After the madness that was all things Nebraska, I am still trying to escape Wonderland. What once was up was down and what was once down was up. Personally, I did not think MSU had a shot at this game
going into it. Then the inevitable rise of hope was once again abused by the green and white. This would have been a very big win for MSU and the program itself. A battle of unranked teams in the middle of Nebraska, pulling for a victory to help us maybe get to six wins this year. Not a great place for a program to be, but it is our reality. Suns are hard to come by but we will find some as we dive into this week’s weather report even though I’d rather answer O’s Jennifer Gardner question.
Sun 1: The Defense?
The unit that I have absolutely consistently been attacking all season actually made some things happen. The Spartan defense actually got some pressure. They recorded 5 sacks and 7 TFL, managed an interception and for three quarters kept the Spartans close. Of course in traditional Spartan fashion, they still managed to give up some big plays and assisted in helping this game go off the rails. Still, I couldn’t help but give them a sun this week and perhaps that is due to the number of potential clouds. Having Hall and Mathews back definitely helped as they combined for 13 tackles, 1 TFL and an interception. Hopefully the unit can build on some of the positives that they had in this game because the season has not had many of them.
Sun 2: Alessio
Many of you have been calling for it and it finally happened. Back up QB Alessio Milivojevic was forced into action due to a Chiles injury and then saw some garbage time action late. It was nice to see a completion and some crisp on target throws. He ended up finishing the game 6/7 for 71 yards and 2 touchdowns. Chiles had 85 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Does this fuel a fire of unhappy fanbase cries for the backup? Does this get noisy for Chiles and he up and leaves? Who knows. But, seeing Alessio have some success is good for MSU. With an offensive line that continues to struggle and not be able to maintain the edge, having Chiles alive at the end of the season looks unlikely.
Sun 3: 4th Downs
What we learned in this game was how atrocious the Spartan offense was on third down efficiency. Two. That is right two of fourteen on third downs in the game. Some of that was play calling, some was missed opportunities in the pass game and some was just bad offensive line play. With all the bad on third down, somehow the Spartans turned that around to be four of five on fourth down conversions. Obviously, there was a necessity to go for those but it was nice to see some success. Even the defense played well on fourth as they held Nebraska on both of their tries. In a game that did not offer much to be happy about, we’ll find the joy in fourth down efficiency while we cry about needing the four downs in the first place.
Cloud 1: Special Teams
The one unit that has actually played quite well this season was the unit that really let us down in Lincoln. The blocked punt was a big game changer and not Eckley’s fault at all. The penalty on the play prior to the block put the Spartans in the position to have to punt again. On the block itself, Eckley barely had time to catch the ball and drop it before his leg was engulfed by the defender who went through completely untouched. Then we have the fumbled punt and on a short one at that. Lastly, we had the return of 57 yards by Barney Jr. The combination of all these plays ultimately resulted in 17 points. Take those points off the board and we are talking about an entirely different weather forecast.
Cloud 2: Offensive Line
The offensive line owes us all an excessive amount of burpees as a punishment for the inept play they demonstrated in Lincoln. They were incapable of holding down the edge. They consistently had Chiles running for his life. The play in the first half that led to Chiles heading to the tent because two 300 pounders landed on him was tough to watch. To see a lineman get beat so bad and then just give up on the play all together was unacceptable. I know this is another area of depletion but what are we actually doing? Why does it feel there are no answers, no thoughts on problem solving, no addressing this more efficiently in the offseason? Watching guys get beat off the snap so much is unbearable to watch.
Cloud 3: Coaching and Chiles
It isn’t often that there are so many cloud worthy moments that we have to share one, but this game produced just that. Let’s start with the coaching. I am going to apologize in advance for the stream of consciousness rant that is about to take place. First I need to call out the conditioning. With the number of injuries taking place on this team over the past two seasons there needs to be a deeper look into strength and conditioning. Obviously not every injury can be put in this category but there are some issues here beyond just injuries. Both lines continually manhandled by opponents is a serious issue. We have to get stronger and tougher. Ask Adam Nightingale about the importance on conditioning. I did last season and you can see how much it benefits the play on the ice. The football team could borrow some of that playbook.
Speaking of playbooks, let us now talk about the play calling in this game. Some of these calls were beyond puzzling. What is the coaching staff seeing out there or what are they scouting that benefits them? Perhaps some of these are poorly called audibles but it really seems to be bigger than that. Specifically second down play calls. These have been so poor and haven’t set Chiles up for much success.
Now, speaking of Chiles, we get into the next part of the shared cloud. This team does have some talent. Is it top 25 talent? Obviously not. What can fix some of that really good to elite quarterback play. This was one of those games where QB1 needs to step up, put it on their shoulders and win the game for you. The over throws, the under throws, the two interceptions, all but handed the game to the Huskers. Chiles has to be better than this for MSU to go anywhere. You have to have a quarterback that will win you these madness in Wonderland kind of games. Because, when all else is turned upside down, the best athlete on the team needs to take advantage when advantage is being served on a red and white platter. He has definitely improved this year, but this game felt like steps in the wrong direction.
Storm Brewing?
Here we were all thinking, aren’t we at least a tad lucky. UCLA is coming into town for homecoming and haven’t won a game yet. Well, the Bruins managed to knock of PSU and now make next weeks game look even more difficult than originally thought. Plus, UCLA became the random team to beat PSU which means the Spartans chances of pulling off that super surprise upset against them is even more unlikely.
Well, the bye week did just that, it went by. Not much changed in the outlook or expectations and MSU lost just liked many of us thought they would. Every game thus far they have done exactly what we all anticipated. If they don’t win next week however, the bowl season becomes pretty hopeless. 3-2 after five, they must be 4-2 after six. As always, I love seeing all of your suns and clouds and as I mentioned there were too many clouds to put in one piece, so please comment and share yours and I’ll be seeing you at homecoming next week. Thank God hockey is back!
