It doesn’t matter if things are going well for your program and you’re anxiously awaiting the next chapter of gridiron glory, or if things are going poorly and you’re angst-ridden and grasping for any sign of a turn-around. It’s torture. And this has been one of the longest weeks I can remember; the cumulative disappointment of the losses to Central and Notre Dame is hanging with me like the aftertaste from a skunked Heineken, and I can’t even unscrew the cap on the mouthwash until noon tomorrow.

When I became a head football coach, I wanted to simulate some of the people that had success running the football, staying balanced and working that toughness aspect into their programs. One of the programs I looked at was Wisconsin….I wanted to do a lot of the same things that they do…. — Mark Dantonio

Wisconsin has consistently fielded pretty solid football teams since the mid-1990’s, when Barry Alvarez turned around a program which had, over the previous ten seasons, devolved into a Big Ten also-ran. Alvarez got off to a rocky start himself after taking over the Badger head coaching job in 1990, going 1-10, 5-6 and 5-6 in his first three seasons. The Wisconsin administration’s patience with Alvarez paid off in 1993, when he led the Badgers to the first of three Big Ten and Rose Bowl championships in his tenure.

I’ve always admired the way that Alvarez turned that program around, and I’ve long been of the opinion that Wisconsin’s success during his tenure was a much better measuring stick for Michigan State than Big Ten blue bloods like Michigan and Ohio State. And keep in mind that Alvarez didn’t have a winning season until his fourth year in Madison; just something to chew on for the folks who are trying to draw correlations between MSU’s slow start in 2009 under Mark Dantonio and skeletons placed in the Spartans’ closet by coaching staffs past.

Nonetheless, tomorrow’s game has enormous implications for the Spartans. 2-2 (1-0 Big Ten) is worlds apart from 1-3 (0-1 Big Ten), both from a practical standpoint and as it relates to the psyche of everyone involved in the program. It’s the Big Ten opener, and with that comes the opportunity to sweep aside the disappointment of the last two weeks, the chance to seize on a fresh start.

Win tomorrow, and look halfway decent doing it, and the same folks who spent the last few days comparing Dantonio to John L. will be talking about snapping the conference championship drought.  Lose tomorrow, and MSU’s shot at bowl eligibility will be called into serious question.

Wow. A game like that keeps you alive. – Mark Dantonio, following MSU’s 25-24 win over Wisconsin last year at Spartan Stadium

It’s a big game. A program game. And if the past two games between MSU and Wisconsin are any indication, it’ll be a nail-biter. This one, last year, felt great — attaboy, Brett Swenson! This one, two years ago, didn’t — would someone please tackle P.J. Hill?

The Badgers enter Big Ten play with an unblemished 3-0 record, but they’ve had a couple close calls of their own, beating Northern Illinois 28-20 in their season-opener and barely surviving Fresno State in overtime, 34-31, in week 2. Last week they manhandled Wofford 44-14 in a game that reveals as little about the Badgers as the win over Montana State revealed about the Spartans.

Records aside, not much separates these two teams statistically, which may be why Wisconsin is only a three-point favorite at home against a Spartan team coming off consecutive losses. Wisconsin and MSU rank 36th and 37th in the NCAA in total offensive yards, and 27th and 33rd in points. Both teams are surrendering an average of 21.7 points to opposing offenses through three games; Wisconsin has a slight edge in total offensive yardage allowed, 333.7 to 338.3. In many ways, this thing is a toss-up.

The Badgers have gotten better-than-expected production from junior quarterback Scott Tolzien, who has completed 47-68 attempts for four touchdowns and two interceptions, but none of Wisconsin’s first three opponents has exactly been a defensive juggernaut. If MSU’s secondary has any kind of success at all in the early going tomorrow (and that’s a big “if” based on their performance the last two weeks) look for head coach Bret Bielema to revert to classic Wisconsin power football — John Clay fumbled three times last week against Wofford, but he’s a big, bruising back (6′2″, 250) who carried the ball 14 times for 111 yards against the Spartans last year. Given last week’s bout of fumbleitis, Clay comes into the conference opener with something to prove. Speedy Zach Brown provides a change of pace out of the backfield for the Badgers; count on Clay and Brown combining for 35 carries.

The Spartan defense has had moderate success against the run so far, so this matchup plays to MSU’s strength and might just provide a much-needed opportunity for the secondary to catch its breath after getting torched the past two weeks by Dan LeFevour and Jimmy Clausen.

I think we have moved on, now we are just focused on Wisconsin. It is disappointing going 1-2 in the first three games, but we’ll use that to propel ourselves to start the Big Ten. — Blair White

Offensively, I love the matchup between MSU’s outstanding trio of wideouts, Blair White, B.J. Cunningham and Mark Dell, and Wisconsin’s quartet of cornerbacks. Aaron Henry, Devin Smith, Niles Brinkley and Antonio Fenelus have been revolving at corner for the Badgers, and by all accounts coming out of Madison, none of the four has played particularly well. Jay Valai and Chris Maragos have brought some stability to the Badger secondary from the safety position, but if MSU can keep them at home by utilizing some play action and working the middle of the field effectively with tight ends Charlie Gantt and Brian Linthicum, MSU’s wideouts, who seem to have shaken off the dropsies, could have a field day working the sidelines.

Larry Caper continued to emerge at tailback for the Spartans last week at ND, and it will be interesting to see how the carries are divvied up between he and Caulton Ray, who left the door open for Caper with a costly fumble against the Irish. There was talk during fall camp that Caper was the best pure runner on the MSU roster, and that he would eventually rise to the top of the depth chart once he became more comfortable in pass protection. It seems that time may have arrived.

Speaking of pass protection, the MSU offensive line has been very good to its quarterbacks, allowing only one sack so far this year despite injuries to Joel Nitchman and Joel Foreman. Notre Dame blitzed all day long last week, but the protection was excellent; it’s also worth noting that the patchwork o-line has improved its run-blocking. This unit might be gelling at just the right time.

And, of course, we have to mention the quarterbacks. I’ll simply reiterate what I said earlier this week — it’s time to hand Kirk Cousins the reins for a few games and see what he can do without sharing snaps. Keith Nichol will get his opportunity, but right now, Cousins has earned the chance to lead this team.

Finally, as I alluded yesterday in the links, kick coverage is an area of concern for Michigan State. Todd Boleski is certainly missed, but even when MSU has gotten the ball down inside the 5 on kickoffs, the coverage has been lacking. The defense needs all the help it can get; the kick coverage unit can help out by keeping Wisconsin from starting drives at mid-field.

Last year, Michigan State won all the close games; this year, so far, has been the exact opposite. Settle in, because the Badgers and Spartans seem to be mirror images of each other, and I think we’re in for another tight game tomorrow.

Prediction: MSU 31, Wisconsin 27. The Badgers have a lot to prove coming off a disappointing showing in 2008, and last year’s loss 25-24 loss to the Spartans should definitely provide some motivation, but I just think MSU needs this one more.

• I really dug this little post about Kirk Cousins from Eric at Spartan Football expounding upon a nugget from The Only Colors.
• Steve Grinczel: Mark Dantonio is a “builder-upper.” Which is certainly preferably, say, to a self-face-slapper.
• In recruiting news, the Freep informs us that Loganville, Georgia running back Storm Johnson will be on campus for the Michigan game. He’s ranked the #25 running back in his class and his name is Storm. I hereby declare him a can’t-miss prospect.
• As if we didn’t have enough to worry about, Joe Rexrode points out that MSU’s kickoff coverage has been pretty damn bad, and Badger kick returner David Gilreath has been pretty damn good.
• Madison.com gives us an outside perspective on the Spartans. (Off topic, but I couldn’t help but click this link in the “most read” box to the right of the MSU article, too; I think the lesson there is, if you’re heading to Madison for the game, steer clear of Wiggie’s Bar.)
• The Rivalry, Esq. ranks Big Ten quarterbacks through three weeks; Kirk Cousins fares well.
• Finally, thanks to LVS at The Only Colors for the nice words and the link; much appreciated. To those of you visiting the site for the first time, welcome. Feedback is always welcome in the comments or via email at spartanblog -at- gmail.com. Kick your feet up and stay a while.

On the heels of a tough day in South Bend for Chris L. Rucker, Kendell Davis-Clark has overtaken him as the No. 1 boundary CB. Expect Rucker to see some snaps against Wisconsin, but Davis-Clark is the clear No. 1 heading into Madison. At the other corner, opposite Davis-Clark, Jeremy Ware and Ross Weaver remain listed as co-No. 1’s.

The outside linebackers are being reshuffled, too. Eric Gordon, Greg Jones and Brandon Denson were the No. 1’s at the strong, middle and weak side LB positions last week. This week Gordon slides over to replace Denson on the weak side, while Chris Norman gets the nod on the strong side.

The “or” is ubiquitous on the offensive side of the ball; all evidence to the contrary aside, Keith Nichol remains listed alongside Kirk Cousins as the No. 1 QB, B.J. Cunningham and Mark Dell are an either-or at the X-wideout slot, and Larry Caper and Caulton Ray are listed together as the No. 1 tailback. The chart doesn’t give many clues as to the status of the injuries to center Joel Nitchman or left guard Joel Foreman, either; both players are listed as co-No. 1’s at their positions with John Stipek and Ethan Ruhland, respectively.

The changes are a mixed bag — I’m glad to see a message sent to the defense that guys need to make plays to stay on the field and I’m pleased to see Larry Caper continue to move up the depth chart, but I’m disappointed that Mark Dantonio still refuses to name a clear No. 1 at quarterback. A quarter of the season is in the books and there is a clear separation between the two players’ on-field performance. It’s time to hand Kirk Cousins the reins for a few games and see where he leads this team.

Lots will open at 7; plan your tailgate accordingly — mimosas, bloody marys and Irish coffee for the faint of heart who prefer not to crack a beer at 7:05 am.

I’d certainly prefer a 3:30 start, but hey, if everything comes together on the field, there are worse ways to spend a fall afternoon than a post-game tailgate celebrating an MSU victory.

Gordon’s job was to bump Floyd off his route and disrupt the timing of the play, and there certainly should have been safety help deep to the right side of the field, especially given that ND overloaded that side of the field with three receivers, none of whom broke to the middle. I’d love to see a wider angle of the play to get an idea  of what may have delayed Trenton Robinson from getting over to pick up the coverage; unfortunately, I think he was just late.

Regardless of blame, expect more five-wide sets from opposing offensive coordinators looking to exploit linebackers in coverage, at least until such time as Pat Narduzzi starts mixing in more nickel coverage.

Painful, huh?

First of all, that was a great football game. It went back and forth. I’m very proud of our football team coming back, continuing to play extremely hard. We came down here focused and played with a lot of energy. I don’t want any of our players to hang their heads. – Mark Dantonio

A good friend of mine is a Central Michigan grad and a classic subway alum of Notre Dame, having inherited his allegiance to the Irish from his dad, who grew up in Chicago in an era when damn near everybody in Chicago was Notre Dame fan.

On Wednesday he asked me what I thought the Spartans’ chances were given their disappointing performance last week against the Chips, and I told him that I thought that this might be the year that the Irish finally end Michigan State’s recent domination of the series at Notre Dame Stadium. “But you never know,” I added. “Worse Michigan State teams have beaten better Notre Dame teams.”

With recent MSU v. ND history in mind, picking either team to win in a blowout never makes much sense. Yesterday was just another in a series of nailbiters: eight of the last ten games between these two programs has been decided by seven points or less. Home field advantage has been negligible, with the home team winning the last two games and the road team winning the previous seven. And there have been tremendous moments for both schools, from Smoker-to-Haygood for MSU in 2000 to Kyle McCarthy’s game-saving interception for ND with less than a minute to play yesterday; from Jason Teague’s game-winning touchdown for MSU in 2005 to the unbelievable fourth quarter Irish comeback led by Brady Quinn in a downpour in East Lansing in 2006.

The Notre Dame game is the game that I look forward to most each season, and while the result yesterday was disappointing, the continued quality of the series was not. I can’t wait for the rematch at Spartan Stadium next season.

A quarterback is judged by wins and losses and how he plays at crunch time. And right now I’m 1-2 as a starter and I made a critical error at crunch time. — Kirk Cousins, via Joe Rexrode

That’s pretty good self awareness from a kid who played his butt off yesterday, but fell short with an opportunity to be a hero. The good news is that he seems like the kind of player who will learn from mistakes like these. He’s only a sophomore; he’s got time to grow, and he’s still in possession of a career completion percentage above 70. And, for what it’s worth, as Rexrode points out in the piece linked above, Cousins manned up and handled himself well with the media after the game. Only time will tell if he has the talent to lead the MSU program to glory, but it certainly seems as if he has the backbone.

That said, the thing that has driven me nuts through the years as a Spartan fan are the squandered opportunities. Sometimes the opportunity is a single game, such as the 2004 loss to Michigan, and sometimes the opportunity is something much bigger, such as the back-to-back losses to Purdue and Wisconsin in 1999 which prevented a very good season from being truly great.

Sometimes a missed opportunity is just one play. One game-changing play. And sometimes, like yesterday, there are a bunch: a missed extra point; a missed tackle; a dropped interception; an overthrown receiver, wide open in end zone. Individual plays, any of which could have swung the final outcome in the opposite direction, adding up over the course of sixty minutes of football, finally too much to overcome.

“There were positives to take out of this. We moved the ball better than last week. We showed we can play with a lot of teams.” — Mark Dell, via the LSJ

Dell is right — there were definitely positives in this game, not the least of which was the way that the team answered the bell following last week’s stunning loss to CMU. Not only did they answer the bell, they kept coming after Notre Dame, fighting, right up until McCarthy’s back-breaking interception.

The MSU offense is clearly more productive through the air than on the ground this season, and the receiving corps took a big step forward yesterday.  Blair White continued to be a dependable target, grabbing six passes for 75 yards and two touchdowns. Dell was a welcome addition in his first game action of the season, catching six passes for 121 yards after sitting out the Montana State and CMU games with an injured shoulder. And B.J. Cunningham nabbed seven balls for 74 yards, including a beautiful grab on a tipped pass to keep the final MSU drive alive.

Tight ends Brian Linthicum and Charlie Gantt were solid once again. Linthicum had three catches for 34 yards on the day, including two catches for  first-downs on the Spartans’ final drive. Gantt caught two balls for 34 yards. I still think that the TE group is going to be a huge asset for this team, and I hope to see them become an even bigger part of the offensive game plan going forward.

As I said last week, I’m of the opinion that we, irrefutably and unquestionably, have found a quarterback in Kirk Cousins. And not just a “starting” quarterback who shares snaps with Keith Nichol in a two-QB system. A quarterback. Period, end of story. Let’s hope that the coaching staff sees it the same way next weekend in Madison, because the two-quarterback system is not working. Is. Not. Working.

Larry Caper continued to emerge at tailback against the Irish, gaining 51 yards on 12 carries and showing a nose for the end zone with two touchdown runs. Regardless of what the depth chart might say, he’s Michigan State’s best running back at the moment. Edwin Baker sat out once again, and you have to assume that questions regarding the possibility of a redshirt will be raised this week.

Defensively, plenty of questions remain. Yesterday was not Chris L. Rucker’s best day, from the dropped interception to the dubious block in the back on a punt return to at least one missed tackle on which Golden Tate simply made him look silly. But keep in mind, all throughout camp we kept hearing Pat Narduzzi talk about how talented and deep this secondary is. Well, for the second week in a row, the secondary got torched. And for the second week in a row, Narduzzi stubbornly stayed in his base 4-3 in obvious passing situations.

A coach’s job is to put his players in the best position possible to be effective. Narduzzi claims he has good players. You do the math. I’m certainly not calling for Narduzzi’s job, and it wouldn’t matter one iota if I did; I’m just sayin’, I’d like to see some adjustments beyond moving Greg Jones all over the field and hoping that he can carry the defense.

Nickel package, Pat. Give it some thought. Please.

“I continue to say this over and over. This is a game of inches here. We made some plays, but we also left plays on the field. We can’t do that against a good football team.” — Mark Dantonio

Michigan State played a pretty good football game yesterday. Unfortunately, when you’re thin at key positions and youthful at others, and when your talent level is more blue collar than blue blood, the margin of error is such that pretty good football isn’t always enough to win. The Irish have four or five guys amongst their starting offense and defense who will eventually be first or second round NFL draft picks. The Spartans don’t have the luxury of that kind of talent. So when the opposing quarterback hits you right between the numbers, you’ve got to catch the football. When you’ve got the opposing defense on the ropes and your tailback slips into the corner of the end zone uncovered, you’ve got to make that throw. When you line up for an extra point, you can’t give that point away, because these games can be won and lost by the narrowest of margins.

Inches make plays, plays make drives, drives make games and games make seasons.

This season isn’t lost — at least not yet. Here’s hoping the Spartans are able to get back on track, one inch at a time, against Wisconsin next weekend.

The Badgers are going to be looking for revenge after losing a heartbreaker on a Brett Swenson field goal in the closing moments of the game last season in Spartan Stadium; the Spartans are going to be feeling the weight of a slow start on the heels of lofty preseason expectations.

2008 was great, but it’s over. It’s time for the ‘09 Spartans to define themselves, for better or worse. The next two weeks will tell the tale of the season.

Must win? Damn right.

Sometimes you lose to a team that everyone expects you to beat, and when you do, you’d better make damn sure not to let it put your entire season in a tailspin, lest the three-letter acronym that haunted Bobby Williams and John L. Smith be resurrected by the critics: SOS (same ol’ Spartans).

In the end, it’s time for us to just circle the wagons. It’s been nice around here and everyone has been saying nice things about us – but now there will be people critical of us so the main thing we have to do is focus. –Mark Dantonio

OK, work with me here. Try to forget, for just a moment, that the Spartans just lost (again) to Central Michigan.

Don’t put this exercise off — if you wait until you get back to the office on Monday, there will be a whole gaggle of unsavory folks (CMU grads, Michigan fans, etc.) who are going to make it their business to ensure that you won’t be able to forget about what happened yesterday anytime soon.

So, again, forget the outcome. Take the emotion out of it. Just think about the way the Spartans played against Central. Think about, and honestly evaluate, what you saw out of the offensive line, the wideouts, the running backs, the quarterbacks, the defensive line, the secondary, and the special teams.

There’s an old college football adage that says that teams improve the most between their first and second games. Given the stark difference in talent between CMU and Montana State, it’s obviously very difficult to get a gauge on how much the Spartans improved over the course of the week. So instead of asking what they did better against the Chips than they did against the Bobcats, ask this question: what did they do well?

The answer is, unfortunately, not much.

Offense

Kirk Cousins played well, completing 13-18 passes for 164 yards and one touchdown. When CMU tied the game at 20 early in the fourth quarter Cousins responded by marching the Spartans 80 yards in six minutes, 51 seconds on a drive that culminated with a seven-yard touchdown pass to B.J. Cunningham.

Unfortunately, the wheels came off for the Spartan defense and special teams units following that drive, and Cousins and the offense never got the ball back.

What I am certain of is that the two-week game of musical chairs at the quarterback position has to stop. It’s time to pick a quarterback, turn the offense over to him, and let him play until his performance on the field warrants a change.

The Spartans scored points on two of the three drives directed by Cousins in the first quarter (although, in fairness, the field goal came on a four play, five yard “drive” that started on the CMU 32 yard line), and two of the three drives he directed in the second half. Keith Nichol played the second quarter; his first two drives were three-and-out. His third drive resulted in a nice 16-yard touchdown pass to tight end Charlie Gantt. His final drive gained 19 yards in six plays and resulted in a punt.

For now, I think, Cousins has earned the starting job. That’s not to say that Nichol won’t eventually earn his own shot, but rotating quarterbacks for the sake of rotating quarterbacks is rarely productive, and it prevents the offense from hitting a groove. The second quarter yesterday is a great example — those two three-and-outs came at a point in the game when the Spartans could have continued to put heat on Central. Instead, the Chip defense was able to catch its breath and gain some confidence.

Might the same thing have happened if Cousins played the second quarter? Sure. But the point is, why disrupt the flow of your offense? If you see that the defense is giving you something that favors the guy holding the clipboard, then put him in. If not, stick with the guy who is putting points on the board.

We have always said that we play on being a balanced team and we have to be able to establish the run as we go through the course of the game. There are little things that we can fix and try to make better and make some of those shorter runs into longer runs. — Don Treadwell

Three tailbacks carried the ball for MSU yesterday, led by Caulton Ray with 53 yards on 16 carries. Larry Caper gained 33 yards on 6 carries. Glenn Winston gained three yards on three carries, and Edwin Baker was absent from the rotation.

That’s 89 yards on 25 carries for a per-carry average of 3.56 yards for the tailbacks on the day. That’s not Michigan State football.

It’s arguable that Caper looked a bit more explosive than Ray, but linebackers and safeties were on top of both so quickly due to a lack of push from the offensive line that it’s difficult to say who might emerge as the Spartans top rusher.

The offensive line’s struggles continued. Senior center Joel Nitchman didn’t play, and junior guard J’Michael Deane was dinged up in the first half. A thin unit was even thinner on Saturday, and while they were once again competent in pass protection, they’re just not showing the ability to moving the opposing defense off the line of scrimmage.

The MSU o-line averages 294 pounds per man; the CMU defensive line averages 264. Despite that, the o-line failed to create significant holes for the tailbacks. This is going to be an ongoing concern, and I’m going to obsess about it until I have a reason not to, so be prepared.

Defense

Dan LeFevour lit up the Michigan State defense for 328 yards and 3 touchdowns, completing 33 of 46 attempts. A week ago against Arizona he was limited to 108 yards passing; yesterday one receiver, Bryan Anderson, accounted for 120 yards receiving all on his own. Antonio Brown added ten catches for 71 yards, and eight other Chips caught passes, including LeFevour, who hauled in a 24 yard pass from Brown on a trick play in the first half.

The Spartan secondary, until further notice, is not as good as advertised coming out of fall camp. Not even close.

LeFevour was sacked three times and threw one interception, but it seems as if the only time the Spartans generate any kind of heat on opposing qb’s is in blitz packages. The defensive line just isn’t able to break through on its own.

The Chips passing attack was able to nickel-and-dime the Spartan defense all day, working underneath the coverage for four yards, seven yards, five yards, eight yards over and over, ad nauseum. There was no real rushing threat to speak of — CMU ran the ball for 86 yards on 29 attempts — and yet, the MSU defense could not account for the short passing game.

Linebacker Greg Jones, per usual, led the Spartans with 15 tackles. Trenton Robinson, Marcus Hyde and Brandon Denson all had nine tackles, and Chris L. Rucker had eight. All four of those guys are defensive backs, and the reason they had so many tackles is that the Spartan D as a whole could not keep the ball out of CMU’s receivers’ hands.

Also notable is that the Spartan defense surrendered four first downs to the Chips via penalties, including a fifteen yard personal foul for a late hit by Hyde on LeFevour that turned a third-and-eight into a first-and-ten on CMU’s drive to tie the game at 20.

On the day MSU committed eight infractions for 81 lost yards, including the offsides penalty on Andrew Aguila’s missed 47-yard field goal with 8 seconds left, after the Chips recovered a perfect onside kick while trailing 27-26.

Aguila got a second chance from 42 yards, and nailed it.

Lightning strikes thrice.

We are going to find out what kind of football team we have now and leadership is going to be huge. — Kirk Cousins

I’m sure that some folks were muttering “Same ol’ Spartans” on their way out of the stadium. I think it’s too early for that. There are ten games left, and this is the first time that a Mark Dantonio-coached Spartan team has really tripped up unexpectedly during his three-year tenure. A win next Saturday in South Bend will go a long way toward soothing jagged nerves.

But nothing seems as certain for the Spartans as it did a few weeks ago, does it?

Game Balls: Are you serious?

Injury Watch: Nitchman and Deane

Grades: Offense – B-; Defense – D; Special Teams – C

Misc.: A solid game wrap from Joe Rexrode, Howie Beardsley rightly points out that the Chips simply outplayed the Spartans, Drew Sharp asks three pretty reasonable questions about MSU in the wake of the loss, and CMU alum Terry Foster revels in the Chip victory.

Next Up: Notre Dame (1-1), coming off a thrilling, heartbreaking 38-34 loss to Michigan.

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.

Loved this quote, via Rexrode:

Dantonio said it would be “status quo,” which sounds like Cousins, but then he clarified. “It just means we reserve the right to do what we want to do,” he said. “Status quo, that’s what that means.”

None of this is shocking in the least of, course, but you’ve gotta write about something on Tuesday afternoon, so more power to Joe and Grinz for stoking the fires of the Great QB Debate of 2009.

I’ll have more on the depth chart once it’s posted on the official MSU site. Of particular interest is how the running backs are sorting out, where center Joel Nitchman is listed in light of his sprained knee, whether the receivers have been shuffled after Saturday’s drop-tastic performance, and whether any messages are sent to the defensive line in light of defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi’s concerns with Montana State’s meager success rushing the ball.

The Spartans have won the games they should under Dantonio, and they’ve lost the games they should have lost. That might not seem like much, but it’s a good place to start for a program which had been maddeningly, predictably unpredictable for so many years prior to Dantonio’s arrival in East Lansing.

The Spartans only led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter, but they were driving as the quarter wound down and extended the lead to 14-0 on the first play of the second quarter. By halftime the lead was 28-0, and both of MSU’s sophomore quarterbacks had thrown two touchdown passes. Lots of Spartan fans had conversations like this while standing in concession lines in the concourse at halftime:

Fan A: “Man, Kirk Cousins looked great. Really accurate and he puts the ball in spots where receivers don’t have to break their stride at all. Two touchdown passes in the first half; I thought he moved the team really well. I’m impressed.”

Fan B: “Yeah, but how about Keith Nichol? Did you see how well he moved outside the pocket on that touchdown pass to Dion Sims? And then he ran a great two-minute drill at the end of the half and threw another touchdown pass. How do you keep that kid off the field?”

The quarterback competition isn’t going to end anytime soon. Cousins ended up completing 10-17 passes for 183 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Nichol went 9-18 for 135 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in his first game action since 2007. I’ll give Cousins the slight nod simply because Nichol put the ball on the ground once, covering his own fumble in the second quarter. But the takeaway for the quarterback situation on the day is that both guys played the way a Big Ten starter should play against an FCS opponent.

At tailback, Caulton Ray showed why he is currently at the top of the depth chart, rushing the ball for 71 yards on 12 carries. Ray showed flashes of the ability to make people miss, as well as a willingness to stick his nose into the pile in short yardage situations. All in all, seven Spartan running backs touched the ball, posting 157 total yards on 36 attempts. Freshmen Larry Caper and Edwin Baker went 34 yards on 7 carries and 29 yards on 8 carries, respectively, as the coaching staff maintained a steady rotation at tailback, keeping fresh legs in the game all day.

The main area of concern continues to be the offensive line, followed closely by the propensity of Spartan receivers to drop the football. The gaping holes that we expected simply weren’t there, and I counted at least seven dropped passes on the day. Senior center Joel Nitchman left the game with a sprained knee in the second quarten. John Stipek and Ethan Ruhland filled in, but losing Nitchman for any length of time would  be a big loss for an already shaky unit.

Blair White had a huge day, catching nine passes for 162 yards and two touchdowns. He continues to be MSU’s most reliable wideout. If the play of Brian Linthicum and Dion Sims yesterday is any indication, the tight end position is going to be a big asset for the Spartans in 2009. Linthicum caught three passes for 26 yards and a touchdown, and Sims added two catches for 32 yards and a touchdown. Charlie Gantt had one catch for 15 yards, and all three blocked well. Look for all three TE’s to continue to emerge as favored targets for Spartan quarterbacks.

Defensively, the Bobcats just didn’t have enough talent to provide much of a test. The Spartan D yielded only 160 yards in total offense; Greg Jones predictably led the way with 14 tackles, 2.5 for a loss, and 1.5 sacks. Trevor Anderson split Jones’ second sack, and David Rolf added one of his own, to account for all three of MSU’s sacks on the day. The secondary lived up to to expectations and shut down the Bobcat passing attack, especially on third down, allowing Montana State to convert only twice on 14 attempts. All in all a good day for the D, although we’ll certainly learn a lot more next week when Central Michigan comes to town.

Game Balls: Blair White and Greg Jones

Injury Watch: Joel Nitchman’s strained knee is key; keep an eye on his progress throughout the week. Also notable is that WR Mark Dell did not play due to a shoulder injury.

Grades: Offense – B; Defense – B+; Special Teams – B.

Misc.: Official Stats; Quotes; Terry Foster on Keith Nichol; Chris Solari on the MSU running game; Steve Grinczel’s game story;  and The Only Colors with a game wrap.

Next up: The Central Michigan Chippewas, who lost to Arizona, 19-6, on Saturday night.

Finally, a few fuzzily focused pictures from Section 25: