Back in 1991 Michigan State was still on the quarter system, which meant a couple of things. First, over the course of an academic year, MSU students would attend three 10-week sessions of class rather than the more typical two 15-week sessions, which was kind of nice. You almost didn’t have time to realize how monotonous your professors were.
Second, and for reasons which escape me now, the fact that we were on quarters meant that classes didn’t start until the third week of September. So, on September 14, 1991, I found myself sitting on the couch at my parents’ house for one last Saturday afternoon, watching Michigan play Notre Dame, and wondering what fate held in store for me four days later, when I would be moving into Hubbard Hall for my freshman year at MSU.
Michigan State was playing Central Michigan that day, and as soon as the final score — CMU 20, MSU 3 – scrolled across the bottom of the television screen, the phone started ringing. Friends who were going to MSU were calling to express their disbelief, and friends who had already matriculated to CMU were calling to, deservedly, get their pound of flesh.
I was stunned. It wasn’t even Welcome Week; I wasn’t even on campus yet, and my new school’s team, ranked #18 in the nation and coming off a Big Ten co-championship, had lost what was supposed to be a glorified scrimmage against a MAC school.
Then that same MAC school came back to MSU the following fall and thumped the Spartans again, 24-20.
Yeah, that left a little bit of a mark.
Those two losses were the beginning of the very messy end of George Perles’ head coaching career at Michigan State. It’s fair to argue that those two losses sapped the program of any momentum it may have built up during a very solid four-year stretch of football from 1987-1990. And, of course, if the momentum was sapped in ‘91 and ‘92, the forfeiture of the entire ‘94 season ground the program to a screeching, painful halt.
OK, I know this hasn’t been the most enjoyable trip down memory lane. But you know what they say about those who forget history.
The Spartans have won 15 straight games against MAC competition dating back to 1993, and four straight against Central, the most recent being a 24-7 victory in 2004. It seems as if MAC teams are upsetting Big Ten teams with more frequency in recent years –the Chips claimed their third win over a Big Ten opponent with a 37-34 victory over Indiana last year — but the Spartans have managed to dodge the MAC bullet for 16 seasons.
The Chippewas bring a highly touted offense to town led by senior quarterback Dan LeFevour, but they’ll be licking their wounds after a 19-6 loss at Arizona to open the season last weekend. LeFevour threw for only 108 yards as the Wildcats held the Chips to a meager 182 yards of total offense.
Make no mistake, the Chippewa offense is more talented and potent than what they showed last week. LeFevour’s two favorite receiving targets, Brian Anderson and Antonio Brown, are #1 and #2 on CMU’s all-time receiving list for a reason. And LeFevour can hurt you with his legs, too — he was the Chips leading rusher in 2008, with 592 yards and six touchdowns.
We’re going to learn a lot about the MSU defense tomorrow. The Spartan secondary will face a legitimate test; CMU is going to throw early and often, regardless of their opponent’s reputation. The defensive backs are going to have plenty of opportunities to make plays against LeFevour and Co. Likewise, Pat Narduzzi was not entirely pleased with the performance of the defensive line against the Montana State rushing attack last weekend, and you can be certain that CMU will test the Spartans between the tackles.
On the offensive side of the ball most of the attention will again go to the quarterbacks, Kirk Cousins and Keith Nichol, but Spartan fans with a critical eye will be keeping a close eye on the offensive line. They looked good in pass protection last week, but their rush blocking was not nearly as good as I expected against a significantly smaller Montana State defensive line. We all think that Caulton Ray, Edwin Baker and Larry Caper are going to develop into a competent trio of tailbacks, but even the best running backs are only as good as their blocking. With Notre Dame and Wisconsin waiting in the wings, tomorrow is the time for the line to show that they can create some holes and establish the rushing game.
So, that thing I mentioned about forgetting history? I don’t think we have to worry about that so long as Mark Dantonio is in charge. The Spartans haven’t overlooked anyone during his tenure, and there’s no reason to think they will start tomorrow. Central will likely expose some of Michigan State’s soft spots, but the Spartans are deeper and more talented. CMU returns 10 starters on defense, but it’s hard to say whether that’s a positive — they were ranked 118th in the nation against the pass last season. The Spartans might get a scare, and the coaching staff might get a few more “teachable moments” than they’d prefer, but there’s no reason that they shouldn’t also put up enough points to get a fifth straight win over the Chips.
Questions surround every football team this time of year. Tomorrow afternoon, we’re going to start getting some answers.
Note — Sorry about the lack of content this week; I’ve been having some server issues which have prevented me from giving the CMU game the full treatment that I hope you’ll eventually come to expect. I’m hoping to get things moved over to a more stable server by early next week.