Around the Big Ten

[WM Wolverine]

UMass is really bad imo, they lost a ton from last year which wasn't a good team to begin with... Hoosiers are a safe bet...

That is way too many points for a Sparty offense that is just turning in too many new starters. Central is awful though so Sparty probably can run for 300+ against them and win 31-7. Concur about Vandy/NW & Michigan/Air Force. Air Force and NW should be sieves that should allow both to cover... Can't say I follow the Pac 12 much with them playing the late games so I'd hold off on those games; Wisky, Neb & Illinois.

[Hannibal]

Even though Boise lost a lot from last year, they have shown an uncanny ability in recent years to reload. They are down relative to recent years, but I'm not sure how significant that is. That is why I was relatively impressed by MSU's victory over them. MSU's only weak link in the game was QB accuracy, a problem that is correctable, and less relevant against a terrible team like CMU (who went 2-6 in the MAC last year). If I had to bet on that one, I'd bet on MSU to cover.

[lineygoblue]

MSU will blow out the Chips.

I really like Chippewa football, but ever since they hired that idiot Dan Enos as their HC, they have been on a downward spiral. Of all people to hire, a former sparty.

I keep hoping they'll see the light SOON, fire Enos and grab Scott Loeffler from AwBarn...

[Jeff Buchanan]

.......... I'm not sure what Borges will come up with, but if gets his speed in space, it's a gross mismatch.

Look, I actually like Al Borges (obviously somewhat more than Hanni!). I find his pressers to be revealing in a positive way. He is thoughtful, erudite.

But, OMG, has he come up with some ridiculous failures for game plans against Iowa, MSU, VT and now Alabama. I loved Hanni's analogy, "Borges will be Carr's Herrmann."

Does anyone remember the passing stats as compared to the running stats for those games. Gut feeling tells me all of those games featured Denard chucking the ball up off his back foot for waiting defenders a lot. Denard running the ball was scarce ..... and that's not saying that Al was just calling the plays that those defenses were giving him - he did. But it is saying that the execution sucked.

Still, a coaches job is to put the players into positions where they can excel. In the case of Deanrd, and Hanni is right here, Borges has squandered a unique player in 4 key games. However, he has used him well in 8 to 9 others. Maybe there is something about game planning we just don't know but, I doubt it.

So, I'm not totally confident that Big Al will play to the offense's strengths against AFA even if the AFA D is giving him the oportunity to exploit Denard's legs, his capacity to run the read option well and the continuing excellence of Ninja receivers in the short game of which category Roundtree and Gallon certainly belong.

I have a feeling that Borges wants to prove that Denard is an NFL caliber QB and that he was right to keep trying to develop him as one. FerGod's sake I hope he is right. My favored alternative, should Denard continue to demonstrate he is NOT and NFL caliber QB (which, TBH, I don't think he is) is for Hoke to step in and say, that's enough, Al, were going to run the spread as long as Denard is back there at QB. Suck it up.

[hack]

Injury risk may be a valid excuse for this game -- don't get the guy creamed ahead of the conference season. But that doesn't explain Iowa and MSU last year.

[entropy]

EAST LANSING -- Surprised it had come to this, Michigan State linebacker Denicos Allen shook his head slightly while delivering the apology for his tweet that ridiculed rival Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson.

"He (coach Mark Dantonio) actually told me I have to apologize, which I am doing now," Allen said Tuesday evening before later making his Twitter account private. "Sorry about the tweet, everyone."

Allen, a returning all-conference player as a junior, and running back Nick Hill said sorry Tuesday after Dantonio called out his players for tweets he called "disrespectful" to Michigan and addressed the team about the issue.

"He was upset, as any coach would be," Allen said of Dantonio. "When I posted the tweet, I didn't think it was a real big deal personally, but I understand now that you shouldn't talk on Twitter, on social media about other opponents. I should have kept it within the team. It was something we all learn from. It happened, it's time to get over it, move on from it ... That was setting a poor example of this program.

Michigan State spring football practice: Sept. 4
Enlarge Josh Slagter | jslagter@mlive.com Michigan State quarterback Andrew Maxwell warms up at Tuesday's practice. (Josh Slagter | MLive.com) Michigan State spring football practice: Sept. 4 gallery (30 photos)

Michigan State spring football practice: Sept. 4
Michigan State spring football practice: Sept. 4
Michigan State spring football practice: Sept. 4
Michigan State spring football practice: Sept. 4
Michigan State spring football practice: Sept. 4

"I knew it was a big deal when I saw it on ESPN and I'm like, 'What? A tweet?' I guess it is what it is ... I know it's kind of immature to do, you know? We let our pads talk. That's what Coach tells us every day in this program. It was just uncharacteristic of me."

Quarterback Andrew Maxwell said the team had previously received training on social media. Wide receiver Bennie Fowler echoed Dantonio, saying he told teammates they didn't need to be causing distractions with Twitter as the Spartans prepare to play at Central Michigan on Saturday.

"We did very well against Boise," Fowler said. "We won the game, but instead, people want to talk about Twitter instead of how we performed, so we don't need to do any of that."

**************

While one Michigan team was getting trampled on Saturday, another was adding commentary on social media.

Michigan State players took to Twitter during their in-state rival's opener, ripping quarterback Denard Robinson as he struggled against Alabama in Michigan's 41-14 loss. The senior Heisman candidate finished with 200 yards in the air, but threw two interceptions and finished 11-for-26 with 27 yards rushing.

Here's a scroll of some of the tweets, some of which were later taken down:

"Is this guy really a QB I'll say my mans (walk-on Tommy Vento) is a better QB lol," linebacker Denicos Allen tweeted.

"DENARD IS SOOOO BAD!" safety Kyle Artinian tweeted. "And it makes me feel so good."

"I can play quarterback for the school in blue," linebacker Jamal Lyles tweeted. "(Le'Veon Bell) for heisman > the other guy in the great state of michigan."

On Robinson's 71-yard completion to Jeremy Gallon:

"Even a blind squirrel can get a nut ever once in a while...," MSU running back Nick Hill tweeted right after the play.

Should MSU coach Mark Dantonio be disgruntled by this? Michigan State has contained Robinson well in the past and owns a four-game winning streak in the rivalry.

Either way, Oct. 20 just got a lot more important.

That's when Michigan State travels to Michigan for a Big Ten Conference matchup.

[lineygoblue]

Its all grist for the mill. This year the game is going to be the most heated since the game following the infamous "Spartan Bob" incident.

[THE_WIZARD_]

What a douchebag.

[The Oracle]

Seriously, what would Michigan State do without Michigan?

[entropy]

They'd call themselves State

[hack]

Oh how fun it's going to be watching that program suffer.

[WM Wolverine]

All of those games (VT, MSU, Iowa, Bama) shut down M's running game and forced Denard to make difficult throws.

[hack]

I don't know that you can reduce it to that. Pretty much everyone tries to bottle up Denard and make him win with his arm. MSU and VT did a great job of it, but it's not as if M tried the same things every time. M marched right down the field to an opening drive score on the back of the running game against MSU. That was, however, the game where Fitz got 2 carries. Can't say that you really tried to establish the running game when he gets a quarter of the number of tries Vincent Smith did.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Lot of big games for the conference this week

Penn State @ Virginia (12PM ABC)
OSU v. Central Florida (12PM ESPN2)
Minnesota v. New Hampshire (12PM BTN)

Purdue @ Notre Dame (3:30 PM NBC)
Michigan v. Air Force (3:30 PM ABC)
Iowa v. Iowa State (3:30 PM BTN)
Michigan State @ Central Michigan (3:30 PM ESPNU)
Indiana @ UMass (3:30 PM ESPN3)
Wisconsin @ Oregon State (4 PM FX)

Nebraska @ UCLA (7:30 PM Fox)
Northwestern v. Vanderbilt (8 PM BTN)

Illinois @ Arizona State (10:30PM ESPN)

[UMStan White]

Uh.. what of that list are you claiming are "big games" for the conference? Looks pretty mediocre to me. I guess the fact that the conference isn't playing a shitload of lower division teams is significant.