Michigan St 31 California 38 (Final)

[Oneshot]

MSU looked like a team that is a year away still. They'll end up beating someone they shouldn't this year probably, but they won't be any better than the 5th or 6th place team in the Big Ten.....

Cal is in for a long year if they don't get their defense figured out. Figuring that USC is going to blast them either way, they still have to worry about ASU, Oregon and likely Stanford too (since Stanford seems to want to run the ball).....

Just got back from the game.

I thought Cal looked great. The switch to the 3-4 defense helped out a TON, and our defensive backs look very sharp. I'm extremely impressed with the improvement from last year.

Yes, we got beaten for a few big plays, which is never good, but if you watched last season, you'd know that this defense is lightyears ahead of last year's defense. I love the versatility the 3-4 brings us, and it certainly has helped our run game to have an NT in there. Also, there must have been some serious overhauling of "how to tackle 101," because last year we couldn't tackle a dummy.

And on offense, things are humming along fine.

Jahvid Best is an absolute monster. Kevin Riley is also a monster. Before the game, I really didn't like the decision to bench Longshore. In my opinion, benching a 3 year starter just isn't a good message to send to your team.

But lo and behold, Nate gets 2 possessions, and what does he do? Fucking int and pick 6. Unbelievable.

I have to disagree that this season is going to be a long one. If we play like this, with this intensity, I can see us being in the race for the Pac-10 Title.

 

[jwinslow]

I'd wait until facing a non-turnover machine under center before annointing the defense, but they did look good out there.

 

[SpartyOn]

Just got back from the game.

I thought Cal looked great. The switch to the 3-4 defense helped out a TON, and our defensive backs look very sharp. I'm extremely impressed with the improvement from last year.

Yes, we got beaten for a few big plays, which is never good, but if you watched last season, you'd know that this defense is lightyears ahead of last year's defense. I love the versatility the 3-4 brings us, and it certainly has helped our run game to have an NT in there. Also, there must have been some serious overhauling of "how to tackle 101," because last year we couldn't tackle a dummy.

And on offense, things are humming along fine.

Jahvid Best is an absolute monster. Kevin Riley is also a monster. Before the game, I really didn't like the decision to bench Longshore. In my opinion, benching a 3 year starter just isn't a good message to send to your team.

But lo and behold, Nate gets 2 possessions, and what does he do? [censored]ing int and pick 6. Unbelievable.

I have to disagree that this season is going to be a long one. If we play like this, with this intensity, I can see us being in the race for the Pac-10 Title.

You squeezed out a victory over a 4-6 place B10 team in MSU. I mean, it was a night game, the crowd was jacked, you were at home, and MSU committed a lot of mistakes. I don't know about you guys being in the Pac10 title race, unless the Pac10 is really weak this year. USC will likely crush that conference.

As for my Spartans, I think we're a 7-5 team. Probably 4-4 in the conference and finish 5th or something along those lines. The O-Line needs help, Hoyer needs to be able to play on the road, and our defense needs to stop falling for every play action pass. All in all, not a bad game to start the year for us. I think our team learned quite a bit and maybe grew up a bit.

 

[Dryden]

You squeezed out a victory over a 4-6 place B10 team in MSU. I mean, it was a night game, the crowd was jacked, you were at home, and MSU committed a lot of mistakes.

The mistakes were the most disappointing thing to see.

MSU looked like John L's Sparty in the first half, not Dantonio's.

 

[DaddyBigBucks]

The mistakes were the most disappointing thing to see.

MSU looked like John L's Sparty in the first half, not Dantonio's.

The difference is that they recovered and played better in the 2nd half. John L's teams folded like a card table when adversity struck.

 

[SpartyOn]

The mistakes were the most disappointing thing to see.

MSU looked like John L's Sparty in the first half, not Dantonio's.

We made those mistakes in the first half, on the road, against a jacked crowd.

Not at home during the 5th game of the B10 season.

That is the main difference.