Spartan defense shuts down Boise, 17-13

What a wild night, and winning ugly is still winning. It was the Michigan State Spartan defense that kept the offense in the game, stopping the Boise State offense from capitalizing on four MSU turnovers - and three Andrew Maxwell INTs.

The good: The Spartan defense, though not getting to Boise State QBs, completely shut down the Broncos, holding them to 37 yards rushing and just 206 total yards. The Broncos scored more on defense (7 pts) than on offense (6 pts). Le'Veon Bell bolted into the national spotlight, with an amazing 210 yards rushing on 44 carries -- the Spartans just turned to him time and time again as the game wore on. The dude was a workhorse. Dion Sims at TE bailed out Maxwell on a beautiful catch late in the game to set up the go-ahead TD by Bell. MSU outgained the Broncos 461-206 in total yards, but it was the defense and Bell who stole the show.

The bad: Let's be honest, Maxwell (22-38-248-3) didn't play well. Period. He missed open receivers and the three INTs should have been six if the Bronco defense used enough stick-'em. Some weren't his fault, with the Spartan wideouts dropping plenty of balls... including one right into the hands of Boise LB Jeremy Ioane, who returned it for six points. But, another Maxwell interception was a poor pass that killed a drive deep in Boise territory, and worth at least three points. Maxwell and his WRs needs lots of work; that type of performance won't win championships.

The weird: The new scoreboards were so bright, they were almost blinding. In addition, there were plenty of errors on the stats throughout the game - incorrect downs, yards to go, and total yards (which showed for Boise 37 rushing, 269 passing, and 206 total yards... ummm, do the math). Scoreboards need some work, too. Not sure if the ES likes the new scoreboards at night, kind of ruined the homey atmosphere. They are cool looking, but the stats aren't correct and they are just so damn bright.

The ES predicted 24-13... and it almost was, as the Spartan's should have punched it in from the Boise three yard line instead of kneeling down on the game's final play. There's plenty to work on for the Spartan offense, but the Big Green is 1-0 and certain to move up in the polls, and will leapfrog over Michigan after the rodents get their butts kicked by Alabama today.

Below: here's Le'Veon Bell getting the handoff as he heads into the end zone for the winning Spartan TD.

WOW - Spartan Stadium scoreboard all lit up!

Well... this afternoon (Sunday), the ES was again heading over to hurl the ball around, this time at Munn Field (before the students return and take it over)... and wouldn't you know it but the folks over at Spartan Stadium were testing out the scoreboard.  So, the ES took some pics.  Check it out - and just hope their ain't a power outage:  all of the sponsorships, stats/time/score, and video are all interconnected on one HUGE flat screen.  Very slick.  Click on all these photos to see a large version.

Testing, 1-2-3... It's all on huge digital screen.  Wow

Can you believe how big the screen is??? Wow.

From the bike path near the Red Cedar.  The screen is HUGE. Zoom in!

How big is this?  Check out the two workers on top right

Scoreboard... she's a beauty, eh?

It looks freaking brilliant - our Spartan Stadium scoreboard  Thanks to Melissa L. for allowing the ES to use this shot. I was riding back home from the MSU Library and from football practice with Big Bob yesterday, and at night the entire stadium lit up like a XMas tree. I'll try to take some night shots to share with you tonight. Simply spectacular. Wait til the potato farmers from Boise get a load of this at night....

Spartan Stadium scoreboard update... and an A-10!

So, the ES was hurling ball with Big Bob over at the Field Hockey stadium, next to Spartan Stadium today... very very impressed with the scoreboards.  Check them out below.  The South Scoreboard is the largest in the state of Michigan, the two at the north look great - love the Spartan logo.  And, on the north there is a scoreboard ring around the top as well.  Very cool.  If you look at the second to the last photo, coming from the Main Library across the Red Cedar river, you can not only see the two smaller north scoreboards, but also the south scoreboard peering over the top.

Then, walking back, Bob and I heard a pair of A-10s screeching across EL for the Folk Festival, around 500 feet in the air.  I only had my damn iPhone, so the last photo has a shot of it - but it ain't worth putting up there.  Instead, I found a shot online which looks EXACTLY like what that A-10 did, bounding left above Beaumont Tower.

Here are pics of the big hooka scoreboard on the south end:

North scoreboards are below:

Here is a photo of what we saw flying overhead today! Nice beauty and LOUD A-10!

Spartan Stadium scoreboard update

Impressive... amazing what 11-win seasons will buy a football team.  The outside of the scoreboards at Spartan Stadium are impressive.  The Enlightened Spartan was heading to the Michigan State University library and took these shots at 1:30 pm today.  Feel free to share and let folks know you found it at the ES website.  :) 

Scoreboard pics for Spartan Stadium

Some updated stadium pics; the ES was riding by Spartan Stadium on Friday and took these shots...  scoreboards are HUGE, looking nice and coming right along.  Check out the shot from inside the stadium...

New Spartan scoreboard pics

Pictures of the new scoreboards... we're getting two on the north and one big puppy on the sound end.  These are photos of the ones on the south. As you can see, compared to the old scoreboards, these are mounted on the external side of the stadium, as opposed to within the stadium or embedded within the stadium.  The bigger, the better, I guess.  Bring yer ear plugs this fall.  :)

Pics of Spartan Stadium scoreboard retrofit...

For those of you who are not aware...  Spartan Stadium is undergoing renovation of its scoreboards - both the large board at the south end, and the two tiny boards will be replaced by larger video boards on the north ends.  Here is what it looks like as of June 14....