Michigan State Game Week

[vailhusker]

 

[vailhusker]

 

[vailhusker]

 

[vailhusker]

 

[vailhusker]

 

[vailhusker]

 

[theDankness]

LOL. This is peak Husker fan making 7-2 the possible floor now. Now they have great reason to freak out and bitch should NU drop any of the remaining games.

Nowhere does it say this is the floor?

It's fun to be optimistic my guy, were posting on a message board for a team of kid who can't legally drink. Might as well have fun and hope for the best while were at it

 

[Eaton Beaver]

Ordered some of these awhile back and they were a hit at the airport when I traveled to Georgia this passed week.

 

[cwessel76]

I really like listening to Jake Butt on the broadcasts.

 

[Irv]

 

[Huskerforlife]

Ask the Expert: Michigan State writer offers takes and prediction for Saturday​

by Grant Hansen • about 10 hours


Nebraska football has another major road opportunity on Saturday at Michigan State.

Ahead of the Huskers’ trip to East Lansing, HuskerOnline spoke with Paul Konyndyk of SpartanMag to get his thoughts on this weekend’s game. Konyndyk broke down Harlon Barnett’s performance as the interim head coach, the Spartan’s quarterback situation and of course gave his prediction for Saturday’s game.

Here’s more on a 2-6 team that Konyndyk said has plenty of gas left in the tank.

1. Where is this Michigan State team at mentally right now?​

I would say the fight of the team is pretty high. Every time they get knocked down, they keep on getting back up. At this time of the year based on what I’ve seen so far, I expect them to keep getting back up.

The big question for me is whether or not they have the personnel to keep stopping the run and doing what they need to do to win games. It’s really interesting that this team has lost by huge margins to top-10 teams, against Michigan and against Washington, but every other team, even in ones that look like the score is a bit lopsided, they’ve been right there and they had a chance to win in the fourth quarter.

They’re doing a lot of things that they need to to be in a position to win. It’s just one of those years where they can’t finish and I think Nebraska fans are going to understand what that’s all about. There’s a lot of parallels between these two teams.

The guys that are still in the program and the guys that are still competing are doing so at a high level, I just think there’s a mental hitch in a lot of ways. It seems like every time they’re in position to win games there’s some sort of breakdown, mistake or something bad happens whether it’s an inexplicable punt return or there’s a penalty like in the Buttgers game.

Attitude wise, these guys are all in. I think we’ve seen that over and over again. The problem is that they’re starting to get really thin depth wise which makes them pretty susceptible against a team that runs the ball effectively.

2. Has Harlon Barnett done a good job of holding this together?​

He’s done a great job. He’s an awesome dude. I’ve been around him for a long time going back to when he came in with Mark Dantonio. Harlon Burnett is an extremely hard working person but he’s also a guy who has a ton of energy.

I think one of the things that sets him apart as an assistant coach is that he’s a dude that has the ability to make people feel like they’re the best player in the world.

I know that sounds kinda cliché and corny, but guys who play for him tend to get better. He’s got a really positive energy about him and if you’re working hard and doing the right things, he has your back and the players know that. I think the same thing is true of the coaches that are there.

I don’t think there’s anybody that could have done better than him as far as holding the team together under really difficult circumstances.

If you look at the way Michigan State’s roster was assembled under Mel Tucker, it kind of became a mercenary program. It was very transactional where if guys didn’t perform well, they were kind of pushed in a direction to leave. There’s a ton of transfers in there and it doesn’t set up an environment where it’s easy to keep guys together.

I think Harlon Barnett has done a really good job and all the guys that are hold overs from the Dantonio era (I think 11 of the 22 starters last weekend were Dantonio guys) have done a really nice job of keeping people together.

3. Who are your top candidates for the next head coach at Michigan State?​

There’s been a lot of talk about the whole Urban Meyer thing. I think there’s maybe a bit more smoke there than maybe people realize nationally. There’s, I think, interest on both sides there.

They’d have to pay him a huge amount of money to come to Michigan State. That’s in the one basket.

On the other side, I think you’ve got to look at Mike Elko from Duke who’s been a guy that I think Michigan State’s really interested in. Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith is a guy that has done a lot with a little. Matt Campbell is a name that keeps on coming up.

I think Michigan State has the resources and the will to hire a top head coach. With the timing of Mel Tucker’s firing, I think they’ve been able to talk to the representation of a lot of different head coaches and gauge interest.

Michigan State fans are on the Urban Meyer bandwagon, they really want that to happen. But, there are a lot of other interesting candidates out there.

4. Where would this offense be without transfer running back Nathan Carter?​

I don’t know, it’s interesting. Kenneth Walker III was a fantastic transfer running back. I think Nate Carter is a good transfer running back but I wouldn’t put him on that Kenneth Walker level.

The question for me with the run game has always been not what Nate Carter can and can’t do, it’s what Michigan State’s run-game operation is capable of. These guys in some games have done a decent job and in other games you’ve got ten guys blocking well and one guy not. There’s been some issues at times with tight ends that aren’t pulling their weight. There’s been a little bit of musical chairs with guys shuffling in and out of the lineup as some guys have gotten hurt.

Carter has done a lot better than I thought he would coming in. Just looking at his film at UConn, I thought he was good but not great. When I look at him now I see a guy that’s really taking advantage of all the extra resources available to him in the Michigan State program. I think he runs very hard and he does it despite some bumps and bruises.

I think the question that nobody wants to find out is what happens if Nate Carter is not available because Michigan State doesn’t have running back depth at all.

5. What are the differences between quarterbacks Katin Houser and Sam Leavitt?​

Let’s start with Katin Houser. I think he’s a good young quarterback.

He started off pretty good against Buttgers and actually had a really good game in his first career start. Then he got destroyed by Michigan and it wasn’t an easy game. He does a pretty good job with accuracy but I think right now he gets a little bit rattled against a good pass rush. I think he doesn’t always have the trust in his guys to get 50-50 balls.

At times, I wonder if he’s looking over his shoulder at Sam Leavitt and is afraid to make mistakes. He does a lot of things good but nothing great.

Leavitt is a big kid with a ton of athleticism. He’s got a really strong arm, he can throw from different angles and does bring something to the table in terms of an ability to scramble and do designed runs. He’s a physical kid and has a lot of enthusiasm.

This offense is a little bit tough sometimes in that the quarterback has a lot on his shoulders. He’s got to make good checks at the line of scrimmage.

I’m not sure that Leavitt has been here long enough to make the nuanced checks you need to make. Not that Houser is ahead of him, he’s a redshirt freshman so these are both young quarterbacks.

I’m not sure what’s going to happen this weekend. I kinda think there’s a chance Leavitt might play more than people realize.

6. What’s the Spartan path to victory on Saturday?​

The No. 1 thing for Michigan State in this game is that they need to be able to run the football. I mentioned earlier that they don’t have a quarterback that can do this thing on his own. They don’t have the skill players that are going to be huge mismatch guys. So they have to at least present the threat of a run so they can get the receivers going.

That’s going to put a lot on the offensive line and a lot on the run-game operation. Nate Carter needs a big game. But if Michigan State can’t run for 150 yards or 200 yards in this game I just don’t see them being competitive.

They also have to take advantage of situations when they present themselves. Last week against Minnesota, they forced two turnovers and two redzone opportunities in the first quarter and came away with six points. That can’t happen.

7. What’s your final take and score prediction for Saturday’s game?​

Michigan State’s going to come out and try to do something for their seniors.

There’s a lot of guys on this team that have been through a lot going all the way back to the Dantonio era. They started out going to a bowl game. They won a New Years Six bowl game a couple of years ago and there’s going to be a big push to win games for their seniors.

I think Michigan State is going to play with a lot of fire early. The defense is going to be ready to stop the run.

Whether they can contain whatever quarterback threat there is in addition to that I don’t know.

To me, this feels like a game they’ve had in a lot of other games. This game is going to be close for three quarters. I think Michigan State is going to make mistakes, whether it’s special teams errors or a warn down defense and I think it’s going to go Nebraska’s way.

Score Prediction: Nebraska 35, Michigan State 24​

 

[Fargo Husker]

Score Prediction: Nebraska 35, Michigan State 24

I would be SHOCKED if this was the final score. Way too many points.

 

[cwessel76]

I would be SHOCKED if this was the final score. Way too many points.

I’ve got 24-10 good guys.

 

[Mavsker]

Man Sipple is so damn annoying. I tried listening to the first segment of Early Break and probably 75% of his responses are just him grunting "Oooh" into the mic. Bill Busch was talking about how this World Series was one of the lowest rated of all time and Sip did his "Oooh" grunt at least six times in 30 seconds. Skipped ahead three minutes and his next two responses were two more Oooh grunts.

 

[Pipe Line]

Fuckin dammit if Urban goes to Sparty

 

[Kazman5k]

No way there get urbs

 

[Jim14510]

That's good news.

 

[Irv]

Man Sipple is so damn annoying. I tried listening to the first segment of Early Break and probably 75% of his responses are just him grunting "Oooh" into the mic. Bill Busch was talking about how this World Series was one of the lowest rated of all time and Sip did his "Oooh" grunt at least six times in 30 seconds. Skipped ahead three minutes and his next two responses were two more Oooh grunts.

He says more with a grunt than most people do with a paragraph. Lots of nuance.

 

[cwessel76]

Man Sipple is so damn annoying. I tried listening to the first segment of Early Break and probably 75% of his responses are just him grunting "Oooh" into the mic. Bill Busch was talking about how this World Series was one of the lowest rated of all time and Sip did his "Oooh" grunt at least six times in 30 seconds. Skipped ahead three minutes and his next two responses were two more Oooh grunts.

Are we sure he wasn’t beating his meat under the desk?

 

[Jim14510]

Man Sipple is so damn annoying. I tried listening to the first segment of Early Break and probably 75% of his responses are just him grunting "Oooh" into the mic. Bill Busch was talking about how this World Series was one of the lowest rated of all time and Sip did his "Oooh" grunt at least six times in 30 seconds. Skipped ahead three minutes and his next two responses were two more Oooh grunts.

Drives me nuts too. They should turn his microphone off when someone else is talking.