Saturday was an absolute beauuuutiful day for football in East Lansing. Game two is always a favorite of mine each season. The alumni band is present and seeing so many members with the current band all at once is something special. Shout out to the 50 year anniversary of the color guard too. It is also Junior Spartan tailgate week. Always fun, for me personally, to get my two little ones hyped and raised right with the green and white. The final score had the Spartans on top and of course that makes us all happy. However, we need to dive a bit deeper and check out this weeks clouds and suns.
Sun #1
My first sun of the week is hands down going to the second half output. Let’s be honest, the first half, was not that fun. It was a little shaky and I prefer being comfortable. The second half was a different story. I honestly feel a bit hard pressed to recall the last time MSU came out in a second half with the gas pedal down and no intention of letting up. It was nice to see MSU take the second half kick off and run 13 plays and go 75 yards with a 6:10 time of position and walk away with 7 points. That drive set the tone for the entire second half. The Spartans possessed the ball for over 20 minutes and out of the five drives they had three touchdowns and a fumble that stopped a fourth touchdown on the seven yard line. Drive five was the end of the game punt and was over 6 minutes and 60 yards. That was a very solid output for a team that just last week did not finish the same way. It also allowed some time to rest starters and get the second string involved in game action.
Sun #2
My second sun is going to the hurry up offense and Cam Fancher. Bringing in Fancher for a change of pace and watching the dual threat south paw sling it around seemed to really throw Eastern off. It punched them in the mouth and they were struggling to find an answer as MSU was hustling and busting its way down the field. I liked that the coaching staff had some innovative thinking and trust. This allowed them to give something else a try. Innovative thinking was lacking in the previous regime and it was nice to see the response by the whole team. It gave the team some juice at a time they needed it and it worked to fuel them the rest of the game.
Sun #3
My final sun is going to 3rd and 4th down conversions. Sorry Brady Pretzlaff, I truly appreciated you stepping up and your career high of 8 tackles but I was more impressed with the conversion rate. MSU was 10 of 15 on third downs and 3 for 3 on 4th downs. Those numbers clearly are right where we want them. The ability to control the ball, keep drives moving and secure the clock are all reasons to be happy about this stat. Granted, MSU may have just worn down Eastern and they didn’t need an extra second to do it. Fitzgerald preaches trust in his players and the process and he clearly shows that trust on some of those 4th down calls. He is showing belief in the offense and even more specifically the line to get it done.
Speaking of that line, they did a great job of pushing forward and creating some holes, specifically in the second half. That output was a big reason why those third and fourth down conversions had such a high success rate. Hopefully, the line continues to improve and gain confidence as the season progresses.
Cloud #1
Missing Jordan Hall is a big problem. With Hall not medically cleared to play, the MSU defense looked lost and inept for much of the first half and even through moments in the second half. There were a number of missed tackles, poor communication and Eastern was leading the game in rushing at the end of the first half. Fitzgerald made it seem as if Hall should be good to go next week in South Bend. MSU needs his leadership and skillset in a bad way. The second half saw some improvements from the linebackers but this team without Hall, would be in for a very long season. I think Hall was everyone on TOC’S staff picks to be the top guy and hopefully the Eastern game is the only one he misses.
Cloud #2
Cloud 2 for me is without question the second quarter. I mean, what even was that? It truly seemed like a legitimate cloud was over Spartan Stadium. The team hit a lull. Not just any lull though. This was the full, it’s cloudy so I just want to sit around and watch Netflix as I doze in and out of consciousness. The running game was not getting anywhere. They averaged 3.7 yards per play. That was significantly lower than the average of any other quarter as well as the game average of 6.6. MSU had double the time of possession over Eastern but was out rushed by almost two times and Eastern had more total yards.
The offense wasn’t alone in the second quarter struggle as the defense was giving up some big rushing lanes and allowing Kim to have his way. Even Fitzgerald seemed confused as to why the energy was sucked out of this team in the second quarter. As strong as the second half was, it is still worrisome that we have yet to see MSU put together a solid four quarters this season. With a massive test next week, they will need all four quarters strong to even have a shot at Notre Dame.
Cloud #3
My third cloud is going to stay with Milivojevic and his vision. I mentioned this in my clouds last week. Yes, he is young and going through some of those growing pains as a full time starter. I still felt he struggled to get through is progressions quick enough. He continued to stare some receivers down and force the ball. I also thought he had a handful of scrambles for nothing when there were some opportunities downfield. He also threw underneath once and missed a wide open touchdown that he could have just floated in the air if he looked beyond the first option. Thankfully, he has not seemed to be running for his life that much. He has already shown more promise than Chiles did at this point last year. I know I am being hard on him, but it is something that could be a glaring problem against a national title contender like Notre Dame.
Cloudy with a chance of meatballs
I had a few more items worth musing about and those are headed to the meatballs category this week.
First, I enjoyed the intense boos from the student section when Noah Kim was announced. This is the season of former MSU quarterbacks starting for other teams making their way back to East Lansing. It will be interesting to see the responses that Houser and Chiles get upon their returns.
Second, can someone please figure out the sound in Spartan Stadium? I like things loud. I like playing music loud in my car. I like sports loud on my TV. However, the volume at which half the things at Spartan Stadium are played are startling, piercing, and uncomfortable. Fun fact about me, I’ve run my fair share of sound boards in my life. MSU, call me, I’d be happy to fix this problem that I consistently hear people complain about for the last few years. All I ask in return is a lifetime supply of Melting Moments so I can enjoy one at each game.
Lastly, I just had to comment on Liam Boyd winning our site MVP of the game last week and then this week we didn’t have a single field goal attempt. Not one by either team. We all prefer touchdowns, but it seemed like an anomaly worth mentioning considering how many we had last week.
I’ll be headed to South Bend next week and am looking forward to it from a nostalgia perspective but weary of the game itself. I grew up rather close to South Bend and have seen many games of the Fighting Irish in South Bend. I’m looking forward to covering it and seeing a bit behind the Golden Dome curtain. Anyone else headed to South Bend?
All right TOC Nation, it is your turn. I enjoyed the suns and clouds you all added in the comments last week and look forward to what your thoughts are this week. 2-0, Go Green!
