ carries by each this fall. As for the new recruits, two seemed to stick out: Chris Norman and Dion Sims who are "getting a lot of reps."

The BTN crew chimed in with their thoughts, and agreed there seemingly was no difference between Nichol or Kirk Cousins at QB. BTN commentator Howard Griffith was very impressed with Spartan receivers, and noted the teams' potential "to put a lot of points on the board." Both Griffith and Gerry DiNardo were impressed by the pair of true frosh RBs, Ed Baker and Larry Caper... although DiNardo feels Baker has the edge. The pair "looked good catching the ball and picking up blitzes." Hopefully, they can run well, too...

Finally, when asked about "under the radar" players, DiNardo mentioned Lansing native Micajah Reynolds as an OL that may be able to get some quality playing time. Griffith and Dave Revsine both drooled over Dion Sims at TE that he "was special."