Badgers Blow by Spartans, Bruise and Bang Their Way to a 38-30 Victory

Turnovers are always a determining factor in the outcome of a Big Ten football game, but perhaps even more so when you’re on the road. The Spartans shot

Turnovers are always a determining factor in the outcome of a Big Ten football game, but perhaps even more so when you’re on the road. The Spartans shot themselves in the foot early Saturday by turning the ball over with young QB mistakes. The Badgers took full advantage, and finished MSU off somewhat easily as the second half wore on, anchored behind an overpowering and confident Offensive Line.

This season took a bad turn early today. It started with a questionable decision to take the ball on the initial kick off in hostile territory, with an offense coming off a three-part tragic ending in South Bend. I understand the theory of catching the Badgers “sleeping,” or at least catching their crowd before they’d filed in all the way to Camp Randall. But really? Wisconsin, who had won 33 of its last 36 at home coming into this one, was somehow going to come out flat or be ambush material because it was an 11 a.m. kick?

It sounds like we might have sold Wisconsin a bit short there. And the idea actually backfired. Still though, that decision is a judgment call, and shouldn’t be over stated. It didn’t cost MSU the game. I just don’t see how it put the Spartans in the best position to get settled on the road in the Conference’s second toughest opposing environment.

The flat performance of the Spartans on their initial drive, and most of the first half, was not a good sign. Like Coach D said immediately after the game, “in the first half…it didn’t seem like we were playing.” The effort and intensity weren’t where they needed to be early.  By the end, the game wasn’t as close as the final score read. It was in Wisconsin’s hands for far longer than it was ever in doubt.

The Big Ten season began with Spartans talking of repeating the feat of the ’87 Rose Bowl team who also started 1-2. But the initial effort and enthusiasm surprisingly wasn’t there. I expected the Spartans to come out on fire, and to match the intensity of the home team Badgers, which I contend, is the number one key to winning on the road. It didn’t happen in Madison today.

The Spartans Defense looked pretty bad, yet again. For a Defensive Line that was supposed to be a potential strength of this team, filled with depth and athleticism, they look shallow at the ability to rush the passer right now. That’s not to say the likes of Worthy, Pickelman, and Neely wont one day become effective pass rushers, but it’s not happening right now, and it’s hurting the rest of the Defense substantially.

While talking about the Defense, I would like to suggest to all players on the MSU Defense that they curb their enthusiasm and tendency to over celebrate Defensive plays early in ball games. You want to continue to earn the respect back of the Spartan Nation, stop jumping up and down like you’ve won the Big Ten title when you stop a guy, for say no gain on a 2nd and 8, early in the second quarter. That’s what you’re on the field to do. And more so later in the game when it’s really on the line.

As not to pick on anyone individually, I just made that specific scenario up. But the over celebrating is starting to become a problem again. And no, it’s not just because we’re off to a 1-3 start. It’s embarrassing whether we’re 4-0 or 0-4.  I’m not saying don’t celebrate, but check yourself Green. It was a horrid stench that spread through this program in the “Dark Ages” of 2000-2006. Don’t let it come back into style. It will lost this program respect amongst the world of College Football, it won’t gain you any.

MSU made Wisconsin Rs.-Jr. QB Scott Tolzien look like he could be an All-Big Ten player today. The reality is, he’s probably not. He had way too long to throw on way too many snaps today, and soon was throwing a pretty nice ball all over the field. But when you never really get threatened up front by any kind of D Line pass rush, it’s pretty easy to get comfortable to look for an assortment of Badger pass catchers available. A DB can only stay with a receiver so long, which is why it’s so important to get a consistent rush from the front. Tolzien might have had his best game of the year today, but was probably more a result of the Spartans poor defensive play than Tolzien elevating his game to another level.

But give Bucky Badger some credit. Wisconsin worked tactically on the Offensive side of the ball, and seemed only to do as much as was needed to knock the Spartans out. Again, the game was not as close as the final score showed, in part thanks to Wisconsin’s second half strategy playing with the lead of “let’s see if you can tackle our RBs consistently…we’ll pick our spots to pass the ball.” Give them credit, their strategy worked. They exploited the weak spots of a porous Spartan Defense, featuring a soft pass rush from the DL and a shaken group of DBs right now.

The Wisconsin TEs scorched MSU today for 99 yards and 3 TDs. Every time the Badgers seemed to need a big play, or convert a third down, Tolzien seemed to be able to find one of the Badgers’ giant TEs or a WR for a first down. Perhaps the biggest reason that happened was again the lack of pass rush from the front four, which gave Badger receivers enough time to get open and available. Sr. Badger TE Garrett Graham smoked the Spartans for 3 TDs on 5 receptions, and a very valuable 58 yards. Backup Jr. Lance Kendricks made a real contribution too, grabbing 4 balls for 35 yards.

Speaking of the TEs, where are MSU’s? We heard so much about the talent and depth of this unit, and even got good news when So. Garrett Celek was pronounced fit to play for the first time since the season began. Whether it was Rs.-So. QB Cousins or Nichol, neither MSU QB threw to the TEs early and often enough. The unit only caught 5 balls all day. Surprising, but perhaps not as much so Sr. WR Blair White only getting 1 grab today. Though Fr. Dion Sims picked up yards late in the game, the outcome had already been decided. Hopefully MSU can mirror Wisconsin a bit from here and get a similar level of production to the Badgers’ TEs today, on a regular basis.

So. RB Glenn Winston made progress today, though he learned a hard youthful lesson about ball security at a time when the Spartans were trying to get back into it with Wisconsin. The Badgers didn’t have much of an answer for the powerful downhill running Winston, who flattened more than a few Badger LBs and DBs on his way to 52 yards on only 9 carries. Winston’s development is threatening to take off throughout the rest of this 2009 season. He looked to get into a nice rhythm at times, and shows hints of running stronger as a game carries on. Though his fumble was costly, it’s almost to be expected that a young RB will turn the ball over at some point early in his career. Today, it seemed the surprise of bumping into his own blocking FB, Sr. Andrew Pendy, caused Winston’s fumble more than anything else. Once again, the Spartan youth was served.

The Spartan QBs also made many young mistakes today. Both threw ill timed interceptions that took MSU out of the game more and more, with the exception of the last Nichol INT with 3:54 left because the game’s outcome was realistically already decided. I don’t think we learned too much today about the QB race. It’s still very hard to judge without comparing apples to apples (as in starting Nichol in the same game), but that’s impossible to do.

If this season doesn’t start to turn around soon, we could possibly be looking at a scenario where starts are shared later in the season. If it gets to that point, and if the coaches think it would help their evaluation process heading into 2010, it would seem to make sense. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Spartans started either QB next week to begin the Michigan game. And for some reason, I expect to see a trick play or two next week where both QBs are on the field at the same time.

But don’t get the impression anyone is throwing in the towel on 2009. We’re not there yet, but the season’s health is definitely something to recognize as vulnerable right now. This is now a 1-3 football team who lost two very close games in a row at the end, and responded by getting mostly dominated on the road by a clearly better team. No we’ve arrived to the start of Michigan week.

While a win against Michigan won’t remedy the season’s poor start, it could salvage quite a bit of the program’s momentum that might be slipping right now. It’s hard to say how much, if any, momentum has been lost so far in 2009, since the season is still in progress and it’s really a difficult thing to quantify. But it is fair to say that MSU Football can take a BIG step forward with a win next week. When’s the last time MSU has beaten Michigan two years in a row? That would measure up as a statement win for this program.

This is a young football team. They are not yet capable to make a run with the big boys of the Big Ten, unless today’s performance was a stark and one time aberration. But that doesn’t mean the Spartans can’t still have a good season. Next week is one of those games that helps define a season. The 2009 definition has not had a very satisfying start for the Spartan Nation. It’s time that Spartan Football shows an ability to adjust and come together as one with a fine tuned approach to get a win next week over Michigan. It should once again come down to the Spartans ability to execute the fundamentals with an attention to detail. They must do a better job than they’ve done thus far in 2009.