Cunningham and Dell plead guilty

Lovely. From ESPN:

"Two more Michigan State football players have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and battery charges stemming from a Nov. 22 campus fight. Receivers B.J. Cunningham and Mark Dell entered the pleas in district court Wednesday. Conspiracy charges were dropped and each player faces up to 93 days in jail at the March 8 sentencing.

Cunningham and Dell are among 11 current or former Spartans facing assault charges from the fight with members of a campus fraternity.

Running back Ashton Leggett pleaded guilty to two counts of assault earlier this month. He's transferring from Michigan State to Illinois State."

Michigan State Suspends 8 Including Cunningham, Dell, Rucker, for Being IDIOTS Involved at Post-Banquet Assault

Wow - this post-football potluck affair has turned into a fiasco for Michigan State football. According to the Lansing State Journal, police report that eight additional football players (or more) were at the scene of the altercation at Rather Hall that resulted in several MSU students being injured, just 90 minutes after the football banquet concluded last week. The eight have been suspended from the team, and potentially may not play in the bowl game. The suspended players are wide receivers BJ Cunningham, Mark Dell and Fred Smith, cornerback Chris L. Rucker, running back Ashton Leggett, linebacker Brynden Trawick, defensive tackle Ishmyl Johnson and defensive end Jamiihr Williams. All saw significant playing time this year.

And, it looks like it ain't over yet as police continue to investigate -- there are many witnesses and video evidence. The attorney of the injured MSU student states that others were also at the scene of the altercation: ""We stick by the statement that there were 15-20 members of the football team involved," the attorney told the LSJ. "Of that number, there were three that we could not identify because they were wearing ski masks."

MSU Athletic Director Mark Hollis, who was in Chapel Hill, N.C., for the men's basketball game told the LSJ: "Obviously the whole situation is a disappointment to me as an alumnus and as an athletic director. I think today we made a swift decision based upon the information we had available to us."

ES commentary: First, while I've said before not to rush to judgment in many cases for failure of having all the facts, this is a different situation because of the public nature of the incident, "indisputable video evidence" (we've heard that one before on the field), and the swift consequences. ES gives kudos to Mark Dantonio and athletic director Mark Hollis for taking quick action in suspending these players - the players need to be respectful of the institution, Michigan State University, and their football team.

What a bunch of disrespectful idiots -- they must be held accountable for their actions. If any member punched or hurt any student, they should be dismissed from the team immediately. Period. Also, we should also make sure that the non-athlete students involved are also held accountable... and we have not heard that side of the story.

Each member at the scene that didn't participate in the violence should be required to: stay home instead of going to the bowl game, apologize publicly, provide community service above and beyond what they already have done as Spartan athletes, and point out those who were wearing ski masks. Maybe actually force them to take additional credits in the spring and fall -- they obviously have too much time on their hands and could be put to better use studying. If their mere presence helped to precipitate the violence, maybe they should be kicked off the team as well. They should make better judgment decisions.

Those who were wearing ski masks should be most ashamed of themselves and should be immediately kicked off the team and have their scholarships revoked. I don't care who they are. We don't need them.

Look how lovely the publicity is over at ESPN. The ES is disappointed and embarrassed to be a Spartan this morning. Those athletes involved aren't students on scholarships, they are bullies.

ES Game Day Preview: MSU 30, Michigan 27

Michigan (4-0, #22 AP, #30 Sagarin) at Michigan State (1-3, #59 Sagarin),

Saturday, October 3, 2009. 12 Noon.
TV: Big Ten Network
Weather: 51 degrees, 40% chance rain.
Latest Line: Michigan State favored by 2.

Tickets available.

ES will tweet from the game with comments posted in the right column; live chat will be available on the website.

Injuries: Michigan - QB Tate Forcier (shoulder), probable; C David Molk (foot), out. Michigan State - OL Joel Foreman (knee), probable; WR Mark Dell (shoulder), probable; S Trenton Robinson (doorknob), probable.

Prediction: MSU's Greg Jones blindsides scUM's Forcier in the first quarter, knocking him senseless and out of the game. MSU runs adequately behind Glenn Winston, but enough to free up QB Kirk Cousins to use his rocket arm to score TDs through the air to BJ Cunningham, Blair White, and Mark Dell. MSU's defense? Who knows, who cares. Michigan State needs to prove itself defensively, and scUM is overrated and untested on the road. The ES will split the difference, thinking Spartan DBs won't play great, but will play just well enough to win. Willthis scUM team actually go 5-0? Hey, go jump in a lake and take yer smelling salts. Spartan special teams will be the difference in the game, with a few FGs out of Brett Swenson. That's enough detail for me on this game.

Give it up to an improved coaching effort and better play out of MSU in its best game of the year, at home. There's a reason a 1-3 team is favored by 2 at home over a 4-0 team.

Halftime: MSU 14, scUM 14. Final Score: Michigan State 30, scUM 27.

ES Game Day Preview: Michigan State 23, Notre Dame 21

Michigan State (1-1, #67 Sagarin) at Notre Dame (1-1, #32 Sagarin)

Saturday, September 19. 3:30 pm noon EST.
TV: NBC
Weather: 74, sunny.

Injuries: Michigan State — WR Mark Dell (shoulder), probable; C Joel Nitchman (knee), questionable; RG J'Michael Deane (leg), questionable; Notre Dame — WR Michael Floyd (knee), probable; FB James Aldridge (shoulder), doubtful.

ES predicts Michigan State 23, ND 21. MVP of the game: Brett Swenson. Why? This will be a back and forth game, with the Spartans needing three clutch FGs from Swenson to come away with the victory. The ES isn't yet cashing in his chips on MSU, and he ain't sold on ND. MSU faces a more traditional offense, as does ND. Both these teams have many of the same players as last year, and enough talk out of MSU that the Spartans will be aggressive on defense. Expect the TEs on both teams to be involved: ND will combat the Spartan aggressiveness with RB screens and outlets to TEs. This means that Spartan LBs need to honest and tackle solid... which is their forte. ND wideout Michael Floyd had 15 stitches behind his knee... will that reduce his effectiveness? We shall see how the tall Spartan DBs stand up to the long ball. A good pass rush, and MSU will be fine because it will reduce pressure on all the others. This may mean blitzing is in order.

On offense, MSU needs to find a running game, and hopefully the return of Joel Nitchman and Mark Dell will lead to a more effecient MSU offense. Expect Kirk Cousins to see more playing time at QB... and better hands out of Spartan receivers when it matters (on 3rd down). MSU will involve their capable TEs after giving them a rest last week (and, subsequently, criticism for bad playcalling). I'm not convinced the Spartan running game will get any better this week even though the Irish are giving up boat loads of yards on the ground so far. But, it won't matter as much, because the game will turn into a defensive battle as the two teams dig in.

A concern is MSU not allowing long returns by ND kick returners: watch MSU make some adjustment to minimize this risk. MSU needs to reduce the stupid penalties and play aggressive. It will. MSU will be ready, and I'm getting the sense that MSU has the focus to get it done. This is the biggest test yet of the Dantonio era, and it can also be a defining test by showing Weis how to rally the troops and get it done.

Game Day Analysis on ND: USA Today, Bleacher Report (ND 34-23), Midwest Sports Fans (ND), NBC Sports (ND 30-24), Irish Sports Daily, UHND.com,

What do you think? What will be the game's biggest surprise? Comment Below -

Punt and kick returners remain "up in the air"

A status report from the Lansing State Journal provided a few wrinkles to the projected starting lineup, particularly at punt and kick returner. The LSJ notes that Keshawn Martin and Mark Dell are the top two candidates at punt returner.... which is good, you need good hands at that position due to potentially being smacked down on a hanging punt and missed blocks, and Martin, Dell, and Blair White are the only players who could catch anything last year. At kick returner, Larry Caper, Ed Baker, AJ Jimmerson, Trenton Robinson and Glenn Winston, are all getting a look. Don't be surprised to see the senior, Jimmerson, back there to start the year as a reward for his years of service... but eventually, for Winston to take over by the ND game after the coaching staff feels he has enough practice and is ready to go.

Also, at LB, the coaches love Chris Norman to add depth to the linebacker position -- and has a bright future for the Green and White. But, the LSJ also reports that sophomore Drew Stevens and redshirt freshman Steve Gardiner are also getting a good look.