Spartan Loss to Michigan Disturbing on Multiple Fronts!

Spartan Loss to Michigan Disturbing on Multiple Fronts! ÂAfter being able to play with my son Duffy and try my best to recover from the heartbreaking loss that

Spartan Loss to Michigan Disturbing on Multiple Fronts!

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After being able to play with my son Duffy and try my best to recover from the heartbreaking loss that the Spartan Nation sustained yesterday, I am ready to analyze the disturbing loss to the Wolverines.Â

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Usually, my game recaps are not broken down by events, but with the amount of issues I want to address, I will do so today.

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1. Brian Hoyer: Hoyer is a great kid. He is funny, he treats people right and he is exactly what every Dad would want in a son. With all of that being said, his play yesterday was beyond bad. Now, I am certainly not blaming him entirely for the loss. That would be unfair and not true, but for MSU to win a game his play has to improve immensely. Brian had multiple passes that were high or behind receivers, and if you are going to point out the dropped passes he has sustained, you have to point out some of the incredible catches that Devin Thomas has made on balls that were above or behind him. Brian’s play was not good. You saw in the fourth quarter he finally looked off Mark Dell, looked for other receivers, and when he came back and threw to Dell the Wolverines committed pass interference because he didn’t lock on to Dell. The only other time the entire game he didn’t lock on (on MSU’s fifth drive of the game), he had a wide open receiver in the flat, but the UM player made a great play to knock the ball down at the line of scrimmage. Two different opponents this season have mentioned that they game-planned off of watching him lock on to receivers. He has been sporadic with his accuracy, and if it were not so late in the season, he would have been pulled for Nick Foles. I applaud him for not throwing interceptions, and I certainly confess that he has been the victim of poor play from his receivers with dropped balls. I must be fair, however, and confess that his play up to this point is not one of a leader. He has yet to take this team on his shoulders and win a game. This staff so badly wants him to do that, but he has yet to do it. Time is running out for him with only three games left. He has three games (and potentially a bowl) to show this staff and team that he is the man. He missed three wide-open receivers for touchdowns in the first half alone in the first, fourth and seventh drives. He overthrew and under-threw wide-open guys, and that’s unacceptable. If he fails to do so, I will be shocked if Nick Foles doesn’t get the nod next season. More on that later.
2. Kellen Davis: Davis has the look of what a NFL caliber player should be. Unfortunately for the Spartans and ultimately him, he has yet to show it consistently. He drops too many passes that should be caught, and sadly his tenure at MSU will be marred with undisciplined decisions that have haunted him.  He may look the part and no one doubts it, but he does not sustain his play with consistency. I love that he plays both ways, but he simply has to put it together.  I talked last week with a scout from a NFL team that told me that Davis reminded him a lot of Matt Trannon. He has the look, but lacks consistency and “the wise decision making” like Trannon did. I said before the season how critical the TE is to the Mark Dantonio system, but Kellen Davis has been a huge disappointment so far this season.
3. Coaching: This is the one area that makes me shake my head. Several times this season there have been decisions that you have to shake your head at. A) Multiple times on third downs they are not sending receivers past the first down marker or checking down passing to the man not past the marker. UM couldn’t stop MSU when they went to the air (with accuracy) and MSU refused to go for the first down. In fairness, on several occasions they took the check down player that wasn’t at the marker, but several times they didn’t even send someone past the marker. I thought for sure they learned that lesson last week in overtime at Iowa, but look at yesterday’s game, they didn’t. Treadwell made it clear that Hoyer made the mistake at Iowa by going to Devin Thomas short rather than the end zone, but why put him in that position multiple times against Michigan if you know he doesn’t make the right read? I asked Treadwell after the game about his questionable third down play calling and he answered, “I think sometimes it’s just a combination of things. I am sure as we go through it, with the quarterbacks, if it was a pass called, where were his reads. Those are things you just continuously talk them through. Can’t say just as I stand here today in front of you, that he didn’t see this, or he didn’t see that. That wouldn’t be fair until we have had a chance to see the film. Certainly, certain calls are placed to put the ball, to give us a position to do that. We are going to have to wait to see the films.” I know that Hoyer’s decision making has frustrated them this season, but I would simply say that if your QB struggles to make the right read, then put him in positions to make the right one. B) Why in the world on a 3rd down would they run a sweep with Jehuu? That is not his strength, and the Wolverines hadn’t stopped them going straight ahead. Maybe I could at least see it with Ringer, but with Jehuu that is a great example of what Dantonio a few weeks ago called out-smarting themselves. Bad call. C) On UM’s last two scores the Spartan defense went to a prevent package. The only thing a prevent D ever prevented was winning. When MSU had heat on Henne, he struggled with accuracy and passing. That was horrendous play calling on Narduzzi’s part. The Spartans had efficiently stopped UM and that scheme allowed them back into the game. Only rushing three people and staying with it when UM was driving late for the go ahead score is inexcusable. This Spartan D is not anywhere close to the best in the Big Ten, but to not have them in the right scheme is coaching error. I have mentioned several times, when defending the staff that if the guys are in the right spot and don’t make plays, you can’t blame them for that. On the last two drives the players were not in the right spot and that falls on coaching.

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Mark Dantonio told me a story, that has been repeated many times, that in all of the time he coached for Jim Tressel not one time did Tressel ever overrule a play call that Mark made. I like Treadwell and Narduzzi. I think that they are both good coordinators, and I think they both have great futures as head coaches. That said Mark has to be more involved in play/scheme calls. Third down play calling has been terrible (7 of 19 yesterday), and although this team is lacking players, it is the choice of plays that bothers me most. Treadwell and Narduzzi don’t have the players that Dantonio did at Ohio State. I am 100% confident as MSU rebuilds that Treadwell and Narduzzi will shine even greater. Until then, Mark has to insert his expertise in critical areas.

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On Wednesday I am going to have an article looking at MSU now and in the future and will address the Nick Foles and many other player questions. For now this will suffice. The MSU defense didn’t cost MSU the game. The play scheme on the last two UM drives for TD’s did hurt us, but MSU left too many points on the field. I am still heartbroken, but when you look through the pain analytically you have to see a team that didn’t stop fighting or quit. There are no moral victories. This was a loss, and a loss that hurt badly. I can understand the Spartan Nation frustration, but quitting on this team and this coaching staff would be foolish.