Why MSU will beat ND

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Wed Sep 20, 2006 12:23 am

Over 11,000 inland lakes and 36,000 miles of streams and rivers. We have more shoreline than the entire Atlantic Coast.

Final score:

Javon Ringer 6.7 YPC
Darius Walker 4.6 YPC

Screw_Michigan · Post by **Screw_Michigan** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 12:32 am

what the fuck possessed you to go m2 on here and post some irrelevant shit?

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Wed Sep 20, 2006 12:38 am

In most circles, that was referred to as a "joke."

Try and catch on.

Serious thoughts on the game later...

Screw_Michigan · Post by **Screw_Michigan** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 12:42 am

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:In most circles, that was referred to as a "joke."

Try and catch on.

Serious thoughts on the game later...

don't you...have your mother's basement to clean or something?

it's hard...keeping up with a cal grad.

sin,

m2ool

RadioFan · Post by **RadioFan** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 1:37 am

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:Serious thoughts on the game later...

First you'll have to start the "ND is going to KILL MSU!" thread, followed by some gibberish about you being pumped for the game and so forth.

Van · Post by **Van** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 3:06 am

Gotta say...

...that's fucking awesome.

BlindRef · Post by **BlindRef** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 3:09 am

Rack Light,

Very funny.

I will be rooting for sparty to win this weekend...as much as it will pain me.

(and despite our economy, Michigan is a beautiful damn State.)

Jimmy Medalions · Post by **Jimmy Medalions** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:08 am

Rack it.

You would have gotten extra credit if you dedicated a paragraph to how incredible Weis is, and how Sparty has balls to schedule against him. That way you cover both bases - win and you fucking rule, lose and you were supposed to.

Remember, Tennessee is the gem of the SEC and they played in Neyland. Hammerfucking justified.

Shoalzie · Post by **Shoalzie** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 12:42 pm

I'm not rooting for either team but I think State's offense will be able expose the ND defense just like Michigan did. I don't think the Spartans are as active on defense where Michigan created a lot of their points. I think State can beat the Irish through the air and Stanton's ability to make plays with his feet. I don't think we'll see a carbon copy of Michigan did to them because I don't think Quinn will get pressured as much but I still see at least a 10-14 point win for the State.

RACK Mgo...

Killian · Post by **Killian** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 12:45 pm

Rack this thread

Cicero · Post by **Cicero** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 1:27 pm

Good stuff, Mgo.

Irish 24
Spartans 20

PSUFAN · Post by **PSUFAN** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 1:35 pm

mgo, sorry my take on the Pitt/MSU game is late.

As in other years, MSU has a great QB, and a wealth of talent surrounding him that is reluctant to give him a hand.

Stanton is a player. The one play, where he rolled out under pressure and threw a fucking perfect ball into the outstretched hands of a WR in the end zone - which was dropped...well, that has to kill him.

I particularly enjoyed the faux-confidence that Pitt showed early...which quickly crumbled once Sparty stopped shooting themselves in the feet. It was like..."shit, you mean they are going to fight back? We quit" on the part of Pitt.

Stanton runs that option better than anyone. Yes, it was Pitt, but if they can keep that momentum up for at least one more week, this game will once again be a doozy, as it usually is.

I think Sparty takes this one 35-24.

L45B · Post by **L45B** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:06 pm

Nice thread, Light.

BTW, you forgot to make a Hungus errrrrrr Deathmatch challenge for when Minnesota rolls into East Lansing on 11/11. You know, since Minnesota bounced Kent State & Temple, but was only 3 plays away from beating the Pink Lettuce Canyon Fairies. Minnesota is like one of the top 5 programs in the nation. Let's see if you got the chimes to play with the big boys.

WolverineSteve · Post by **WolverineSteve** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:19 pm

One of the best pile-on by proxy threads ever!

I wouldn't mind seeing either team lose. However I think ND bounces back.

nd-41
Moo U-28

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:25 pm

Sub-par effort...

It would get an A+ if the pics were bigger.

And correct me if I'm wrong here....didn't MSU beat ND a few years ago?

You DO realize that that makes MSU the BCS Champion this year, right? And how can you pick against the reigning 2006 BCS Champion?

As an aside, if Portland State beats Montana this year, it makes either Cal or Michigan State the 2007 Masters Champion in Augusta.

Mr T · Post by **Mr T** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 7:12 pm

No scoreboard pic of the 2003 game?

B+

GreginPG · Post by **GreginPG** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 7:17 pm

RACK you MgoLightbluespecial!

You maybe should have thrown in an over-sized pic of Stanton and perhaps some of State's cheerleaders as well.

I'll give it a B.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 7:37 pm

You forgot the pic of you and your girlfriends...

Terry in Crapchester · Wed Sep 20, 2006 7:39 pm

Toss another rack on the pile.

Even ND's harshest critic would be hard-pressed to deny that ND's offense is capable of a much better showing than it made against Michigan (4 yards net rushing out front should tell you that). And while I don't know Michigan State that well, I do know that they're definitely capable of an offensive output. I'll take Mgo's word that the defense is a concern.

What jumps out at me most about this game is the intangible angle. Simply put, ND needs this game far worse than does Michigan State. ND still has an opportunity to salvage something decent from this season, and after this game, we hit the favorable part of our schedule. Four of the next five games are at home, the only non-home game is a neutral field contest vs. Navy, and only UCLA, among our next five opponents, is a legitimate threat to crack the Top 25. So with a win here, we have a good chance of heading into USC with a 10-1 record, which gives us a good shot at the BCS in any event. OTOH, lose this game and our season could head south in a hurry. As much as a single game can define an entire season, this one will probably do that for ND. And while Sparty has pretty much pwned us of late (7-2 vs. ND since the series resumed in '97 following a two-year hiatus), our two wins of late have both come on the road, so this is one series where home field isn't all that important.

With all of that said . . .

ND 42
Babs U 38

Van · Post by **Van** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 7:40 pm

Mikey wrote:You forgot the pic of you and your girlfriends...

:-) :-) :-)

GreginPG · Post by **GreginPG** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 7:45 pm

Mikey wrote:You forgot the pic of you and your girlfriends...

That was nearly a coke-spewer.

L45B · Post by **L45B** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 8:15 pm

Hey Light,

Who is State's starting running back these days? Because whoever he is, he's the best running back in the nation.

The Seer · Post by **The Seer** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 9:25 pm

Van wrote:Gotta say...

...that's fucking awesome.

Sincerely,

Sillycybin

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Thu Sep 21, 2006 12:49 am

A few thoughts...

L45B wrote:Nice thread, Light.

BTW, you forgot to make a Hungus errrrrrr Deathmatch challenge for when Minnesota rolls into East Lansing on 11/11. You know, since Minnesota bounced Kent State & Temple, but was only 3 plays away from beating the Pink Lettuce Canyon Fairies. Minnesota is like one of the top 5 programs in the nation. Let's see if you got the chimes to play with the big boys.

Ahhh yes, excellent pickup on m2's useage of awkward italicizing. Dude literally has no clue how that concept works. Funny shit.

Dinsdale wrote:Sub-par effort...

Uhhh...errrr, I agree. I appreciate the racks, but it really was a lazy effort on my part. I was just looking to break off a "quicky," and hopefully generate a decent pileon/a few chuckles.

And it looks like mission accomplished, you ass.

Anyhoo...

This game is just far too unpredictable for Xs and Os. Nothing that is ever supposed to happen, happens. As Terry pointed out, the road team has had a lot of success in this series as of late. I see a similar result as last year, but flip-flopped. You just know after that Michigan loss, all ND wanted to do was get back out onto the football field immediately. This game is just bad timing for State. ND will be PISSED off and ready to kick some ass. Fortunately for ND, State hasn't crept into the top 25 yet, otherwise, history would tell them that they're screwed...(hehe, sorry IrishFan).

There's no breaking down the defense. ND will score any way they want to on State. They'll run, they'll pass, probably get a punt return or seven for TDs, and might even put Weis in on a 4th and goal to punch it in. John L might even give his defense a breather and let ND have 7 on the scoreboard just to speed things along. This much is guaranteed. The only question is, will the inconsistent MSU offense (thus far) show up, and match ND's scoring efforts. I think they will, but it won't be enough in the end. A lot of this will be dependent upon receivers not dropping easy balls. The running game's fine. The O-line's fine. But yeah, what sounds so elementary has been a big problem for State. Trannon has improved quite a bit, and has really turned into their star wideout, whereas most of last year, they didn't have much of an identity in that department (it was all Stanton). He reminds me quite a bit of Plaxico Burress (in more ways than one). The problems lie more with Kerry Reed and Jerramy Scott, who have looked pretty skiddish at times against...~gulp~ Idaho and EMU. Not too much of a problem against Pitt. Hopefully this is a sign MSU will play up to their competition all year. I'm doubting the "all year" part though.

Simply put: MSU has been good against ND, but they've also been very, very lucky. I really think these wins have been more a string of anomalies than any kind of dominance over ND. I say that because after the ND win, that's when MSU usually pulls its rest-of-the-season tank job. It's like this is the one game they can get up for every year, and afterwards, they instantly turn into the practice squad.

Homer pick:

MSU 45
ND 44

Real, actual, non alcohol-induced, rational pick:

ND 38
MSU 34

L45B wrote:Hey Light,

Who is State's starting running back these days? Because whoever he is, he's the best running back in the nation.

Jehuu Caulcrick is their short yardage, runs straight down hill-type of back (although they WILL run with him on 1st and 10), and Javon Ringer is their main tailback. Both will see quite a few carries in this game.

Van · Post by **Van** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 3:28 am

"Jehuu"??

Bwaaahahaaa!!

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Thu Sep 21, 2006 3:38 am

Van wrote:"Jehuu"??

Bwaaahahaaa!!

He's from Liberia, dumbshit.

Van · Post by **Van** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 3:42 am

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:
Van wrote:"Jehuu"??

Bwaaahahaaa!!
He's from Liberia, dumbshit.

Shouldn't he be a kicker then??

:-)

Shoalzie · Post by **Shoalzie** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 12:43 pm

Michigan State 31, Notre Dame 23 -- Stanton factors into all 4 TDs for State

WolverineSteve · Post by **WolverineSteve** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 3:00 pm

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:I say that because after the ND win, that's when MSU usually pulls its rest-of-the-season tank job. It's like this is the one game they can get up for every year, and afterwards, they instantly turn into the practice squad.

Are you serious. We all know State takes a crap following their annual loss to Michigan. I know you don't want to say it, but the facts don't lie.

FLW Buckeye · Post by **FLW Buckeye** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 3:48 pm

Shoalzie wrote:Michigan State 31, Notre Dame 23 -- Stanton factors into all 4 TDs for State

If this week's ND play starts to look like last week's effort, Quinn will be a major factor, too.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Thu Sep 21, 2006 10:33 pm

WolverineSteve wrote:Are you serious. We all know State takes a crap following their annual loss to Michigan. I know you don't want to say it, but the facts don't lie.

Two ways of looking at it, I guess. I say they fall apart after the ND game, because it's implied they'll lose to Michigan...and most good teams thereafter.

Arrogant prick.

Terry in Crapchester · Fri Sep 22, 2006 10:13 am

WolverineSteve wrote:
MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:I say that because after the ND win, that's when MSU usually pulls its rest-of-the-season tank job. It's like this is the one game they can get up for every year, and afterwards, they instantly turn into the practice squad.

Are you serious. We all know State takes a crap following their annual loss to Michigan. I know you don't want to say it, but the facts don't lie.

Actually, last year Sparty took a crap following the blocked field goal at the end of the first half against tOSU, and never recovered thereafter. It's amazing that a team's entire season turned so drastically on the basis of a single play, but that's what happened.

Michigan was later in the season, and therefore, was a beneficiary, rather than the cause, of Sparty's meltdown.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Fri Sep 22, 2006 1:35 pm

Terry in Crapchester wrote:Actually, last year Sparty took a crap following the blocked field goal at the end of the first half against tOSU, and never recovered thereafter. It's amazing that a team's entire season turned so drastically on the basis of a single play, but that's what happened.

Michigan was later in the season, and therefore, was a beneficiary, rather than the cause, of Sparty's meltdown.

I'm not sure a "single play" is what caused State's second half meltdown. I just think they lost to better teams down the stretch - Teams they were going to lose to anyway because of very, very poor defensive talent and coaching. One's strength of schedule in the first half of the season is rarely more difficult than the second half, due to usually having at least two patsies on the OOC schedule.