UGLY, SHOCKING, UNBELIEVABLE. Still saying that after watching it again. I haven't read a ton of posts, but the general feeling is we were outcoached and out hustled. The broadcasters were saying we were being dominated at the LOS and it seemed like it might be true at the time...
But it wasn't. I think our OL and DL were better. MSU made a few plays and nobody did for us.
This game answered why Speight was the starter over O'Korn. I think we saw JOKs ceiling last week vs. Purdue. We might have seen his floor this week. He was bad. Even some of his good was actually bad. I don't think he made a second read the entire game. He pulled the ball down too quickly. He was inaccurate at times. On a positive note: he is a great actor and probably got two calls against Sparty. Of course there was the sideline one, but also after the first INT when Panusiak "ran him over" it looked to me like he kinda pulled him over the top to draw the flag.
So do we go to Peters? IDK, nobody wanted to believe Harbaugh when he stuck with Speight. Maybe we should believe him now? The problem is that there's no upside in playing a fifth year senior like O'Korn if he isn't at least moderately proficient. Peters, at least, can gain some experience and grow, right? I thought O'Korn had turned a coner, looking good against Purdue. But that was against Purdue.
Anyway, I'm sure that is a dead horse by now. But I think JOK should be on a very short leash....
Another positive....the OL play was actually the best it has been all year. Sounds crazy? Maybe a little, but it's not such a great accomplishment based on previous play anyway. But that first drive was a nice exhibit of grind it out, 3 yards at a time, power football. The first drive had a rushed incompletion to Hill followed by a strong run by Evans for 6. JOK got away with squeezeing a third down throw between defenders to move the chains. Then we went on a run of 10 consecutive positive plays (9 runs between 2 and 8 yards and a five yard completion to Bunting...which might have been better thrown to DPJ a half second later on a slant that could have scored, btw). Then we called 2 fades....not exactly. The first was a bad decision by JOK throwing the out and up to a well covered McKeon. JOK picks his receiver in the huddle, it appears. I think there were 2 better options inside. The second fade to McDoom was also well covered and I didn't think there was anybody more open. But why have our smallest WR run a fade on a short field? I don't think it was a bad call, but different personnel makes sense to me....JOK had a ton of time on both plays, btw.
On the second drive, the reverse to DPJ might have been a TD if JOK blocks the end instead of half assing the play fake. He was 5 yards outside of the end by the time he got back into the play and the end forces DPJ inside for a 6 yard gain. Evans had no problem picking up the first down on 2nd and 4. Then the infamous Isaac fumble...inexcusable, lazy, unbelievable. On a side note, TWJ is a helluva blocker. He destroyed at least 3 sparties on crack back and in line blocking. But on the fumble, he has an angle on LB Bachie, but lets him bounce back outside after initial contact and causes the fumble. A little better technique from Wheatley and Isaac gains at least 10 and probably does not fumble....But on the first 2 drives, we had 12 positive running plays and O'Korn had not been "really" pressured at all.
We still played championship defense, but allowing Sparty down the field after the turnover was disappointing. We had 2 bad drives against. One was 53 yards after the fumble. Three key plays on the short drive. One involved Mone getting knocked back by a double team allowing a 16 yard scamper by Holmes. The second was an unsportsmanlike call against Bush negating a TFL by Hurst that would have set up a 3rd and 4. The third was losing track of Lewerke on the TD scramble. Without the bad call against Bush, they probably need to attempt a FG and momentum is probably neutralized.
Instead we give up the TD and fail to take a knee on the kickoff and get tackled a full first down from the 25 yard line. Higdon gains a couple yards on first. JOK has all day on 2nd and 3rd down. He tries to make a perfect pass to Gentry that is easily knocked away instead of hitting Higdon for 5 in the flat. Then he has all day, but chooses to throw short to Mcdoom, who was well covered and fails to get the first down. I know it seems like I'm being really hard on JOK, but I just don't understand why he doesn't pull it down there. McDoom had no chance to make a play.
I'll stop with the play-by-play there and move on....
Penalties 7/53 yards...I missed one of them, but 5 of the other 6 had a theme
1. Bush Unsportsmanlike Conduct...bullshit...Or at least call the coinciding penalty on Allen who slugs Bush in the neck/back. Also call OL Carpenter on the previous play for hitting Bush after the whistle. Or Willis hitting Crawford after the whistle on the previously possession. Layne squared up and took a shot at a receiver after the whistle, too.
2. Metellus PI on slant route...bullshit...perfectly defended and a tick tack call. Otherwise, Layne had 2 PIs...one on McKeon on the fade and again on DPJ. I thought those were well defended, but if you call it on Metellus, you have to call it on Sparty.
3. Higdon hold negating TD...again, bullshit. That "grab" was less than a second...if we call those there is no game left because EVERY FRICKIN PLAY has that type of hold.
4. Offside...I think they called it on Gary, but Hurst and Bush were both pushing the line,...but, BULLSHIT!,..I ran super slo motion on that and the ref reacted to movement, but all three were on the correct side of the neutral zone. That 5 yards might have been the only way MSU gets a fist down in the second half.
5. Cole, holding....COMPLETE BULLSHIT! I guess over dominating a LB and putting him on his back is a penalty now..
6.Delay of Game....a legit penalty and another mistake...late...by O'Korn.
For the record, MSU had a couple bad calls against them as well including the hold at the end which was really just Metellus getting rolled by an OL. But the Bush call contributed to a TD and the Higdon call negated a TD.
Turnovers 5, Force TOs 0.
Another dead horse, but it is amazing that MSU muffed a punt that bounced right back to the returner on the second bounce. Lewerke turfed it on 4th down and recovered it, even though it didn't matter. And the fumble/scramble/roll over the OL and a defender play pretty much summed up which way the bounces were going.
Dropped Passes 4.
Hill dropped two, though the first play of the game was a difficult catch. Perry made a horrible effort after a strong scramble by O'Korn and the pass bounced off one hand when two could have been used. McDoom's drop was a complete joke.
MSU dropped one pass that counted. Another was dropped by a guy illegally down field.
OVERALL
Another tremendous defensive effort. 135 of MSU's 252 yards were off of 6 plays. 6 times, the offense beat the defense.
1. Mone is pushed back on a double team resulting in an 16 yard scatter by Holmes.
2 Defense (McCray?) lost track of Lewerke on the 14 yd. TD scramble.
3. Stewart jet sweep for 10.
4. Stewart catches a tip passed for 30 yards. Watson was right in position, but 3 inches shorter.
5. London 16 yard screen pass.
6. Hurst gets pushed back badly on 50 yard run by London. Mone and McCray did a good job of squeezing the space, but the hole vacated by Hurst was too big and London had just enough space to take advantage.
I don't see where we were outcoached or outhustled. I think we were better at the point of attack. We didn't make ANY big plays on offense or defense. Our QB is not very good, which is frustrating after 3 years. Our defense is fantastic and will keep us competitive in every game. Our offense will not blow anybody out. But I think our OL is getting better. The 4 sacks were more on O'Korn, imo, holding the ball too long and missing the outlet routes. RT was beaten 2 or 3 times....is that acceptable or do we try Bredeson out there? Where was Runyan? Was Ulizio benched, rotated, or injured?
This season is what it is...Our ceiling is still only a one loss team but we need to get better offensively or at least start making a play in the coming weeks. They will inevitably be high anxiety, nail-biters.
If we play like we did against Florida, I think we can run the table. If we play like we did Saturday, we might be struggling for a bowl bid...it was that bad. But hopefully, it's not the real us.
EDIT: I just read Balas's article....i think we are on the same page. Lol
But it wasn't. I think our OL and DL were better. MSU made a few plays and nobody did for us.
This game answered why Speight was the starter over O'Korn. I think we saw JOKs ceiling last week vs. Purdue. We might have seen his floor this week. He was bad. Even some of his good was actually bad. I don't think he made a second read the entire game. He pulled the ball down too quickly. He was inaccurate at times. On a positive note: he is a great actor and probably got two calls against Sparty. Of course there was the sideline one, but also after the first INT when Panusiak "ran him over" it looked to me like he kinda pulled him over the top to draw the flag.
So do we go to Peters? IDK, nobody wanted to believe Harbaugh when he stuck with Speight. Maybe we should believe him now? The problem is that there's no upside in playing a fifth year senior like O'Korn if he isn't at least moderately proficient. Peters, at least, can gain some experience and grow, right? I thought O'Korn had turned a coner, looking good against Purdue. But that was against Purdue.
Anyway, I'm sure that is a dead horse by now. But I think JOK should be on a very short leash....
Another positive....the OL play was actually the best it has been all year. Sounds crazy? Maybe a little, but it's not such a great accomplishment based on previous play anyway. But that first drive was a nice exhibit of grind it out, 3 yards at a time, power football. The first drive had a rushed incompletion to Hill followed by a strong run by Evans for 6. JOK got away with squeezeing a third down throw between defenders to move the chains. Then we went on a run of 10 consecutive positive plays (9 runs between 2 and 8 yards and a five yard completion to Bunting...which might have been better thrown to DPJ a half second later on a slant that could have scored, btw). Then we called 2 fades....not exactly. The first was a bad decision by JOK throwing the out and up to a well covered McKeon. JOK picks his receiver in the huddle, it appears. I think there were 2 better options inside. The second fade to McDoom was also well covered and I didn't think there was anybody more open. But why have our smallest WR run a fade on a short field? I don't think it was a bad call, but different personnel makes sense to me....JOK had a ton of time on both plays, btw.
On the second drive, the reverse to DPJ might have been a TD if JOK blocks the end instead of half assing the play fake. He was 5 yards outside of the end by the time he got back into the play and the end forces DPJ inside for a 6 yard gain. Evans had no problem picking up the first down on 2nd and 4. Then the infamous Isaac fumble...inexcusable, lazy, unbelievable. On a side note, TWJ is a helluva blocker. He destroyed at least 3 sparties on crack back and in line blocking. But on the fumble, he has an angle on LB Bachie, but lets him bounce back outside after initial contact and causes the fumble. A little better technique from Wheatley and Isaac gains at least 10 and probably does not fumble....But on the first 2 drives, we had 12 positive running plays and O'Korn had not been "really" pressured at all.
We still played championship defense, but allowing Sparty down the field after the turnover was disappointing. We had 2 bad drives against. One was 53 yards after the fumble. Three key plays on the short drive. One involved Mone getting knocked back by a double team allowing a 16 yard scamper by Holmes. The second was an unsportsmanlike call against Bush negating a TFL by Hurst that would have set up a 3rd and 4. The third was losing track of Lewerke on the TD scramble. Without the bad call against Bush, they probably need to attempt a FG and momentum is probably neutralized.
Instead we give up the TD and fail to take a knee on the kickoff and get tackled a full first down from the 25 yard line. Higdon gains a couple yards on first. JOK has all day on 2nd and 3rd down. He tries to make a perfect pass to Gentry that is easily knocked away instead of hitting Higdon for 5 in the flat. Then he has all day, but chooses to throw short to Mcdoom, who was well covered and fails to get the first down. I know it seems like I'm being really hard on JOK, but I just don't understand why he doesn't pull it down there. McDoom had no chance to make a play.
I'll stop with the play-by-play there and move on....
Penalties 7/53 yards...I missed one of them, but 5 of the other 6 had a theme
1. Bush Unsportsmanlike Conduct...bullshit...Or at least call the coinciding penalty on Allen who slugs Bush in the neck/back. Also call OL Carpenter on the previous play for hitting Bush after the whistle. Or Willis hitting Crawford after the whistle on the previously possession. Layne squared up and took a shot at a receiver after the whistle, too.
2. Metellus PI on slant route...bullshit...perfectly defended and a tick tack call. Otherwise, Layne had 2 PIs...one on McKeon on the fade and again on DPJ. I thought those were well defended, but if you call it on Metellus, you have to call it on Sparty.
3. Higdon hold negating TD...again, bullshit. That "grab" was less than a second...if we call those there is no game left because EVERY FRICKIN PLAY has that type of hold.
4. Offside...I think they called it on Gary, but Hurst and Bush were both pushing the line,...but, BULLSHIT!,..I ran super slo motion on that and the ref reacted to movement, but all three were on the correct side of the neutral zone. That 5 yards might have been the only way MSU gets a fist down in the second half.
5. Cole, holding....COMPLETE BULLSHIT! I guess over dominating a LB and putting him on his back is a penalty now..
6.Delay of Game....a legit penalty and another mistake...late...by O'Korn.
For the record, MSU had a couple bad calls against them as well including the hold at the end which was really just Metellus getting rolled by an OL. But the Bush call contributed to a TD and the Higdon call negated a TD.
Turnovers 5, Force TOs 0.
Another dead horse, but it is amazing that MSU muffed a punt that bounced right back to the returner on the second bounce. Lewerke turfed it on 4th down and recovered it, even though it didn't matter. And the fumble/scramble/roll over the OL and a defender play pretty much summed up which way the bounces were going.
Dropped Passes 4.
Hill dropped two, though the first play of the game was a difficult catch. Perry made a horrible effort after a strong scramble by O'Korn and the pass bounced off one hand when two could have been used. McDoom's drop was a complete joke.
MSU dropped one pass that counted. Another was dropped by a guy illegally down field.
OVERALL
Another tremendous defensive effort. 135 of MSU's 252 yards were off of 6 plays. 6 times, the offense beat the defense.
1. Mone is pushed back on a double team resulting in an 16 yard scatter by Holmes.
2 Defense (McCray?) lost track of Lewerke on the 14 yd. TD scramble.
3. Stewart jet sweep for 10.
4. Stewart catches a tip passed for 30 yards. Watson was right in position, but 3 inches shorter.
5. London 16 yard screen pass.
6. Hurst gets pushed back badly on 50 yard run by London. Mone and McCray did a good job of squeezing the space, but the hole vacated by Hurst was too big and London had just enough space to take advantage.
I don't see where we were outcoached or outhustled. I think we were better at the point of attack. We didn't make ANY big plays on offense or defense. Our QB is not very good, which is frustrating after 3 years. Our defense is fantastic and will keep us competitive in every game. Our offense will not blow anybody out. But I think our OL is getting better. The 4 sacks were more on O'Korn, imo, holding the ball too long and missing the outlet routes. RT was beaten 2 or 3 times....is that acceptable or do we try Bredeson out there? Where was Runyan? Was Ulizio benched, rotated, or injured?
This season is what it is...Our ceiling is still only a one loss team but we need to get better offensively or at least start making a play in the coming weeks. They will inevitably be high anxiety, nail-biters.
If we play like we did against Florida, I think we can run the table. If we play like we did Saturday, we might be struggling for a bowl bid...it was that bad. But hopefully, it's not the real us.
EDIT: I just read Balas's article....i think we are on the same page. Lol
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