Spartans Get Centralized…Yet Again

It was over. MSU had eeked out another close victory in the Dantonio era. But then the ball bounced the wrong way. And a few minutes later, another Spartan

It was over. MSU had eeked out another close victory in the Dantonio era. But then the ball bounced the wrong way. And a few minutes later, another Spartan victory was wiped off the books. CMU 29, MSU 27. Let's get used to hearing that score repeated for a long time.

You could say this one came down to the way the ball bounced in the end, but it really seemed to be more than that. Michigan State didn’t lose the game to Central Michigan on one play, they didn’t lose it by an inch, and they didn’t lose the game in one series. As Jr. Captain Greg Jones explained in the locker room shortly after the Spartans momentum crush defeat, it was lost all week. Thus blame and criticism should spread across the players and coaching staff, as the loss was a team effort.

Early it looked like the Spartans would pick up where they left off from Montana St., as Rs.-So. QB Kirk Cousins started and led the Spartans to an early and nearly comfortable lead. But the things would unravel from there. Luckily, this one did not evolve into a Northwestern ’07 like shootout, but it came close. MSU displayed more holes as the game went on, while Central became more and more confident. Central’s Sr. standout QB Dan LeFevour showed the Spartan Nation just about all that we expected of him. There will surely be a lot of analysis after this game, but rather than retelling the whole story, I would like to focus on a couple of key moments and decisions in the game.

Go for OT, or Go for it All?

After scoring late in the 4th to make the score 27-26 MSU, Central Michigan Head Coach Butch Jones could have decided to kick the PAT and take the game to Overtime. But he didn’t. Initially it appeared the call to go for the two point conversion was the right choice. Central had the momentum, and had a chance to steal as an underdog on the road. But thinking it through immediately after the fact (always easier), Michigan State was also in a state of offensive confusion.

Who would have played in overtime? Would they have rotated between Nichol and Cousins? At the same time, Central was rolling on offense, and would have been able to force the game into the shootout they seemed to want all along. Jones’ decision to go for two wasn’t a bad one, it’s actually quite admirable. Yet there could have been an even greater advantage to taking the game to overtime. Obviously that decision was deemed irrelevant as Central Michigan had one last surprise for the Spartans in a perfect onside kick, and went on to win anyway. But the decision remains an interesting call.

Are We There Yet?

The idea of Quarterback competition is great for college football teams. But I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to carry an open competition into too many games. Michigan State looked inconsistent and indecisive today offensively. A lot of that could be a result of playing two different Quarterbacks, no matter how close the competition or how good the players, in the same game. It looks more and more like it’s time to make a decision.

We do not expect that decision to be based solely on the performances in today’s game, but rather the overall body of work the coaches have told us would be the determining factor in naming a starter all along. At this point, every member of the Spartan Nation probably has an opinion on who the starter should be. This is not the time for me to make that suggestion, but it is time to suggest that a decision should be made. It appears to have cost the Spartans a win today, and hurt the offensive output. It looks like deciding to start either Nichol or Cousins would be better than continuing to decide for neither.

The disrupted offensive rhythm might have contributed to the few uncharacteristic drops by Sr. WR Captain Blair White, who almost appeared to a bit of the yips at times. I am not making excuses for the Sr. wide out, but perhaps that’s part of the reality of catching balls from two alternating QBs with different release points and their own unique pace and spiral on their ball. The alternating QBs might also contribute to a struggling So. WR Keshawn Martin, but it’s hard to know for sure at this point.

The QB is the most important player on the field, and sets the pace and tone for the offense. I don’t care if you have Elway and Montana rotating back there, anytime there’s a different guy under center, there’s a different rhythm to the offense. There’s a different rhythm to the huddle, to the snap, to the hand off, etc. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but a team must recognize the point when alternating has reached the point of diminishing returns (think Spurrier over rotating QBs @ either USC of Florida to his own demise). We may not be all the way there yet, but today it looked awful close.

It looked for a while like So. Keith Nichol’s replay-reviewed 1st down scramble off a 3rd down could be the play where he took over the offense for good. But it doesn’t look that way right now. Nichol struggled for rhythm the rest of the way, later missing a clear touchdown pass to Rs.-So. WR B.J. Cunnigham down the middle of the field. Who knows if Nichol would’ve even played in overtime had the Chips gone for the tie.

The QB situation looks more up in the air than it’s been maybe in the last month, and it looks like it starting to take its toll on the Spartans. At this point, it might be time to make a call and start the best player.

When Is the Time for Time Outs?

One area of concern that developed during the game was the management of Spartan time outs. Late into the first half, holding all three timeouts, MSU failed to call a time out after stopping the Chips on a 2nd and 5, and again after a 3rd down. The Spartans did force a punt, but valuable seconds were lost. More time could have been protected for the next Spartan drive.

On the subsequent series, MSU again was sluggish in its time out management. The Spartans were slow to call a time out after Rs.-Fr. Caulton Ray’s 2nd down run to set up a key 3rd and short. The call should’ve come quicker. These delays or inactions cost the Spartans seconds on the clock, plays from scrimmage, and probably points on the scoreboard. At this point, I don’t understand how those unused timeouts helped MSU in that first half, but I do believe they hurt significantly.

At the 3 minute mark of the 4th quarter, Central appeared to have set up a big screen pass on a 2nd down, but pre-season All-Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Greg Jones was on the prowl. Jones again showed why he was given such a high honor by reading the play quickly and cutting across the field to stop the Chips for a two yard loss.  Jones awesome effort set up a 3rd and 9. The Spartans were on the brink of shutting the door on the Chips. But again no time out was called.

Why call a timeout for the Defense on a 3rd and 9 after your best player just forced a 2 yard loss? Because the Spartan defense looked like they could be beat for 6 on just about any play at that time as the Chips offense seemed to be playing downhill for much the game. MSU was vulnerable, yet had a chance to shut the door. A time out would have given the Spartans an opportunity to appreciate the impact of the next play, focus, and design a better defensive effort than that 3rd down produced. LeFevour burned the Spartans yet again, finding an open Chip for a key 1st down and keeping the drive and game alive.  That 3rd down (possibly a 4th if CMU went for it) was a missed chance for the Spartans to close out the game.

Instead the MSU held on to their 2nd half time outs until the very end, using one at the 16 second mark, and two of them to “ice” the kicker on the game winning field goal tries. It appeared there were much better uses of Spartan timeouts somewhere in the 2nd half, regardless of whether MSU won or lost.

Any Upsides?

There were some good things from the Spartans across the field today. Sr. LB Brandon Denson demonstrated his range and speed on a couple of different plays, including work on special teams and punt coverage. So. LB David Rolf made a couple notable good plays, such as staying at home and leaping to bat down a LeFevour pass during the first half, though he was involved in a controversial Personal Foul call later in the game. And So. DT Kevin Pickelman produced some of the edge pressure we talked about earlier in the week as being a key, forcing LeFevour to throw before he wanted to and giving an alert Sr. CB Jeremy Ware the chance for an easy INT. Ware’s pick cost the Chips at least 3 likely points, plus significant momentum they had going at that point in the ball game.

But that momentum was regained quickly on a shrewdly executed Central RB pass to LeFevour on their next drive. Why not use LeFevour as a receiver when you’ve got such a big bodied and athletic player under center. Credit the Chips, LeFevour, and Butch Jones, for their quick rebound from the big turnover deep in Spartan territory.

So Now What?

In the end, this loss could cost the Spartans big. When you get down to bowl selection time, a loss to a MAC team will not look good on the resume. It doesn’t matter how good of a MAC team Central is. It doesn’t matter how well coached they are, or how efficiently they run their schemes. It doesn’t matter that Central showed MSU how much a team can do when it plays within themselves against a supposedly better opponent.

What matters is another bad Spartan loss, at a very bad time. What matters is the Spartans looked less cohesive today than they did last week. This game should not have been that close. The Spartans should have tightened up and gotten better over the course of the game, but they only appeared to get looser and more lost. And then when it appeared they were left off the hook by a questionable 2pt conversion play call, which largely took LeFevour’s run-pass skills out of that play, the onside kick came up and bit the Spartan Nation yet again (See UM ’04, La. Tech ’03, etc).

From there it was almost a formality that the Chips would at least have a chance to win with a field goal. They had simply done such a good job of moving the ball on the Spartans in the 4th that it was unlikely Central would be stopped short of field goal range. When MSU jumped off sides on the first field goal attempt, the likely ending became brutally apparent. MSU was about to lose on their home field to an in-state MAC opponent, again.

Now it’s time to get ready for Notre Dame. There’s a lot work to do, and hopefully some decisions to be made. Sometimes the game of football isn’t as simple as it seems to be.