ESPN picks Spartans to take next step in 2012

[johnny2x2x]

Michigan State Spartans lead teams that can take a leap in 2012 - CFB - ESPN

"After back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time in school history, one might think that Michigan State has already maxed out its potential. The Spartans will lose quarterback Kirk Cousins to the NFL draft along with leading receiver B.J. Cunningham and other key contributors. The schedule next year will be challenging. Surely, we can't expect the Spartans to keep this level of performance up, can we?

The last time Michigan State was on the doorstep of taking its program status to the next level, in 1999, head coach Nick Saban jumped to LSU. Like Saban, Dantonio is five years into his tenure, but he isn't going anywhere. And like Saban, Dantonio's teams are led by the defensive side of the ball.

The Spartans return plenty of starters in 2012 to a defense that ranked 10th nationally in forcing three-and-outs and held seven opponents to fewer than 20 points. Michigan State faced the third-toughest set of opponent offenses in the nation, according to our drive-based stats, and controlled field position with solid special teams play.

The biggest roadblock next year is the schedule, which includes non-conference games against the Boise State Broncos and Notre Dame Fighting Irish, plus back-to-back midseason road trips to play the Michigan Wolverines and Wisconsin Badgers. But it isn't as though any other Big Ten Legends contenders are in stellar program health. Michigan State can beat the Wolverines and Cornhuskers (two teams that currently rank behind the Spartans in PFEI) and get back to the Big Ten title game. "

 

[deathroh]

Their defense was top 10 already, not going to get much better, if at all. They lose almost their entire passing attack, and according to the article has a very tough schedule. I'm not seeing the recipe for a leap.

 

[johnny2x2x]

Their defense was top 10 already, not going to get much better, if at all. They lose almost their entire passing attack, and according to the article has a very tough schedule. I'm not seeing the recipe for a leap.

Better O line, better running game, better and deeper defense. And a ton of depth to mitigate the losses they do have.

State is not losing much at all on defense and should be better on paper there, they lose the QB, but they have a more highly regarded guy taking over in Maxwell who's the best QB recruit at State since Jeff Smoker. kid has a great arm. They return all 3 RBs and return 7 of their top 8 O linemen. Fowler, Sims, Liggett, Mumphrey, and Caesar have had a ton of reps with Maxwell in practice and they should be able to produce. The passing game wont be what it is this year, but with an improved O line and running game it wont have to be.

It's not always who you lose, but whether or not you've developed the depth to replace them and MSU will trot out more talent on offense than they did this year, just not as experienced at a few positions. As for the D, well, the Defense is going to be more talented and deeper than any MSU defense since the 60s.

We are catching Boise State in the right year and get ND, Nebraska, and OSU at home this time. Wisky and U of M both lose more from their teams than we do. Spartans will be better in 2012.

 

[dannydiggler]

Losing Cousins, Cunningham, Martin, Nichol and Linthicum should help.

 

[johnny2x2x]

Danny Diggler[/color]]Losing Cousins, Cunningham, Martin, Nichol and Linthicum should help.

The Yellow and Blue losing Hemingway, Odoms, Koger, Molk, Huyge, Watson, and Grady should help though. As will the Yellow and Blue losing the whole defensive line with no depth to replace them.

 

[mhughes0021]

Danny Diggler[/color]]Losing Cousins, Cunningham, Martin, Nichol and Linthicum should help.

The Yellow and Blue losing Hemingway, Odoms, Koger, Molk, Huyge, Watson, and Grady should help though. As will the Yellow and Blue losing the whole defensive line with no depth to replace them.

Was surprised they never got Grady into the offense...thought he had the most potential

 

[dannydiggler]

Danny Diggler[/color]]Losing Cousins, Cunningham, Martin, Nichol and Linthicum should help.

The Yellow and Blue losing Hemingway, Odoms, Koger, Molk, Huyge, Watson, and Grady should help though. As will the Yellow and Blue losing the whole defensive line with no depth to replace them.

Losing Hemingway and replacing him with Stonum.. Wash

Gallon out-performed Odoms

Koger hurts for sure

Molk definitely hurts but Khoury is an experienced backup and a beast.

Huyge was the weak spot of our oline and Schofield will and already has out performed him.

Watson and Grady never played...

Much easier transition for Michigan.

 

[dannydiggler]

And it's Maize and Blue jackass..

 

[wolverine304]

Difference between mich and msu is at qb. Msu qbs could turn out good, just don't know. Hopefully denard plays like he did in the last 2 games.

And his 400yrds of offense and 4tds vs va tech*

 

[johnny2x2x]

Danny Diggler[/color]]And it's Maize and Blue jackass..

Big Sister getting a little grumpy when confronted with the fact that 5 in a row is more likely than not and ESPN agrees?

Who's going to play on the Dline for Big Sister? Bunch of freshmen? Vandenberg, Heininger and Martin were the backbone of that defense this year. Hope your LBs like taking on pulling guards game after game because there is no D lineman on your roster who will require a double team. Is the fat man going to finally play up to his 5 stars at DT or is he going to continue to be a total zero?

 

[wolverine304]

Well we learned this year that talented freshman players can be good with hoke and mattison.

 

[dannydiggler]

Who's Vanderberg? Well Craig Roh, Jibreel Black are great players. Frank Clark got quite a bit of playing time and is a pure pass rusher. There will be improvement and no drop off there. Martin was a beast, he will be missed. Watch every single Michigan game and watch Will Cambell blow the ol off the ball. He'll have a coming out party next year with full pt. He has Hoke, Mattison and Montgomery's eyes on him every play in practice because all 3 are defensive line coaches. Richard Ash / Quinten Washington and Frosh Pipkens will all get their opportunity. 3/4 of those players are incredibly solid and everyone else is young and has time to learn. OH... Everyone returns in the back 7 as well. A year older and improved.

 

[deathroh]

Danny Diggler[/color]]Losing Cousins, Cunningham, Martin, Nichol and Linthicum should help.

The Yellow and Blue losing Hemingway, Odoms, Koger, Molk, Huyge, Watson, and Grady should help though. As will the Yellow and Blue losing the whole defensive line with no depth to replace them.

The 5 wr/te's you mentioned combined for 46 catches, 1,075 yards, 10 TD's. 50% or less than team totals for each stat. And as Marlo said, Stonum is back last year, his junior year totals were 49-633-4. I think we'll be all right.

The Kelly and Bronze on the other hand lose 70%+ in each category along with the guy actually throwing them the ball. Their leading returning WR had 2 catches for 39 yards. Enjoy that.

It's nice to have confidence in a QB that has 51 career pass attempts based on recruiting rankings, but it usually helps having someone to throw too. And sure, saying they'll have a better running game because everyone is back is nice in theory, but don't you think the threat of Martin and Cunningham had something to do with what little success MSU did have on the ground this year? And I do mean little...76th in the country, just a tick over 4ypc overall, and 11th out of 12 in Big Ten play is nothing to be thrilled about. You had better HOPE they improve.

 

[greenandwhite95]

Danny Diggler[/color]]

The Yellow and Blue losing Hemingway, Odoms, Koger, Molk, Huyge, Watson, and Grady should help though. As will the Yellow and Blue losing the whole defensive line with no depth to replace them.

Losing Hemingway and replacing him with Stonum.. Wash

Gallon out-performed Odoms

Koger hurts for sure

Molk definitely hurts but Khoury is an experienced backup and a beast.

Huyge was the weak spot of our oline and Schofield will and already has out performed him.

Watson and Grady never played...

Much easier transition for Michigan.

Losing Hemingway only hurts in experienced depth, IF Stonum can stay out of trouble he will fill the loss. Gallon is better that Odoms, no question. I have no idea who your TE will be, so you will have to rely on an unknown. I don't no where you get Rocko being an experienced backup, I didn't think he even played a game his year. Same with Schofield. If he was outperforming Huyge wouldn't he at least be playing ? I don't think I have seen him play either this year. You lose half of starters on the O-line and your TE. How is that an easier transition to us losing only Foreman off of our O-line ?

Sure we lose some skill positions but you never know how good someone is until they get PT. Look at Fitz this year. Over 1000 yrds while last year he had 89 on 10 carries. We both can say this about our teams next year. You have unknowns and so do we. We can only hypothesize what these unknowns will do next year.

 

[greenandwhite95]

Danny Diggler[/color]]Who's Vanderberg? Well Craig Roh, Jibreel Black are great players. Frank Clark got quite a bit of playing time and is a pure pass rusher. There will be improvement and no drop off there. Martin was a beast, he will be missed. Watch every single Michigan game and watch Will Cambell blow the ol off the ball. He'll have a coming out party next year with full pt. He has Hoke, Mattison and Montgomery's eyes on him every play in practice because all 3 are defensive line coaches. Richard Ash / Quinten Washington and Frosh Pipkens will all get their opportunity. 3/4 of those players are incredibly solid and everyone else is young and has time to learn. OH... Everyone returns in the back 7 as well. A year older and improved.

Clark only played in a handful of games and only had a few tackles. Big deal. You will miss Roh and Martin BIG. I think they lead your team in sacks and TCKLFL. Black will be good. He saw some PT this year and looked decent. I have no idea where you think you will have improvement and no drop off when you lose your 2 best players on the line and bring in guys with little to no experience. Come on man. Are you going to base this improvement on a player ( Campbell ) who has a dozen tackles in what, 3 years ? LOL. BTW, don't you lose Woolfolk next year ? I believe he was a starter until injury, right ?

 

[greenandwhite95]

The Yellow and Blue losing Hemingway, Odoms, Koger, Molk, Huyge, Watson, and Grady should help though. As will the Yellow and Blue losing the whole defensive line with no depth to replace them.

The 5 wr/te's you mentioned combined for 46 catches, 1,075 yards, 10 TD's. 50% or less than team totals for each stat. And as Marlo said, Stonum is back last year, his junior year totals were 49-633-4. I think we'll be all right.

The Kelly and Bronze on the other hand lose 70%+ in each category along with the guy actually throwing them the ball. Their leading returning WR had 2 catches for 39 yards. Enjoy that.

It's nice to have confidence in a QB that has 51 career pass attempts based on recruiting rankings, but it usually helps having someone to throw too. And sure, saying they'll have a better running game because everyone is back is nice in theory, but don't you think the threat of Martin and Cunningham had something to do with what little success MSU did have on the ground this year? And I do mean little...76th in the country, just a tick over 4ypc overall, and 11th out of 12 in Big Ten play is nothing to be thrilled about. You had better HOPE they improve.

I'm worried about WR, and I think many Spartan fans are as well, even if they won't admit it. Our run game didn't get better until Bell was named the stater but it still wont be good enough to help a first year starting QB and inexperienced WR core. It is comforting to know that we have coaches who are developing good WR's so hopefully these new guys can CATCH on fast. Like I said to MS, you never know what you got with players who haven't seen much PT until they get it. Example, Fitz ran for over 1000 this year and only 89 last year.

 

[dannydiggler]

Danny Diggler[/color]]Who's Vanderberg? Well Craig Roh, Jibreel Black are great players. Frank Clark got quite a bit of playing time and is a pure pass rusher. There will be improvement and no drop off there. Martin was a beast, he will be missed. Watch every single Michigan game and watch Will Cambell blow the ol off the ball. He'll have a coming out party next year with full pt. He has Hoke, Mattison and Montgomery's eyes on him every play in practice because all 3 are defensive line coaches. Richard Ash / Quinten Washington and Frosh Pipkens will all get their opportunity. 3/4 of those players are incredibly solid and everyone else is young and has time to learn. OH... Everyone returns in the back 7 as well. A year older and improved.

Clark only played in a handful of games and only had a few tackles. Big deal. You will miss Roh and Martin BIG. I think they lead your team in sacks and TCKLFL. Black will be good. He saw some PT this year and looked decent. I have no idea where you think you will have improvement and no drop off when you lose your 2 best players on the line and bring in guys with little to no experience. Come on man. Are you going to base this improvement on a player ( Campbell ) who has a dozen tackles in what, 3 years ? LOL. BTW, don't you lose Woolfolk next year ? I believe he was a starter until injury, right ?

Roh is a junior and will be back next season so there's that... Black played a ton probably 15-20 snaps a game and well I might add.

If you didn't watch Cambell play you have no say in this because he was in fact a force. Go back and watch him blow the olineman 5 yards off the ball every play.

Every Wolverine fan can tell you Woolfolk only got as much pt he got because his father was a legacy. Losing him does not hurt Michigan at all...Our two starting corners Countess and Floyd are back along with Avery at nickel. All with a ton of talent and exp.

Thomas Gordon started all but a few games at safety instead of Woolfolk and is much better. Remember that over the shoulder one handed pick in the endzone?

Oh....Kovacs is back too.

So basicly 8-11 starters are back. Two reserves are stepping into starting roles that got 10-20 snaps a game and will only improve..

It was cute the way you acted like you knew what the hell you were talking about..

 

[dannydiggler]

Danny Diggler[/color]]

Losing Hemingway and replacing him with Stonum.. Wash

Gallon out-performed Odoms

Koger hurts for sure

Molk definitely hurts but Khoury is an experienced backup and a beast.

Huyge was the weak spot of our oline and Schofield will and already has out performed him.

Watson and Grady never played...

Much easier transition for Michigan.

Losing Hemingway only hurts in experienced depth, IF Stonum can stay out of trouble he will fill the loss. Gallon is better that Odoms, no question. I have no idea who your TE will be, so you will have to rely on an unknown. I don't no where you get Rocko being an experienced backup, I didn't think he even played a game his year. Same with Schofield. If he was outperforming Huyge wouldn't he at least be playing ? I don't think I have seen him play either this year. You lose half of starters on the O-line and your TE. How is that an easier transition to us losing only Foreman off of our O-line ?

Sure we lose some skill positions but you never know how good someone is until they get PT. Look at Fitz this year. Over 1000 yrds while last year he had 89 on 10 carries. We both can say this about our teams next year. You have unknowns and so do we. We can only hypothesize what these unknowns will do next year.

Stonum knows he's on his last chance. He's a great player but a first class fuck up.

My math isn't great but 2 is not half of 5. Especially when its more like 1.. Schofield played all year long and has started 9 games lol.. He has played exceptionally well..But I'm sure you know what you're talking about too... Khoury didn't play this year bc Molk was healthy. Prior to this year he got a ton of pt and exp when he was down. Ricardo Miller has been putting on weight for two years to play TE and runs a 4.5 and has good hands. He's just undersized at this point. Brandon Moore played quite a bit this year at tight end but as a blocker. He'll be back next year.

 

[greenandwhite95]

Danny Diggler[/color]]

Clark only played in a handful of games and only had a few tackles. Big deal. You will miss Roh and Martin BIG. I think they lead your team in sacks and TCKLFL. Black will be good. He saw some PT this year and looked decent. I have no idea where you think you will have improvement and no drop off when you lose your 2 best players on the line and bring in guys with little to no experience. Come on man. Are you going to base this improvement on a player ( Campbell ) who has a dozen tackles in what, 3 years ? LOL. BTW, don't you lose Woolfolk next year ? I believe he was a starter until injury, right ?

Roh is a junior and will be back next season so there's that... Black played a ton probably 15-20 snaps a game and well I might add.

If you didn't watch Cambell play you have no say in this because he was in fact a force. Go back and watch him blow the olineman 5 yards off the ball every play.

Every Wolverine fan can tell you Woolfolk only got as much pt he got because his father was a legacy. Losing him does not hurt Michigan at all...Our two starting corners Countess and Floyd are back along with Avery at nickel. All with a ton of talent and exp.

Thomas Gordon started all but a few games at safety instead of Woolfolk and is much better. Remember that over the shoulder one handed pick in the endzone?

Oh....Kovacs is back too.

So basicly 8-11 starters are back. Two reserves are stepping into starting roles that got 10-20 snaps a game and will only improve..

It was cute the way you acted like you knew what the hell you were talking about..

First of all, I meant to say Van Bergen, not Roh. I believe he is one of your leaders on D. Secondly, about Campbell, HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHHHAHHAHA, are you kidding me. How can he be a force when he barely plays. Lastly, Black got 15-20 snaps a game for those 8 games he played in and got a whopping 17 tackles, oh boy, awesome.

So according to MS, this D has no drop off and will be improved, even though they lost their 2 best D-lineman and have to bring in guys who had limited to no game action. LOL, this isn't cute, this is a sad sad case of pure homerism. Good luck with that.

 

[greenandwhite95]

It's funny watching these UM homers on here try to downplay their loses next year saying they have even better backups, even though they are unproven, yet we are screwed because we have to use some players that are unproven ? Too fuckin funny. I think with a tough schedule and some growing pains, the yellow ( I think johnny struck a chord there, lol ) and blue will struggle next year, at least they wont have a year like this year.