Michigan State with the statistical advantage over Notre Dame

OK, so the Big Green has popped into the coaches poll at #24, and is a 6-point dog at the hated #21 Irish on Saturday.  Before we get to the polls, let's look at where the Spartans and Irish stand statistically through the first three weeks.  A big thank you to scheduling a FCS school in Youngstown State to help pad the Spartan offensive stat category. 

OFFENSE:
Rushing:  MSU 44th (209.7 ypg), ND 92nd (125.0 ypg)
Passing: MSU 105th (160.0 ypg), ND 16th (326.0 ypg)
Total: MSU 84th (369.7 ypg), ND 50th (451.0 ypg)
Scoring: MSU 49th (34.0 ppg), ND 65th (29.7 ppg)
Third Downs: MSU 70th (39.6%), ND 19th (54.5%)

DEFENSE:
Rushing: MSU 4th (50.3 ypg), ND 26th (112.7 ypg)
Passing MSU 5th (126.7 ypg), ND 89th (259.3 ypg)
Total: MSU 1st (177.0 ypg), ND 56th (372.0 ypg)
Scoring: MSU 12th (12.0 ppg), ND 57th (23.7 ppg)
Third Downs: MSU 2nd (15.6%), ND 93rd (44.3%)

The ES certainly sees an advantage for the Spartan defense, but can the offense use the momentum - particularly from the passing game - to take advantage of an Irish defense ranked 89th in the country giving up yards through the air?  ND won't be able to run the ball against the Spartans, but will they pass the ball effectively enough?  The point being - the Spartan offense NEEDS to move the ball and give the defense a rest.  More on this throughout the week. 

I hate Notre Dame football.

USA TODAY COACHES POLL:

RK	TEAM	RECORD	PTS
1	Alabama (61)	2-0	1549
2	Oregon (1)	3-0	1477
3	Ohio State	3-0	1398
4	Clemson	2-0	1331
5	Stanford	2-0	1314
6	Louisville	3-0	1128
7	LSU	3-0	1121
8	Florida State	2-0	1113
9	Texas A&M	2-1	1033
10	Georgia	1-1	1022
11	Oklahoma State	3-0	908
12	Oklahoma	3-0	839
13	South Carolina	2-1	811
14	Michigan	3-0	743
15	UCLA	2-0	699
16	Northwestern	3-0	582
17	Miami (FL)	2-0	559
18	Florida	1-1	398
19	Baylor	2-0	375
20	Washington	2-0	361
21	Notre Dame	2-1	331
22	Ole Miss	3-0	303
23	Arizona State	2-0	176
24	Michigan State	3-0	131
25	Fresno State	2-0	75

• Dropped from rankings: Nebraska 15, Wisconsin 18, TCU 24

• Others receiving votes: Nebraska 55, Wisconsin 53, Texas Tech 49, Georgia Tech 37, Arkansas 34, UCF 33, Arizona 29, Northern Illinois 26, Auburn 15, Virginia Tech 9, Brigham Young 8, USC 7, Kansas State 6, Boise State 5, Utah State 5, Rutgers 2

MSU equates to statistical balance

I do not think I have ever seen better statistical balance than below. You wonder why Mich State is #7 nationally. Read it and weep...

TEAM RANKINGS
120 teams ranked in Football Bowl Subdivision
11 teams ranked in the Big Ten Conference
Category	National Rank	Actual	National Leader	Actual	Conf Rank	Big Ten Conference Leader	Actual
Rushing Offense	26	206.14	Air Force	346.86	4	Michigan	281.57
Passing Offense	47	241.43	Hawaii	402.43	5	Indiana	319.33
Total Offense	23	447.57	Oregon	567.00	2	Michigan	532.00
Scoring Offense	25	34.43	Oregon	54.33	4	Ohio St.	39.57
Rushing Defense	22	111.71	Boise St.	59.33	3	Iowa	83.83
Pass Efficiency Defense	17	107.22	Nebraska	80.41	2	Ohio St.	98.37
Total Defense	28	325.00	Boise St.	210.17	6	Ohio St.	251.14
Scoring Defense	17	16.57	TCU	9.29	3	Iowa	13.17
Net Punting	28	38.70	Pittsburgh	44.83	3	Illinois	41.14
Punt Returns	10	15.27	Maryland	24.61	1	Michigan St.	15.27
Kickoff Returns	99	19.38	Utah	29.21	8	Penn St.	26.76
Turnover Margin	9	1.14	Army	1.57	3	Ohio St.	1.43
Pass Defense	65	213.29	Nebraska	117.00	7	Ohio St.	157.43
Passing Efficiency	10	164.16	Boise St.	188.11	3	Iowa	177.76
Sacks	T-85	1.43	Florida St.	4.29	6	Purdue	3.00
Tackles For Loss	102	4.43	Miami (FL)	9.50	10	Purdue	7.50
Sacks Allowed	T-66	2.00	Boise St.	.17	8	Michigan	.43
T=tied at this ranking

Swenson gets POW; MSU ranked #7 in nation in kick returns

Brett Swenson gets the Big Ten POW nod for his four field goals... although Keshawn Martin and his 250-all purpose yard performance, including his kick returns, should have garnered some recognition. Without the two of them and a blocked field goal, the Big Green may have lost by 20 points to Purdue.

Still, a pair of 52-yard FGs on the road, and a 4-for-4 performance was sweet. FYI, Swenson is hitting a blistering 90% (18-of-20) field goals this year. Ouch! Can you say "Lou Groza"?

So where does MSU rank statistically, nationally? Our best stat is, no surprise #7 in the country in kick returns. But, our rush defense at #24 and pass offense at #21 ain't half bad. Greg Jones is third in the nation in tackles at 11.45. Keshawn Martin is fifth in kick returns at 31.7. Kirk Cousins is #13 in pass efficiency at 149.7

Category	Nat'l Rank	Actual	Nat'l Leader	Actual	Big Ten Rank	Big Ten Leader	Actual
Rushing Offense	67	139.73	Nevada	353.10	6	Wisconsin	208.00
Passing Offense	21	274.09	Houston	428.20	1	Michigan St.	274.09
Total Offense	34	413.82	Houston	562.60	1	Michigan St.	413.82
Scoring Offense	30	31.00	Boise St.	43.60	3	Michigan	31.27
Rushing Defense	24	105.91	Texas	50.40	4	Ohio St.	83.73
Pass Efficiency Defense	79	132.98	Florida	87.18	8	Iowa	96.02
Total Defense	50	350.91	Texas	232.30	6	Ohio St.	258.27
Scoring Defense	56	23.55	Florida	10.50	6	Penn St.	11.64
Net Punting	48	36.50	Georgia	43.73	5	Michigan	41.27
Punt Returns	60	9.10	Central Mich.	18.47	4	Minnesota	15.67
Kickoff Returns	7	26.81	Stanford	30.78	1	Michigan St.	26.81
Turnover Margin	88	-.36	Rutgers	2.33	9	Ohio St.	1.09
Pass Defense	94	245.00	Air Force	127.91	10	Iowa	165.73
Passing Efficiency	18	147.61	Cincinnati	170.01	1	Michigan St.	147.61
Sacks	19	2.73	Pittsburgh	4.10	2	Penn St.	3.09
Tackles For Loss	72	5.45	Cincinnati	8.80	10	Penn St.	8.27
Sacks Allowed	T-18	1.09	Boise St.	.50	1	Michigan St.	1.09

MSU up, up, up the leaderboard - sez pundits and statistics

Here is an early skinny from suite101.com (?) on Michigan State v Iowa this week... as the Big Ten nation begins to shake with excitement for the weekend's prime-time tilt.

Undefeated Hawkeyes Face Another Difficult Big Ten Road Test. You can still snake some tickets to this sold-out affair, if you've got deep pockets.

Over at ESPN.com, Adam Rittenberg moves our Spartans up the conference leaderboard to 4th. Way, way, way back in week four (that's three weeks ago), the Big Green was settling for 9th. Then, we took out the Yellow Bellies.

Statistically speaking, MSU is settling down and is now solidly above average in total offense (#32), and very good in passing offense (#17), is above average in total defense (#44), and is very good in rush defense (#19). Interior play is significant with the Spartan D-line ranked #11 in sacks and its O-line ranked #13 in sacks allowed. Who would've thunk all of that three weeks ago?

Category	Nat'l Rank	Actual	Nat'l Leader	Actual	Conf Rank	Big Ten Leader	Actual
Rushing Offense	71	136.43	Nevada	292.83	6	Michigan	235.00
Passing Offense	17	280.43	Houston	431.50	1	Michigan St.	280.43
Total Offense	32	416.86	Houston	560.33	3	Penn St.	432.71
Scoring Offense	48	29.29	Texas	42.00	3	Michigan	37.29
Rushing Defense	19	99.00	Texas	35.83	3	Penn St.	75.43
Pass Efficiency Defense	90	134.74	Alabama	83.82	8	Iowa	88.69
Total Defense	44	334.86	Alabama	226.57	5	Penn St.	238.86
Scoring Defense	42	21.57	Florida	8.67	4	Penn St.	8.71
Net Punting	26	37.57	Georgia	44.06	5	Michigan	41.88
Punt Returns	40	10.67	Georgia Tech	24.88	2	Minnesota	19.00
Kickoff Returns	28	24.48	Stanford	32.48	4	Ohio St.	25.96
Turnover Margin	95	-.57	Air Force	2.43	9	Iowa	1.57
Pass Defense	85	235.86	North Carolina	125.17	9	Penn St.	163.43
Passing Efficiency	24	146.28	Florida	167.25	1	Michigan St.	146.28
Sacks	T-11	3.00	Southern California	4.33	1	Michigan St.	3.00
Tackles For Loss	T-61	5.86	Cincinnati	10.17	7	Penn St.	8.43
Sacks Allowed	13	.86	Oklahoma St.	.33	1	Michigan St.	.86

Michigan State national statistics

Here are how your Spartans rank statistically. Note: MSU leads the Big Ten in passing offense and total offense. It is last in pass defense and pass defense efficiency. Entering the season, many thought that may have been the reverse. Also, Greg Jones is second in the nation in tackles, averaging 12 per game.

MSU Stats	Nat'l Rank	Actual	Nat'l Leader	Actual	Conf Rank	Big Ten Leader	Actual
Rushing Offense	70	133.60	Florida	307.50	8	Wisconsin	217.20
Passing Offense	14	300.60	Houston	446.00	1	Michigan St.	300.60
Total Offense	21	434.20	Houston	573.25	1	Michigan St.	434.20
Scoring Offense	36	31.40	Texas	49.50	4	Wisconsin	35.00
Rushing Defense	22	96.40	TCU	47.00	3	Ohio St.	83.40
Pass Eff. Defense	101	142.95	Florida	75.31	11	Iowa	91.17
Total Defense	49	340.40	Florida	212.75	5	Ohio St.	252.60
Scoring Defense	T-64	24.60	Nebraska	7.00	6	Penn St.	11.60
Net Punting	7	41.59	Oklahoma St.	42.86	2	Michigan	42.12
Punt Returns	40	11.44	Louisiana Tech	32.00	3	Minnesota	19.00
Kickoff Returns	47	23.00	Stanford	41.08	5	Indiana	29.10
Turnover Margin	92	-.80	Air Force	2.60	10	Wisconsin	1.00
Pass Defense	93	244.00	Eastern Mich.	89.25	11	Ohio St.	169.20
Passing Efficiency	29	148.99	Florida	173.93	2	Wisconsin	152.94
Sacks	T-41	2.20	Pittsburgh	4.40	5	Penn St.	3.00
Tackles For Loss	T-67	5.40	Cincinnati	10.00	7	Penn St.	8.60
Sacks Allowed	T-17	1.00	Iowa St.	.20	2	Wisconsin	.40

MSU national stats: great pass offense, crappy pass defense

Here is your national stat picture so far, with three games under the belt. If anything is the most surprising, it is that Michigan State is leading the conference in passing offense. It's no shock that our pass efficiency defense is ranked next-to-last and our pass defense is ranked ninth.

MSU Stats	Nat'l Rank	Actual	Nat'l Leader	Actual	Conf Rank	Big Ten Conference Leader	Actual
Rushing Offense	81	127.00	Air Force	344.33	10	Michigan	270.67
Passing Offense	14	295.67	Texas Tech	444.33	1	Michigan St.	295.67
Total Offense	38	422.67	Texas A&M	589.50	6	Purdue	440.33
Scoring Offense	35	33.67	Houston	50.00	5	Michigan	38.00
Rushing Defense	25	87.00	Oklahoma	40.67	4	Penn St.	46.33
Pass Efficiency Defense	94	140.36	Arizona St.	64.46	10	Iowa	85.87
Total Defense	59	338.33	Arizona St.	149.50	7	Penn St.	212.33
Scoring Defense	T-54	21.67	Oklahoma	4.67	6	Penn St.	6.67
Net Punting	7	41.90	Georgia	47.36	2	Iowa	42.86
Punt Returns	24	14.17	Louisiana Tech	45.50	1	Michigan St.	14.17
Kickoff Returns	58	22.08	Arizona St.	50.75	5	Indiana	27.33
Turnover Margin	63	.00	Arizona St.	4.00	6	Indiana	1.00
Pass Defense	94	251.33	Eastern Mich.	78.00	9	Iowa	162.67
Passing Efficiency	15	161.60	Notre Dame	186.14	2	Northwestern	164.90
Sacks	29	2.67	TCU	5.50	3	Penn St.	3.33
Tackles For Loss	87	4.67	Oklahoma	11.33	9	Penn St.	9.33
Sacks Allowed	T-3	.33	Kentucky	.00	1	Michigan St.	.33

MSU, ND statistically...

About those Friggin Irish, statistically they lead the nation not giving up a sack. QB Jimmy Clausen is ranked #3 nationally in pass efficiency with a 196.31 rating. In the passing game, Michael Floyd is their home run hitter, averaging 5.5 rpg for 160 yards per game (#2 in the nation); Golden Tate is getting 6 catches per game for 87 yards. Armando Allen's 105 yards on the ground per game is #22 in the nation. DB Kyle McCarthy (#28) has a pair of picks through two games, ranking him #9 in the nation. He'll likely be placed on Blair White on Saturday.

After two games, a few Spartans are ranking near the top in national statistical rankings, most notably QB Kirk Cousins who at 186.71 is #6 in the nation in passing efficiency. Blair White is ranked #6 with 134 yards receiving per game, and #7 with 8 receptions per game. Greg Jones is ranked #3 with 14.5 tackles per game. And, with 2 tackes for loss per game, Jones is ranked 18th. Keshawn Martin is #22 in punt returns, averaging 12.3.

When MSU has the ball:

• MSU's rushing offense is ranked #72 (138 ypg) vs ND's rushing defense #88 (172 ypg).
• MSU's passing offense is ranked #26 (227 ypg) vs ND's pass defense #58 (197 ypg).
• MSU's total offense is ranked #48 (405 ypg) vs ND's total defense #78 (369 ypg).
• MSU's pass efficiency is #14 (168.7) vs ND's pass eff defense #54 (116.2).
• MSU is #52 in kick returns (22.2), #27 in punt returns (14.2), and #4 in net punting (43.4).

When ND has the ball:

• ND's rushing offense is ranked #54 (166 ypg) vs MSU's rushing defense #23 (64 ypg).
• ND's passing offense is ranked #10 (334 ypg) vs MSU's pass defense #79 (225 ypg).
• ND's total offense is ranked #17 (500 ypg) vs MSU's total defense #44 (289 ypg).
• ND's pass efficiency is #2 (195.5) vs MSU's pass eff defense #79 (127.0).
• ND is #10 in kick returns (30.8), #51 in punt returns (9.0), and #52 in net punting (37.4)

Michigan State favored by 15 over CMU

Out of Leroy's Casino in Las Vegas, the MSU Spartans are an early 15-point favorite over CMU in next week's game in Spartan Stadium. NOTE: Less than 1,000 tickets remain for the game - it will likely sell out this week, so get your tickets over at msuspartans.com.

Joe Pa is favored by 28 at home over Syracuse; Northwestern is favored by 18 at home over EMU; Iowa is favored by 7 at Iowa State; Wisconsin is favored by 9.5 at home over Fresno State; Minnesota is favored by 5 at home over Air Force; Indiana is favored by 1 at home over WMU... The Big Ten underdogs in week 2? Notre Dame is favored by 5 at scUM; Purdue is a 10 point underdog at Oregon. FYI - Illinois plays out of the Division, hosting FCS team Illinois State this week, and no line is posted.

National statistical comparison of Michigan State after week 1:

Category	MSU Rank	Actual	National Leader	Actual	Conf Rank	Big Ten Conference Leader	Actual
Rushing Offense	47	175.00	Air Force	474.00	4	Purdue	315.00
Passing Offense	17	318.00	Arkansas	447.00	3	Penn St.	379.00
Total Offense	25	493.00	Tennessee	657.00	3	Purdue	535.00
Scoring Offense	20	44.00	Air Force	72.00	3	Purdue	52.00
Rushing Defense	22	62.00	Arizona St.	-5.00	3	Penn St.	28.00
Pass Efficiency Defense	24	81.66	Arizona St.	22.64	1	Michigan St.	81.66
Total Defense	14	160.00	Arizona St.	37.00	1	Michigan St.	160.00
Scoring Defense	10	3.00	Boston College	.00	1	Michigan St.	3.00
Net Punting	2	51.50	La.-Lafayette	53.00	1	Michigan St.	51.50
Punt Returns	32	11.60	SMU	79.00	3	Purdue	30.00
Kickoff Returns	87	17.00	Florida	65.50	10	Minnesota	28.00
Turnover Margin	T-43	.00	Arizona St.	5.00	4	Michigan	2.00
Pass Defense	12	98.00	Eastern Mich.	8.00	1	Michigan St.	98.00
Passing Efficiency	21	177.76	Notre Dame	290.44	2	Northwestern	179.41
Sacks	T-17	3.00	California	6.00	3	Indiana	4.00
Tackles For Loss	71	4.00	Southern California	16.00	10	Penn St.	13.00
Sacks Allowed	T-1	.00	Pittsburgh	.00	1	Michigan	.00
T=tied at this ranking

Individually, Greg Jones is 5th nationally in tackles per game at 14; Kirk Cousins is 6th in passing efficiency at 207.48; Blair White is 7th in receiving yards per game at 162 ypg; Keith Nichol is 35th in passing efficiency at 149.67...