Spartans vs Eastern Michigan Recap | Beautiful Day for Football

I sit in the north end zone, and both of Michigan State's first two offensive drives came my way:

The long MSU opening drive, ending with the normally sure-handed Javon Ringer's goal line fumble...

The Eastern 3 & out, and punt, which put MSU in business on Eastern's side of the 50...

Followed by an MSU 3 & out, and another punt...

I started to wonder if we were going to make it to halftime with Eastern's offense never crossing their own 35 and Michigan State scoring no points. It would appear that the Spartans were thinking the same thing, and decided to do something about it. A game that started curiously soon started heading toward a predictable ending.

I was very happy to see them deliberately establish the run, ecstatic that the dumb penalties were kept to a dull roar (though still there), and nodding pleasantly that the Dell/Cunningham receiving team continues to get the job done. Hoyer, it should be noted, also played well when asked to throw (which wasn't often, due to the run priority), and Cousins got some decent work time at QB. Otis Wiley continues to make big plays (this time returning punts), and Ringer's understudies also got chances to show their stuff.

The bottom line is that this was a butt-kicking of a team that Michigan State -- at this point -- should be able to kick around. Mission accomplished.

But there are worries...

Again, two squandered opportunities with outstanding field position. A reputation for being a rotten red-zone offense is coming faintly into view.

The defense allowed Eastern Michigan to put up 127 rushing yards on 4.5 yards per carry. This basically says not much has improved since Cal stung us for over 200. That needs to be fixed before the Big Ten season starts.

Eastern's passing stats will make it look as if MSU's pass defense held them in check. Unfortunately, a lot of this was Eastern's QB's throwing bad passes to open receivers. It should be noted, however, that MSU was playing with one backup safety all game.

Overall, I'd be inclined to say that little has changed from what I expected before the season began. The good surprises are cancelled out by the bad, leaving me still thinking this is a 7-5 or 8-4 ish team playing a tougher schedule.

However... as will become clear in my next post, I am beginning to have some doubts about the toughness of the schedule.

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