The Outlook Moving Forward: Maryland

Coming off their 49-37 loss to Ohio State, the Spartans travel to College Park to face the Maryland Terrapins at 8:00 on the Big Ten Network.

Offense

For the most part the Offense did very well Saturday night, but did come up short when needed most. After their best drive of the night to take the lead 21-14, the game was unexpectedly placed right back in their hands to take control of for good. Already having turned it over once, the Buckeyes made the error of the night as Dontre Wilson fumbled the Spartan kick off and MSU recovered at the OSU 18. MSU looked practically assured of a 10-point lead, and had the chance to push the Buckeyes up against the ropes late in the 2nd Quarter.

“We had an opportunity to go up 28-14,” Mark Dantonio recalled on his post-game radio show immediately after the loss. But the rhythm of the Offense from the prior 7:50 long Touchdown drive did not quite carry over when they quickly went back out to start the new drive. Things just didn’t work out after a slick 2nd Down run from Macgarrett Kings set MSU up for a 3rd and 3 from the 11. Rather than stay inside with a Connor Cook type option play, MSU got the ball to Jeremy Langford on a nifty run to the outside. He found the End Zone, but you know what happened next.

“Had a couple of holding calls which are in debate, but they always are,” Coach D said on his post-game radio show. As time passes there may be an added focus on some of those calls, but without a doubt the one that took away the Touchdown will be examined the most. “I’m going to be interested to go in and watch the film,” Offensive Line Coach Mark Staten told the Spartan Radio Network immediately after the game as he left the field. Staten said he wanted to compare how flags were thrown on the two teams during the game. Not much, if anything, has been said about that review to this point. It may be a while before that day comes.

After the flag, MSU had 3rd and 13 from the OSU 21 yard line. Cook threw a nearly perfect ball to a diving Josiah Price who stretched for it in the back of the End Zone, but could not quite pull it in. Even if he had hung on, he may have been out of bounds before securing possession. But the Offense was that close to changing the entire face of the game and the remainder of MSU’s season on a play that’s likely to be forgotten because of what happened on the plays immediately surrounding it.  Exactly two plays later, the score was shockingly tied at 21. It’s not clear if the Spartans ever completely recovered from that shocking string of plays. “We don’t overcome that (penalty that took back 6-points), and we miss the field goal,” Dantonio explained.

This Offense is Dantonio’s best so far, with arguably the top skill players at each specific position in the entire Big Ten. And as we’ve discussed in past weeks around Spartan Nation, there’s still room for them to grow. They can find ways to improve until the final whistle of 2014, and can take a collective leadership role to move past the disappointment of Ohio State this week at College Park. Maryland has the 92nd rated Total Defense in the country. MSU should have a shot to outscore the high temperature of the day at Byrd Stadium, which right now is expected to be around 45 degrees.

Defense

Last week we discussed how Ohio State would reveal how much this Defense had improved during the season so far. Coming off a bye week, they couldn’t have had a better chance to prepare to play their best game of 2014. The results were a shocking disappointment.  The Buckeyes ran up  586 total yards, 268 rushing, converted 10 out of 14 3rd Downs, and hung 49 points on the scoreboard. It was a humbling experience for a unit that believed they were getting close to the form of the fantastic 2012 and 2013 groups.

“I think we got handled inside more than I thought we would coming into the game,” Mark Dantonio pointed out on his post-game radio show. As we discussed last week, the tale of that game would be told up front. MSU’s interior Defensive Line was handled by a young but now outstanding Buckeye front. Earlier this year Spartan Nation talked to Dantonio about the challenge of playing guys inside who were converted from being ends and other positions.

Perhaps that showed up a bit Saturday night, but Dantonio and other Big Ten coaches told Spartan Nation earlier this week how difficult it is to recruit “true” interior Defensive Lineman. If you think about effective Spartan “space eaters” of the recent past like Kevin Pickelman and Anthony Rashad White, they don’t typically show up on campus carrying anything close to 300 pounds, ready to rock. Jerel Worthy was an outlier, but still needed a couple seasons under his belt before he started trending towards an All-American level. Interior D-Lineman are be built over time, and usually become most effective after two or three years seasons at the position. The Spartans have plenty of talent inside, and they will match up better there with OSU next year in Columbus.

The Buckeyes were able to do pretty much whatever they wanted after the turning point (you know when) last Saturday, in large part because they won the point of attack. But some of that was probably a result of MSU not being lined up or adjusted before the snap as well as they could’ve been. While the entire Defense probably felt the disappointment of Saturday night, there may not be a Spartan that took it harder than Taiwan Jones. That’s part of what comes with being the Middle Linebacker at Michigan State, and taking over for the graduated Max Bullough. Jones needs to lead this unit to a bounce back effort at Maryland, and figure out a way to push this Defense to improve and peak for the coming Bowl Game.

“We had too many missed tackles on the edge,” Mark Dantonio pointed out after it ended on Saturday night. The edge was where one of the biggest momentum building moments for the Buckeyes took place. On 3rd and 23, J.T. Barrett hit a 43-yard bomb of a conversion to Devin Smith in the early minutes of the 2nd Quarter. That might have been the biggest completion by an opposing Quarterback in Spartan Stadium since the painful Chad Henne to Mario Manningham Touchdown bomb in 2007. While Barrett’s throw was perfect and Darian Hicks’ coverage was good, it wasn’t quite perfect.

“We got out leveraged on the edge,” Dantonio explained about the completion. That’s not to blame Hicks in any sense of the word because he was beaten by a perfect throw and catch, but to point out the fine line between taking everything away as a defender and leaving just enough daylight, or in this case sideline, for an amazing play to occur. That completion was not only a major springboard for the national coming out party that Barrett had last week, it could end up as one for a major Buckeye run to close out 2014.

“Things flow downhill sometimes, and that’s what ended up happening,” Dantonio concluded. After the completion to Smith, OSU started piling up big plays and by the end of the night had hung points on the Spartan Defense like we haven’t seen in years around here. “We just couldn’t overcome the big plays…that was the bottom line."  Without question, limiting those big plays must be a primary focus for this team closing out 2014. If they can’t, expect the coming talented Bowl opponent to look at the Ohio State tape and try to gouge MSU for big chunks in a very similar fashion.

Saturday night will be cold. Maryland will be without its best player, Stefon Diggs, but not without life. They know MSU is prone to giving up the home run ball and if they can connect on a couple of them, the Terps will be thinking they can make a little noise and shock the league by doubling up on the wounded Spartans. This week is a test of this unit’s leadership, togetherness, and resolve to prove they are much better than world of College Football saw them to be after Ohio State.

Special Teams

As we discussed last week, Special Teams mistakes in big games often make the difference. Ohio State was a disaster early on, fumbling two kicks and putting the Spartans in position to go up two scores late in the 2nd Quarter. They weren’t the only ones that struggled, as Michael Geiger missed the key Field Goal try after that second OSU fumble and subsequent MSU Holding Penalty we discussed earlier.

Geiger has missed often from the left, aka inside, hash this year. Almost all of them have looked like the result of a misalignment before the kick. His setup looked off again Saturday night on that miss, and it never had a chance. It was left all the way, and unfortunately part of a crazy sequence of plays that swung the entire direction of the game. Little did Geiger know the very next play after the miss would result in the game being tied at 21, but that’s what happened. That’s how important Special Teams are.

Geiger bounced back later when MSU gave him another shot from that hash, from nearly the same exact length. That one looked much better and was good, so hopefully Geiger has turned the corner for the duration. MSU will probably be challenged later this year by one of the teams left on the schedule, and then again in the Bowl Game. It would be foolish to think Special Teams is no longer going to matter that much. It’s unlikely to play as big a role as it did in the Ohio State game, but we shouldn’t just go to sleep on Special Teams plays from here.

Overall

Sunday began the most difficult week in Spartan Football in over a year. After the second week loss at Oregon, MSU had everything to look forward to and a Big Ten Championship still to chase. They were in position to have a really good look at a spot in the inaugural College Football Playoff.  But Sunday they woke up with all of those possibilities pretty much gone. The higher the stakes, the sweeter the victory, but the harder the loss, Mark Dantonio reminded us earlier this week. That’s how life is at the top of this sport when you’re playing for a division championship and trying to earn a spot in the inaugural College Football Playoff. Without question, the officials did not dictate, nor decide the result of the Ohio State game, but they did play a factor. Ohio State got away with couple or maybe a handful of very clear holds where flags should’ve been thrown. The Spartans may have gotten away with a few Defensive Lineman jumping Offsides very early on, but probably earned most of their Holding flags for the day. The call that mattered most has still some uncertainty left hanging in the air.

It was not hard to detect the frustration from the Spartans as they walked off the field Saturday night, and we can assume there’s since been a lot of “woulda, coulda, shoulda” thoughts swirling around the heads of those closely associated with this program.  The best way to get over the Ohio State game is by looking ahead to Maryland and the rest of 2014.  There's still a bunch to play for.  They’ll begin in the polar vortex chill and “blackout” conditions waiting for them in College Park.

MSU is now 7-2 with three left to play. If they can run the table that will notch another 10-win season on Mark Dantonio’s belt. That number, 10, is a pretty big deal around the world of College Football.  There’s also a Top-10 ranking up for grabs. If MSU runs the table, they should face another team that was just a loss away from being in the mix for the Final Four. The winner of that Bowl Game will likely end up ranked inside the Top-10. When you talk about a program built to last rather than one that finds more for peaks and valleys, backing up the #3 ranking from 2013 with another single digit ranking would be pretty darn impressive.  In a dream world the Spartans would get to take on Notre Dame or Alabama, though Georgia is always around (they cannot play Nebraska for a third straight year), and Auburn may be among the other big programs set to match up with the Spartans this winter. If you were thinking all had been lost last week, let this here Outlook inspire you that it’s not.

Maryland is coming off a bye. Outside of that, they don’t have much going for them this week other than a Quarterback that had ties to MSU, probably wanted to go to MSU, but didn’t get here. They have overachieved to this point in the season, already qualifying for a Bowl Game when some didn’t think that was in the Terps’ cards this year. This guy (me) even predicted they’d end up 3-9 and looking for a new Head Coach. That does not seem likely now.

They are short playmaker Stefon Diggs though, and should not be able to line up with the power, speed, or depth the Spartans will bring across the Appalachians to tussle inside the Capital Beltway. The question is which Spartans team shows up? Is it one looking for redemption for the two games that got away from them already this year? Or is it one still wounded and struggling through the process of getting over the Buckeye flood that took them out last week?

Mark Dantonio teams have done better on the road than the vast majority of other programs during his tenure. In the past he’s talked about the different type of focus teams can take advantage of when they go on the road and have only each other to lean on and learn from. This week’s healing process should benefit from that road-dog mentality, and the Spartans should take care of Maryland in a workman like fashion. That’s not to say it will be easy, or that we should expect the type of energy level we would’ve seen had the Spartans been riding high off a win last Saturday night. It’s to say that the coming Michigan State effort should reflect the current standard of Spartan Football, the foundation Mark Dantonio has led players and coaches to install during his leadership, and most importantly the standard that these 2014 Spartans ultimately want to be remembered for down the road.

P.A.T. (Perhaps Another Thought…)

1. I’m not interested in a College Football Playoff that is subject to some committee’s human evaluation. I’m interested in a system that permits teams from participating conferences a chance to earn their way in. Right now we have five major conferences. ESPN calls them the Power Five. I say did you save the ACC, ESPN? Imagine if that Football conference fell apart and the schools that wanted to compete at the top level of Football joined other leagues.  We would be left with four conferences. Hello de facto 8-team Playoff, if not more when you get into league play and teams are sorting themselves out within the divisions. This system isn’t helping the game, it’s not appreciated by many of its core fans, and it’s time to right the ship quickly before it crashes the sport.
2. The great majority of players that have come through MSU are extremely supportive of the current year’s team. Saturday night, that ironically was not the case. Through various Social Media outlets, guys that have played in the modern era were rather critical of the Coaches, certain players, and even once again the fans. None of that noise helps Spartan Football, gentlemen. If you disagree, you’re welcome to contact me to discuss.
3. Last December, the best result for the Big Ten Conference would have been a close Buckeye victory over the Spartans, and then for both teams to with their BCS Bowl games. Imagine the narrative now if OSU were defending a National Champion, and MSU defending a Rose Bowl. Now that MSU is likely on the outside of the Playoff picture for good, there are plenty of goals for this team still to chase, but let’s hope the Bucks run the table for the good of the Big Ten, and for next year’s Playoff hopes.
4. A couple points on Spartan Stadium attendance from Saturday night: 1. Red stands out more than any other color and that’s a huge reason why it looks like there’s so many Buckeyes or Husker fans at road games.  2. There were empty seats in Baton Rouge Saturday night too, and there will be empty seats in Tuscaloosa this Saturday too. This is a TV based sport now, in person attendance is secondary and that will not flip back. 3. Don’t blame the students for the ridiculous set up that is the student section. They’re not obligated to be there more than any other fan in the stands, and if you want ticket prices as cheap as they get them, go take classes.
5. There’s no one left wondering if Buckeyes-Spartans is a rivalry after Saturday night. As we discussed last week, it’s been developing quick, and may be the fastest growing rivalry in College Football right now. It was too bad when Bret Bielema left Wisconsin because that rivalry had grown so well organically, but the Buckeyes have slid in nicely to replace them as the Spartans’ second biggest Big Ten rival right now.

@JPSpartan  or inside the Phalanx Forum