The Day After…

The Day After…  To say that anyone is pleased in the Spartan Nation right now would be a fallacy. From everyone inside the football building to everyone

The Day After…

 

To say that anyone is pleased in the Spartan Nation right now would be a fallacy. From everyone inside the football building to everyone outside of it, the Spartan Nation sits this morning frustrated with a football team whose record is 1-2 without a sure “get back on our feet” win left on the schedule.

 

It is disconcerting. It is frustrating, but as we always do, win or lose, let’s probe into it.

 

The Good…

 

How about the Spartan offense? Two weeks in a row with enough points to win and maybe, even more importantly, we saw something yesterday. I won’t even address the people who have tried to take the QBs to task. Whoever you are, you don’t know football. You are probably the same people who said Hoyer couldn’t play and he is now backing up Tom Brady in New England while getting rave reviews from Belichick.

 

Both of our QBs looked very good. The coaching staff had the brakes on them last week and this week they came out without that and look what happens. I know that Mark Dantonio wants his team to be a run first, but today they went with what the Irish gave and they looked great.

 

If the Spartans continue to do what they did today and not stay set in their ways, that offense alone should give fans hope for what is ahead. There are things that can be nit-picked, but when your offense puts up over 450 yards and scores that many points, it is only nit-picking. I won’t do that.

 

This unit is VERY young and they are performing at a high level. Drops are still a concern, but the youth of this explosive group has to give even the most depressed members of the Spartan Nation today hope.

 

The brakes were off Don Treadwell today, and once again, after a week of finger pointing at him from other people, he shined. I stood by Treadwell last year when people got angry with the play schemes. Treadwell calls what he is allowed to call. He does that. Today you saw what he can do, and he did it.

 

This team was on the verge of getting blown out early, and fought back to have a chance to win it. They played with heart and no quit. They fought. 

 

The Bad…

 

The special teams continue to be a great concern with this team. I have no worries about Bates or Swenson (place kicking and punts, respectively), but I do with the team’s coverage on punts and coverage on kickoffs. I can assure you that NO ONE is hurting today like Brett Swenson in a good kick that hit the goalpost. He did everything right. This game was not lost on that kick.

 

Kickoffs have to get deeper into the opponent’s end of the field, and whether it is punts or kickoffs, these units are simply not getting it done. Missed tackles, poor technique, and assignments are not good. Mark Dantonio has done a superb job of teaching (rightfully) the Spartan Nation that the punt is the most important play in football. His team now has to cover them and the kickoffs much better.

 

Other than Swenson as a place kicker, and Bates’ natural talents with punting you have to recognize the kick return talent of Glenn Winston. He was masterful and when running lanes weren’t open, he made them by running over people. That still doesn’t change that our special teams as an entire entity are not good.

 

The Ugly…

 

The Spartan Defense. Awful! I am shocked to be three years into this regime and writing that. The front seven couldn’t stop the Irish, who continually ran right at them and gained huge chunks of yardage. The DBs leave me miffed. I said before the season that as this unit went so went the season, and we can see after the last two losses that teams are lining up and attacking them with ease and delight.

 

This unit, continually, makes technique and simple mistakes that have cost them the last two ball games. Don’t get me wrong, this team wins as a group and loses as a group, but the DBs are the weakest link in the chain. The front seven have to try to do more to accommodate their mistakes and they are looking worse than they are. 

 

I have got a lot of email in the last 14 hours since the game ended and a lot of people are saying things like: “Same old Spartans” “Is John L. Back?” I think it is fair to look at this defense that we have seen the last two games and ask, “Are we better than we were three years ago?” It is unfair after the last two games to declare JLS is back. Mark Dantonio has done a lot in his time here.

 

He overachieved in his first two years. He has taken us to two bowl games and beaten UM. If you want to attack him (and I consider is JLS back doing that), considering all he has done off the field with these kids, that is your choice. You can be disappointed. You can ask is our defense better than it was three years ago? Those are all germane and fair.

 

The people comparing this entire program to where it was when the previous staff was here shows that they are not close to the program, and they also have a lack of perspective of where they were when this group arrived.

 

The heat is on this defense and the coaches. They have to fix this. They have to make the adjustments or teams will continually attack the DBs with ease and turn each game into a 30+-point race (like the JLS years), and that would make no one more miserable that Coach D.

 

Mark Dantonio warned the Spartan Nation as expectations rose to dramatic levels that this was a rebuilding project and that adversity would come. When the media voted MSU third in the Big Ten (I didn’t), I said then it was a testament to the faith people had in this staff.

 

Again, it is fair to ask what has happened to the D. To be frank, it is one thing to look and see that the right schemes are called. It is another when poor technique and mistakes are so abundant. 

 

This is not the same old Spartans. You saw (especially on D) a lot of mistakes. You didn’t, however, see guys not trying. You didn’t see stupid errors (only 6 penalties for 40 yards) and gross personal fouls like you did on Notre Dame. You saw guys who made the errors playing hard, unlike teams of old.

 

I want to end with this. Before Mark Dantonio arrived you saw players who after a loss would joke and play, talk about where the parties were. This is no revelation, but the DBs were awful yesterday. As they left they were distraught. These young men, either, aren’t good enough to play at this level, or simply are trying hard to make plays, but I can attest this to you. They care. I saw tears, and I saw personal anger towards themselves. I saw guys on offense trying to consul the defense and I saw no divisions. There wasn’t finger pointing as in the days of old.

 

They win as Spartan, and they lose as Spartans. They may not be the best in the Big Ten, but one thing I can take, as a guy that walked up the tunnel with them and talked to them as they left, is that for all you “Same old Spartans” crowd, they are a team. None of them lost their character or integrity. None of them stopped being a great kid. Each of them talked about letting you, the fan, down.

 

Each of those DBs talked about how bad these fans must feel, and that they let you down. Angry with themselves, they worried about you. These aren’t the same old Spartans. They are far from it. They are a team that has to get better. They are a team of high quality kids working hard in the classroom and the weight room and on the practice field. They are a group of kid who didn’t play well yesterday on national TV, but never stopped the fight.

 

We can debate their play. That is fair. We can ask how to fix it, that is relevant. We can look to coaches and ask the tough questions. But no one need question this team and their heart. They are hurting. They fought tough. They weren’t good enough and have a lot of work to do, but they are our Spartans. I am proud that none of them quit. I am proud, maybe you aren’t close enough to the program to see it, but in just over two years Mark Dantonio and this staff have gathered a team of guys who don’t quit, work hard, and are a team. That doesn’t equate to a 3-0 record so far, but it does tell me that we are on the right track.

 

Everyone is down, and there will be a lot of tough questions to answer. That is fair. I also can attest that we have a team of great kids and a head coach who won’t let them show up on Saturday and quit. We are all disappointed. We are all frustrated. Let’s keep it there and not directed at a group of kids who fought and did their best. Make no mistakes it wasn’t good enough and, ultimately, kids and coaches are judged on wins and losses.

Let's not forget that the Irish are very talented group and it wasn't like they lost to Montana State. This loss hurt because we could have and should have won. Won against a team with better talent. Those guys aren't slouches.

There are nine games to fix this. It must get done. Unlike before, however, we have a team and staff with the mentality to fix it and the integrity to point fingers at themselves rather than others. After the third game of a major rebuilding project in year three, I am frustrated. I also have hope and can see a strong foundation. That is nothing like the past. It isn’t sexy, but it is substantive and I can live with that, even if I don’t like it.