Michigan State at Michigan, Saturday, November 16th, Noon, EST, FOX/Fox Video

[lineygoblue]

Froot was insinuating this is going to be a Bobby Williams type game.

I don't think it will be Booby Williams bad. He had no clue how to be a HC, and totally lost the team. Ironically, he's been with The Nick for many years now as an assistant.

Dantonio's teams took great pleasure in smacking around out-manned Michigan teams a few years back, so if things have now reversed, they deserve the same treatment, and they shouldn't bellyache about it when it happens. They figured it was fair when they held the upper hand, so its going to be fair when Michigan holds the upper hand.

I'd love : M : -- 59
MSU 03

but its probably going to be more like:

M ------- 24
MSU -- 17

[iam416]

Bloodbath. 31-3. Not that close.

[froot loops]

It won't be Bobby Williams bad

[WingsFan]

Patterson will keep it close, or worse with a turnover or two. The M coachs don't trust him to wing it, he hasn't even thrown for 150 yards this year with the so called 3 NFL receivers? Nico wants the long ball and is lucky to get one long target a game. MSU had over 500 yards on Illinois, their D will be fired up. No blood bath here - ill bet on it (if I was a betting man). One point win will be fine.

[WingsFan]

[WingsFan]

Dantonio said today Lewerke did not go through concussion protocol, told coach he was good, motioned back to trainers. Was not examined after game either. WTF?

[hack]

Will never forget Shane Morris going back out there after his concussion. Awful feeling. The duty to care for players is paramount.

[WingsFan]

Each individual athlete will respond to concussions differently.

2. Ensure that the student-athlete is evaluated right away by an appropriate health care professional. Do not try to judge the severity of the injury yourself. ...

3. Allow the student-athlete to return to play only with permission from a health care professional with experience in evaluating for concussion.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Well, I found myself some internet and time made available to just sit on my ass with a hangover from too many martinis at the martini bar. Yes, I'm on a cruise and you tend to do that along with eating too much. But, hey, it's what you do. I will rest my liver and lose a couple of pounds when I get done with the debauchery. It's also raining in Cozumel Mexico right now. Staying aboard as of now.

But, yes, I was inspired to write about this game by another one of my favorite mgo posters who does a diary called Weekly Narrative. In it he draws from history or mythology to compare football games to various important historical or mythological events - famous battles, both real and mythical - it's a fun read by a very good writer. He provided some good insight into the MSU football team and how it is coached and how it was pretty clear that some of the State players have checked out....... been kicked off the team or have transferred.

Anyway, the game this weekend has so many sub-plots that go beyond the game of football between instate rivals the most important being the legacy of Mark Dantonio as MSU's HC. This has been a rough year for Sparty. Scandals and the misconduct of MSU officials has taken a huge toll on the schools rep. The football program has been a disaster this season after MD rearranged the deck chairs within his offensive coaching staff mostly to the laughter of most CFB fans. Then there was the Illinois loss in EL. After building a double digit lead with Lovey's team finding new ways to lose with poor tackling and wide open receivers on defense and inexcusable turnovers on offense, Dantonio turteled, let Illinois climb back into the game and made a passel of unforced errors themselves leading to an improbable Illinois win......

........ but in that loss, MSU did things that if they can remove the errors they made v. Illinois, they can win in AA. Improbable? Not any more so than Illinois beating both Wisconsin and MSU and mounting a similar comeback against Michigan than they did against MSU. It's CFB. Shit happens. MSU's defense can shut down M's running game. You have to ask yourself, is Shea Patterson good enough to lead M to a win by passing against a suspect State defensive secondary that Brandon Peters repeatedly lit up? Don't think one of the other sub-plots will be the one involving "reject QB" and Michigan transfer Peters playing better on the road v. MSU than Patterson v. that same team but at home. Also, will M jump on top quickly and then try to nurse a lead in Harbaughesque fashion letting MSU back in? My Eight Ball says "chances are good."

Reportedly, this morning found the Big House covered with about a foot of snow. Discussions abounded in the Michigan football sports news about how M can clear all that snow from both the field (not hard) and the stands - which I will be sitting in - (much harder). None of it is going to melt as I also read that the low tonight will be somewhere around zero degrees F and the highs the rest of the week won't get above 32. The weather is supposed to be OK if not arctic like. Passing is always a challenge when it's really cold like this. Both QBs will be facing the same conditions, speaking of which, Lewerke can be good in a short passing game that advantages what Brown is doing to get to the QB this season. He's rushing 5+ which involves one or both of Hawkins or Metellus stepping up along with Morgan who has a tendency to over-run plays with his aggression. What I don't know is how bad MSU's OL will be. If they are just average, they can withstand Brown's tactics and give Lewerke the time he needs to find open receivers running slants and pic routes. Those plays require time - they aren't quick shots - but work against M's D if the receivers get YAC.

I think the biggest problem for M, if MSU stops M's run game is getting Harbaugh to trust Patterson enough to let him pass or better yet actually keep the ball off an RPO. We've seen his reluctance to do this and IMO, based on Patterson's very pedestrian season as a passer and that he can get creamed when he keeps, he's probably right to do it.

In MSU's run game, most teams with a pulse and even those not so great at it statistically seem to be able to hold it under 4ypc. Michigan can do this but at the risk of Lewerke turning out to be good in the short to medium passing game throwing into vacated zones.

Overall, that MSU matches up well with Michigan considering M's well established weaknesses this season, I think predictions of a blood bath for Sparty are over-valued. The cold weather and that this is always a weird gamer will contribute to one that will be under the O/U (around 55) and uncomfortable for M fans. Neither team is that good this season: Michigan has been inconsistent and MSU is battling unprecedented attrition. Unlike Booby Williams that did not know how to coach this rivalry game when he was MSU's HC, Dantonio does. I think there is a fairly high probability that this game comes down to the last few plays of the 4th quarter and could easily be decided by some bizarre event. I'll give this, option 2 in my original, much shorter, prediction post a 68% chance of happening. A comfortable blow out, previous option 1, won't be a blow-out just because I have a bad feeling it won't be (the BPONE in me) but it could be a comfortable 14 point win where MSU is effectively throttled on offense and gets tired on defense entering the 4th, never threatening to make a game of it from start to finish - 32%.

[WingsFan]

Will never forget Shane Morris going back out there after his concussion. Awful feeling. The duty to care for players is paramount.

Dantonio deserves to be fired for this, much like Hoke did for how he handled the Morris situation in 2014.


Nick Baumgardner

@nickbaumgardner

[WM Wolverine]

Auston Robertson situation should be the end for Dantonio, don't see him surviving. Show cause is a possibility.

[lineygoblue]

Reportedly, this morning found the Big House covered with about a foot of snow. Discussions abounded in the Michigan football sports news about how M can clear all that snow from both the field (not hard) and the stands - which I will be sitting in - (much harder). None of it is going to melt as I also read that the low tonight will be somewhere around zero degrees F and the highs the rest of the week won't get above 32. The weather is supposed to be OK if not arctic like.

IIRC, part of the seating area that now covers the tunnel can be moved, to allow vehicles as large as dump trucks to get to the surface area of the field. By Saturday, the field will look like there was no snowfall at all. The seating area OTOH, is another story. I have no idea how they're going to clear all that before Saturday. I'm sure they have a snow removal method, and since the snow all fell on Sunday/Monday, it gives the stadium crew a few days to clear things out. We're not supposed to get any more significant snowfall for the remainder of the week, so by game time, the stadium should be good to go.

I'm a bit concerned about where people are going to park. I doubt that Pioneer or the golf course will be open, and since the game is scheduled to kick off at Noon, parking places are going to go quickly. I'm wondering how the traditional Scio Church Road lot will be affected. Will it be plowed out? I have no idea.

Game temps will likely be in the low 30's, and may creep up toward 40 by the end. You might want the premium extra thermal long johns, Jeff ...

[froot loops]

The golf course had been closed down for the year because of the damage from the Notre Dame rain.

[WingsFan]

Dantonio is acting weird, I don't like this weak nice guy facade.

[lineygoblue]

Dantonio is acting weird, I don't like this weak nice guy facade.

Best thing to remember is he doesn't mean a word of it. Meyer is the same way.