MSU Football: Is it a complete loss? What can be salvaged from Saturday’s embarrassing debacle?
Spartan Nation, let’s be honest; it wasn’t pretty. Sure “it was only a 14 point loss. They were favored by 7 points and we had injuries!” signed: every Spartan Slappy. But if you know football, you know that score was NOT an accurate depiction of what happened in stormy, rainy, and snowy East Lansing on Saturday.
.@MSU_Football fans don't care about your weather delay. pic.twitter.com/6IvN5RDBtb
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 20, 2018
15 yards total rushing, 0 for 12 on third down. These are not winning statistics. These are not what you’re looking for in arguably the biggest game left on the schedule. Dave Warner, Jim Bollman, and Mark Staten need to do BETTER. Sure losing a stud like Felton Davis that early on is a big blow. They were also without Cody White, among others. But these are problems every single team faces all year long. This is college football, things change on a dime. What determines whether a program is good, great, or elite is HOW they deal with adversity. So, how do they fix it? Great question.
post game stats from EL pic.twitter.com/Nt4yruwIXf
— Michigan State Football (@MSU_Football) October 20, 2018
Mark Dantonio needs to tighten the reins and right this ship quickly. Whether that means handing out some pink slips, or just starting to call more of the offensive himself, that’s on him. You want to bring back the early 19th century vessels? Fine, but don’t bring back John L. Smith coaching-era nightmares. Please, let those lie at the bottom with the original Titanic.
ALL ABOARD: Plans are continuing to launch a new Titanic. A replica of the infamous ship, dubbed the Titanic II, is set to make its first voyage in 2022. https://t.co/o8Noe1fcEr
— FOX 11 Los Angeles (@FOXLA) October 23, 2018
The reality is this: there are five games left on the schedule. If Sparty doesn’t tighten up and figure out how to put points on the board that DON’T involve “trouble with the snap,” Dantonio and crew can march up and down any field they like and still have to deal with “Little Sister” comments. MSU has dominated the University of Michigan over the past decade. Yes, it’s been sweet. But let’s hold each other to a higher standard of integrity here; that time has come and gone. Going 4-1 in the next five is a MUST. Will they beat Ohio State? Not likely. But they can and MUST win out the rest.
I believe Coach D has the skill set needed to fix this MSU football team, but he’s gotta do it fast. I’m not ready for this program to slip back into mediocrity like it was the majority of my childhood. If Dantonio wants to shut up that whiny guy in khakis in Ann Arbor, he needs to do it by winning games.
