Somebody pinch me, please. Tell me I'm not dreaming this up. Is the Michigan State football team really 7-0?
What a ride this season has been thus far. The Spartans overcame first half miscues, unispired play, mental errors, and a terrific Illinois defense. They turned up their performance more than a notch in the second half and dominated the Illini. Now they stand as the only undefeated team in the Big Ten. Once again, somebody pinch me and tell me this isn't a dream.
I started watching the game on our bedroom television, since the kids were playing Wii on the living room TV. With the Spartans behind 6-3 late in the first half (and they were lucky to only be down by a field goal), I knew I'd have to assume my "nervous nelly" Spartan football watching position in our basement, where I'd be relatively safe in screaming at the TV and whooping it up. I grabbed a beer out of the fridge, headed to the dungeon, and watched the second half. Thankfully, MSU provided me with plenty of thrills en route to taking over the game and winning, 26-6.
With the Spartans' victory, I was free to enjoy the rest of my Saturday. I hate to admit this, but during the autumn, much of my piece-of-mind and enjoyment of the weekend is dependent on the result of MSU's football game. If the Spartans win, I'm good through Monday. If they lose, I tend to agonize for the next day or so. Embarrassing, but true.
Anyway, I watched a good portion of Michigan's loss to Iowa, and some of the Wisconsin/Ohio State game. Although a Michigan victory over Iowa would have helped MSU, I simply could not bring myself to root for the Wolverines, and I enjoyed watching them lose to the Hawkeyes. I was thrilled with the Badgers' victory over Ohio State.
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What a ride this season has been thus far. The Spartans overcame first half miscues, unispired play, mental errors, and a terrific Illinois defense. They turned up their performance more than a notch in the second half and dominated the Illini. Now they stand as the only undefeated team in the Big Ten. Once again, somebody pinch me and tell me this isn't a dream.
I started watching the game on our bedroom television, since the kids were playing Wii on the living room TV. With the Spartans behind 6-3 late in the first half (and they were lucky to only be down by a field goal), I knew I'd have to assume my "nervous nelly" Spartan football watching position in our basement, where I'd be relatively safe in screaming at the TV and whooping it up. I grabbed a beer out of the fridge, headed to the dungeon, and watched the second half. Thankfully, MSU provided me with plenty of thrills en route to taking over the game and winning, 26-6.
With the Spartans' victory, I was free to enjoy the rest of my Saturday. I hate to admit this, but during the autumn, much of my piece-of-mind and enjoyment of the weekend is dependent on the result of MSU's football game. If the Spartans win, I'm good through Monday. If they lose, I tend to agonize for the next day or so. Embarrassing, but true.
Anyway, I watched a good portion of Michigan's loss to Iowa, and some of the Wisconsin/Ohio State game. Although a Michigan victory over Iowa would have helped MSU, I simply could not bring myself to root for the Wolverines, and I enjoyed watching them lose to the Hawkeyes. I was thrilled with the Badgers' victory over Ohio State.
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My old college friend Tom was in town for homecoming weekend. Friday night, we tried to attend MSU basketball's Midnight Madness at Breslin Center, but Tom hit construction and traffic woes coming into town from Royal Oak, so we weren't able to get over to Breslin until after 11:00 PM. MSU hoops has become too popular (I suppose six Final Fours in twelve years will do that) and we were turned away at the door. The place was packed. After playing text message tag all day Saturday (Tom and his friend Holly went to the MSU/Illinois game and then to popular local Mexican restaurant El Azteco for dinner) we finally got together for drinks. We caught up on the last year and watched the end of the OSU/Wisconsin game. Tom was also interested in the Giants/Phillies playoff game, since as a San Franciscan he's adopted the Giants as one of his teams. Anyway, we had a good time visiting, and I was able to meet his friend Holly.
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Back to MSU football briefly. All of this national championship/undefeated talk has got me dizzy. I'm trying hard not to get overly excited. But having said that, this might be the most well-rounded MSU football team I've seen: Kirk Cousins has been, for the most part, excellent at quarterback; there's a three-headed monster at running back (Baker, Caper, Bell); the receiving corps is incredibly deep with Cunningham, Dell, Martin, Linthicum, Gantt, and Nichol; the kicking game has been perfect; and the defense has exceeded expectations. We all figured the linebackers (Greg Jones, Eric Gordon, Chris Norman, Jon Misch) would be great, and they have been, but other guys like Tyler Hoover at defensive end, freshmen William Gholston and Max Bullough, Jerel Worthy, and Colin Neely have all made great contributions. The biggest surprise so far is how well the defensive backfield has played, with Johnny Adams, Trenton Robinson, and Marcus Hyde all making great contributions (particularly Adams and Robinson). Chris L. Rucker was also part of that great secondary, but his status is uncertain after a drunk driving arrest/probation violation after the Michigan game. True freshman Darqueze Dennard stepped in for Rucker in the Illinois game and, though he was burned on one long pass play that resulted in an obvious pass interference call, had a fantastic strip and fumble recovery on another play. The kid is fast and has great closing speed.
One sign of the great team play of this MSU team came after Dennard's pass interference penalty. Immediately after the play, senior Greg Jones took Dennard aside and had a talk with him--not screaming, not angry, just what appeared to be an instructional talk. It reminded me of the MSU basketball team and how the upper classmen always intruct the younger players on the floor. It's an indication of the program that Dantonio is building here at MSU.
________________________________________
Back to MSU football briefly. All of this national championship/undefeated talk has got me dizzy. I'm trying hard not to get overly excited. But having said that, this might be the most well-rounded MSU football team I've seen: Kirk Cousins has been, for the most part, excellent at quarterback; there's a three-headed monster at running back (Baker, Caper, Bell); the receiving corps is incredibly deep with Cunningham, Dell, Martin, Linthicum, Gantt, and Nichol; the kicking game has been perfect; and the defense has exceeded expectations. We all figured the linebackers (Greg Jones, Eric Gordon, Chris Norman, Jon Misch) would be great, and they have been, but other guys like Tyler Hoover at defensive end, freshmen William Gholston and Max Bullough, Jerel Worthy, and Colin Neely have all made great contributions. The biggest surprise so far is how well the defensive backfield has played, with Johnny Adams, Trenton Robinson, and Marcus Hyde all making great contributions (particularly Adams and Robinson). Chris L. Rucker was also part of that great secondary, but his status is uncertain after a drunk driving arrest/probation violation after the Michigan game. True freshman Darqueze Dennard stepped in for Rucker in the Illinois game and, though he was burned on one long pass play that resulted in an obvious pass interference call, had a fantastic strip and fumble recovery on another play. The kid is fast and has great closing speed.
One sign of the great team play of this MSU team came after Dennard's pass interference penalty. Immediately after the play, senior Greg Jones took Dennard aside and had a talk with him--not screaming, not angry, just what appeared to be an instructional talk. It reminded me of the MSU basketball team and how the upper classmen always intruct the younger players on the floor. It's an indication of the program that Dantonio is building here at MSU.
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