A Tale of Two Halfs
As the guy sitting next to me said toward the end of the first half, “this is the most boring football game I’ve ever watched.” Needless to say, this wasn’t the case once the third quarter got under way. But I would agree the first half wasn’t exactly…riveting.
A high level first half recap:
Three 3-and-outs. Just 1-for-6 on 3rd down conversions. And after unsuccessfully going for it on 3rd-and-1 and 4th-and-1 on the first drive of the game, MSU put up zero points.
If you felt like the crowd wasn’t exactly “into it” in the first half, it’s because they weren’t. And who could blame them? After coming off an emotional overtime victory over Michigan two weeks previous, facing Northwestern isn’t exactly the most exciting matchup. Add to that the deflating momentum shift after the first drive of the game and a lost fumble at the end of the 2nd quarter and, well, you get the point.
But the second half was a different story. After a forced fumble by Chris L. Rucker as Northwestern was driving in Spartan territory, Michigan State wasted no time going 7 plays and 64 yards to score a Kirk Cousins to Blair White touchdown and tie the game. The Spartans would score 17 points in the third quarter.
Then, on the ensuing kick off following a Brett “Ice Man” Swenson field goal to end the third quarter, Michigan State recovered a Wildcat fumble, and one play later Larry Caper scored on a 22-yard jaunt that was reminiscent of his winning TD against Michigan two weeks prior. At that point the score was 24-7, and despite a Northwestern touchdown on the next drive and a Michigan State 3-and-out, the Spartans were able to stop the opposing offense on two unsuccessful fourth down conversions to sound the Northwestern death knell (which, contrary to popular belief, is not the name of a student-edited literary journal from said university).
Offense
Can we keep this Blair White guy around a couple more years? Because without a doubt, he has been the stalwart on this Spartan team through the first 7 games. White had a career day against the Wildcats, setting career highs in receptions (12) and yards (186), and was named co-offensive player of the week. He is fourth in the Big Ten in receiving yards per game (90.7) and is first in the conference in receiving touchdowns (6).
Kirk Cousins played his first full game for the Spartans, as Keith Nichol was coming off a dislocated elbow from the Illinois game, and the coaching staff probably wanted to stay away from using him if they could to allow him to heal longer. Cousins went 21-for-31 for 281 yards and 2 touchdowns. He started slow, going just 2-for-5 in the first quarter for 18 yards. But Kirk started to put things together in the second quarter, going 7-for-9 for 83 yards. He then went for 14-for-22 in the second half and threw for 180 yards and two scores.
The Edwin Baker redshirt got burned early, on just the fourth play of the game. For the day, he ran for 45 yards on 12 attempts (3.8 YPC), and Larry Caper put up 63 yards on 16 attempts (3.9 YPC). Edwin Baker definitely stepped up for the injured Glenn Winston, and if he can stay healthy he should get excellent experience leading into next year. The prospect of having a more experienced duo of Caper and Baker, along with the return of Glenn Winston makes me think many good things for the 2010 season.
MSU only had two kick returns on Saturday, so it was tough to get a solid gauge on how much of a replacement we have for Winston in that area. But Trenton Robinson returned the opening kickoff 47 yards and Edwin Baker returned one 19 yards, so not terrible based on limited data.
Defense
Early in the game, it was easy to pick up the vibe that Northwestern was going to do the same thing that Central Michigan did to us, just nickel-and-dime us down the field with short passes. But the defense held firm, and we were able to get pressure to Kafka forcing him to make hurried throws.
Eric Gordon and Greg Jones were beastly. Jones had nine tackles, Gordon had 5, and each had two tackles for loss. The Spartan defense had 4 sacks (Northwestern, conversely, had none). Overall, the defense was able to get to Kafka, and that was probably the difference between this game and the Central Michigan game. The defensive line has really made solid strides since that game (as has the offensive line), and that could very well be the difference in our game against Iowa.
Waiting be Exposed
Each season, we are presented with new storylines, and this year I’ve felt like the predominant storyline in the Big Ten has been “waiting to be exposed.” Penn State was exposed early in week 4, falling to the Iowa Hawkeyes at home after a weak non-conference schedule. In week 5, Michigan was exposed by our Spartans after the Wolverines opened the season 4-0. Wisconsin was exposed on the road in week 6 when they took on the Ohio State Buckeyes, and then just this past weekend the Buckeyes were exposed on the road at Purdue.
Hopefully this trend will continue this weekend against Iowa. They’re certainly candidates. Iowa narrowly defeated I-AA Northern Iowa to start the season after giving them two chances to win the game with a late field goal. Then, it was against Arkansas State that the Hawkeyes won just 24-21. They tried to give away the game against Michigan, and probably would have if Michigan wasn’t trying harder to give it right back.
My fear though, it that it might swing the other way, and after three straight wins, it will be MSU getting exposed. I have nightmares of an Ohio State/Penn State redux. I guess we’ll have to wait until Saturday to find out.
Related posts:
Facebook Comments