The Spartans head for Columbus for a showdown with Ohio State this weekend knowing that a win puts their goals squarely in front of them. Michigan State is searching for consistency upfront on the offensive having had a number of injuries to overcome.
Travis Jackson will start at center replacing Blake Treadwell. Fou Fonoti will continue his quest to keep the right side locked up at offensive tackle while Dan France learns the left tackle position with on the job training. Micajah Reynolds will certainly see reps again having had a solid debut at left tackle last week against the CMU.
Mark Dantonio knows this game is about focus, preparation and managing the week leading up to what is arguably the most important game of his coaching career. With a win, MSU heads into a bye week before facing archrival Michigan with some swagger and some confidence. A loss would make the bye week seem like an eternity.  He is not making players available to the media to maintain focus and keep a steady hand on the rudder of the Spartan ship.
We’ll find out just how good Michigan State is this weekend. How will MSU’s defense handle a hostile OSU crowd? How will Kirk Cousins respond having pressed throughout the first four games this season? We’ll know the answers when MSU takes the field this weekend.
Michigan State can still win a Big Ten Championship. They are still in a position to get a BCS bowl bid. They just need to take care of business and shore up the details in a number of areas. The first one falls squarely on the offensive line. The center and guards are solid. They still need to get better and they will. The tackles are a work in progress. Fonoti is getting better with each rep. He is learning how to play the position solidly. Now, he must learn to be physically dominant particularly in the run game. France shows flashes of greatness and then has a misfire. The OSU defense is going to go after France and make him play through the pressure. If the offensive line plays well, Cousins will play better at the same time.
Cousins needs to make the big throws, but must also remember that a punt is better than a turnover and a sack is better than an interception. Cousins’ year will turn around when he decides that 7 or 8 yards to Nichol is better than throwing the ball to BJ in double coverage. Nichol is open all the time. In fact, a number of our opponents, including Notre Dame, didn’t respect Nichol as a threat underneath. Kirk didn’t make them respect him. When Kirk starts taking what the defense gives him, the world of Spartan football will largely be right with the universe. He doesn’t look confident. He doesn’t inspire fear in the eyes of his opponents. In fact, he does just the opposite by forcing the big throw rather than take the eight yards Nichol has underneath a good portion of the time.
This game will come down to early execution. If MSU comes out and establishes the run by opening up the game with short and safe passes, they win. If they get behind the chains and the scoreboard, OSU is going to open up the throttle and turn those big defensive horses loose. This game is personal for a number of Spartans. We have Ohio natives all over the field. Guys like Cunningham, Worthy, Adams, Allen, France, Rush and Jackson would like nothing more than to leave Ohio Stadium with a “W.â€Â The Spartans have to start fast if this is going to become a reality on Saturday.
Bell is the hot back right now. He is running with authority and seems to be the right back for this young offensive line.  The Reynoldsburg, Ohio native is nearly 240 pounds and isn’t afraid to lower the boom on defenders. He will only be effective if the OSU defense is thinking pass first and run second.
Ohio State has the clear advantage in this game playing at home. MSU’s senior QB needs to relax and make the easy throw. MSU can exploit the Buckeye defense with quick passes to Nichol and Sims while running the ball on 2nd and 3rd down when short yardage is needed to move the chains. I expect this game to be the offensive line’s coming out party. The defensive front needs to remain assignment sound against Braxton Miller and respect his feet. The game will be decided by MSU’s offensive and defensive lines. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.
No big ten championship this year! Last year was a back in fluke….and everyone knows it! This team cannot compete w/the big boy’s..Cousins is like a scared kid on the playground…not at all what you expect out of a 5year sr.! He was better as a soph.! the “o” line totally sucks!!!!!! So why don’t we come up w/an ingenious offense to offset that….oh! I forgot…we already did….it’s called pound,green,pound!! What a way to get all those pretty white facemasks full of sod….for losses or no gain!!!!!!!!!!!! Get off it already! You are not that good yet.
Michelle, I mean Micheal, go back to wal-mart and pick up some more SCum gear!
I was in those stands before you were born!! I would like nothing better than to be wrong…but you have to look at the facts! They are trying to force something they can’t do! They just DON’T have the talent…not yet. Better to outsmart..than outmuscle! Anyway here is hoping they pull it off in Columbus! You should not be so rude to your elders! Just like the Spartans….You have a lot of growing up to do…This is all in fun….that’s why we can do this…..Try this in Iraq or A????????????????
To be a State fan doesn’t mean you categorically repeat or approve of everything the coaches say. I would like to see State win, but I don’t plan on Ohio State rolling over like some seem to think. To beat OSU, MSU will have to have an edge and, since they seem to have trouble physically overwhelming teams that you would expect have inferior athletes, it’s a bit much to expect them to physically overwhelm a team that will have superior athletes. To win, they’ll have to play like Michigan played Notre Dame and like Northwestern plays everyone. They’ll have to find and stay with whatever match-up advantages they can find and that will include quarterback scrambles when OSU linebackers drop too deep or have their backs turned. If Cousins doesn’t want to take the hits in order to win the game, somebody else should play quarterback. I agree that, for whatever reason, he does not throw to Nichol and, when he does, he doesn’t put the ball where it needs to be. So Kirk is going to have to suck it up and play tough or MSU should change quarterbacks and save, to some extent, the season. Otherwise, this game will not be close.
Well we were almost able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Like the ND game, coaching mistakes were the reason why we did not blow both out. The D owned OSU’s offensive line and QB for all but the last 5 mins of the 4th quarter. Still, the D should never have had to step back on the field with anything but seconds left.
It is so sad when we have talent on both offense and defense, that major coaching errors are costing us big time, and in the case of ND, a victory. We can carp all day about how poorly Cousins is playing, and whine about all the dropped balls, but the offensive coaching staff is not bringing their A game or even their C game to the field. This must change or we will be slaughtered by U of M, Wisconsin, and Nebraska.
Cousins is the date Coach Dantonio chose to dance with; this would not have been my choice. Nichol was the much better QB and all around football player. Nichol sees and anticipates the game much better and this is a skill that cannot be taught, you either have it or you don’t. But I doubt that we will see a QB change and it would not be to Nichol anyway.
I hope this funk the coaching staff as been under will disipate by Monday at the latest and they bring their A++ game to the U of M game in two weeks.
I could not have said it better!!! Keith should be QB’ing this team….I’ve said it from day one..Cousin’s is a nice kid.. and a great student of the game….but like I said before…he looks like a scared little kid on the playground!….how long before BJ sees 3 guy’s on hin? This has got to stop….because they will not beat Nebraska,Wisconsin,Iowa…or maybe even M…. God forbid!!! Here is hoping non of that is true!! ALWAYS A SPARTAN!…M