Whew, I don’t know about all of you, but I’m still recovering from that one last night. It was once again another beauuuutiful day for football. The fall-like weather giving all the feels outside the stadium prior to game time. Upon entering the stadium, you knew, this crowd was pumped and this game was important. Everyone knew going in that the BC game was going to set the barometer (weather pun intended) for bowl eligibility. There are lots of things to take away from this game but here are my
suns and clouds for game number 2.
Sun 1:The Second Half
As I drove home from East Lansing last night and was sitting on Shaw at 12:15AM, I had to pinch myself. The Spartans, in the Smith era, finally looked like it played a full football game. The Spartans as of late have been notorious for playing half a game and then being unable to adjust to the opposing teams halftime adjustments. Last night showed that this coaching staff is capable of changing that narrative. Entering the second half down 21-14, MSU received the kickoff and needed 4 plays to drive the field and tie it up. Chiles had two nice throws on two nice play calls. They finally found Omari Kelly for a 30 yard gain followed by the 41 yard TD pass to Marsh. BC immediately answered with a 10 play drive to go ahead by three but the Spartans were able to answer with their own 9 play drive to tie it up with a 50 yarder (more on this later). Both teams exchanged some punts and then both finished the game with 11 and 12 play drives. The fact that MSU was putting together long drives, traveling the field and putting points on the board in the second half should put us all at ease. It will also make us hold this team even more accountable when it doesn’t happen. Regardless, this is definitely a sun shining moment for this team.
Sun 2: Do we have a kicker?!
Last week I predicted a missed field goal and when MSU trotted out in the third quarter to attempt a 50 yarder, I thought my prediction of missing one this week was a sure thing. It looks like I started counting my money too soon as Connington connected on that 50 yarder right down the middle. I was right in the end zone where the kick was headed and it was dead center from the jump, it was just hard to gauge if there was enough leg. The collective exaltation of the crowd on that make was almost comical. I don’t think anyone in that stadium besides Smith and Connington thought that was going to come away with points. The redshirt sophomore, who was one of the nations top kicker recruits, proved he was ready for the big stage connecting with his first ever attempt in Spartan Stadium. He also looked solid on his 39 yard make in the fourth. After those makes and the way the entire team was fired up around him after the makes tells me this could be the guy from here on out.
Special teams as a whole had a very nice game. Brown had two great returns and it scared BC so much they never kicked to him again. The coverage team was great getting down the field for tackles and even better on the 1 yard line downs on Eckley’s two beautiful punts. With a kicker in hand, MSU’s special teams could be a very dependable and game changing unit in games to come.
Sun 3: Swagger
I think this game may be a momentum switch in the team and program as a whole. It is a lot, I know, to put that much weight on the second game of the season with two unranked teams battling it out. The way the team rallied around each other, supported everyone, fought together, and celebrated together are important signs. Chiles still had his moments of inaccurate passing or an inability to feel blind side pressure, but he also showed continued signs of promise. He is maturing and his footwork continued to improve and he had opportunities to take what was given and show off his athleticism. I remember last season a play in which he was sacked and nobody went to help him up. It looked like something was a miss. Last night, as Connington nailed that 50 yarder, the camera caught Chiles’ reaction to the make. He was so fired up, congratulatory even, and that is a sign of a new direction. The team showed fight, a willingness to complete, a want to be better and a support of teammates. Team. It’s special when you can get a group to truly buy into team. Nightingale gets his guys to buy in and maybe Smith is getting there too. As QB1 I think it all starts with Chiles, and I think he’ showing more of it to us in the public. Jumping into the student section at the end to celebrate was icing on the cake, so was 4TDs. I want to see this team come out with that swagger as the schedule gets tougher, play with the chip.
Cloud 1: Pass Rush
Anyone that took a look at the matchups prior to this game knew that BC was going to rely heavily on its passing game. The Spartan defense did its expected job in shutting down the run game and holding BC to just 67 yards on 25 attempts. Lonergan can throw and the pass rush needed to be there to put some ease on the secondary (my next cloud). For a team to have 45 passing attempts and the defense comes up with zero sacks is a problem. BC is not the only skilled passer on the schedule this year and MSU needs to find an answer to the pass heavy teams and getting pressure and forcing QBs out of the pocket needs to be a point of emphasis in future game plans. The time there was pressure, MSU managed to bat down a pass attempt. BC does have a decent offensive line, but Penn State’s is even better. This is a glaring need that I hope gets better. I know Jordan Hall is all over the place making plays but he may like to take a breath.
Cloud 2: The Secondary
I feel like we got lucky here. There are definitely bend don’t break moments in games and seasons and it felt like the bend last night was really shaky. Nikai Martinez being out is definitely a big part of the problem. What made me nervous was how wide open receivers would be on play calls and formations that MSU was already burned on. BC’s tying regulation touchdown was the exact same play and result we saw earlier in the game. I mean, there were receivers with 5 yards separation on many plays and thankfully gaps were closed to not make those plays bigger but the coverage has to get better and I think more physical. Obviously, clean physical, but physical nonetheless. Martinez’s injury is non disclosed so I’m not sure what is going on there but hopefully he’ll be back sooner rather than later as he is a strong force in the MSU defense.
Cloud 3: The Refs
Let me just say that I hate complaint about refs in any sport. They are not there to change outcomes, they are there to keep things fair. Last night did not seem like a well officiated game. The personal foul called on MSU for rushing the passer was ridiculous. The missed call of the late hit on Frazier when he was on the ground was horrendous. The pass interference calls and lack of pass interference calls made it difficult for both secondaries to know how to play. Even MSU got away with an interference call in overtime. It’s just frustrating when it seems the whistle goes against the green and white so much. This games whistles were really not about being undisciplined, a lot of them were just invoking the “seriously”?
Rainbow: The Crowd
This week’s rainbow is going to the crowd. It was loud, it was engaged, it responded, and it stuck around. Spartan Stadium is a fun place to be when the energy is electric and last night was that. The third down bell got everyone standing every time and keys flinging about. Even the defense turned around a couple of times with arms waving for more and acknowledging that the crowd was feeding them and making a difference. Well done Spartan fans.
Two weeks in and 2-0 is exactly where we need to be to inch closer to getting back to a bowl game. Youngstown State is next week for Family Week and Jr Spartans Tailgate. As always, leave your comments with your suns and clouds and Go Green!
