MZone Autopy: Dissecting the Michigan State game

We present a potential new feature: The MZone Autopsy, in which we reveal what we learned after dissecting Michigan's previous game.  Unfortunately, the corpse on the table today is U-M's following the beating (both literally and figuratively) the Wolverines received from MSU.

So put on your surgical masks and some rubber gloves then gather around the table. This isn't going to be pretty.

NOTE:  If you forgot to bring your rubber gloves, simply use two of the 864,000 plastic bags that were blowing around Spartan Stadium on Saturday.

MZONE AUTOPSY REPORT: Michigan State

1.  Michigan got beat.  Period.  State was the better team on Saturday.  Period.  Yes, we were still in it in the 4th quarter and had a chance, but that doesn't change the fact that the better team won the game.   Period. 

2.  Were these Big 10 ref trainees working the game?  Again, that's not to blame them for the loss (see #1), but WTF?!  Some of the worst calls/non-calls:
-- The dropped lateral that would have resulted in a Michigan recovery, but instead ended up leading to an MSU TD
-- Taunting Denard during the INT return for a TD
-- The new "prison yard rules" we were playing by.  Because it seemed like only a shanking was going to get somebody booted from the game.  Hell, William Gholston twisted Denard's facemask AND punched Lewan yet was still in the game.  There was less dirty play in The Longest Yard (the original one, not the crappy remake).  

3.  I actually think I dislike Mark Dantonio more than Tressel when he was a around.  Because the mentality that it's okay to play like thugs starts at the top as evidenced by Dantonio saying this in our latest MZone video...



A "cleanly played" game.  Really?  Holy shit, I'd hate to see what he considered dirty.

MSU had five 15 yard personal foul penalties for their BS.  But, according to MSU DC Pat Narduzzi:

"That's what we try to do," Narduzzi said after Michigan State's 28-14 win against Michigan. "Sixty minutes of unnecessary roughness. I'm just happy it didn't get called on every snap."

Yeah, I know Hoke didn't call them out about it.  That's just class.  Don't confuse it with fact.

I wonder if Dantonio is going to call Gholston a "tragic hero" if when he gets suspended by the B1G for his douchebaggery?  

4.  O-line?  We don't need no stinkin' O-line!  The weakest link on the field -- even more so than Denard's passing -- was Michigan's offensive line.  Simply put, they got destroyed.  Blown up, sir!  Yes, I know Denard had a horrible passing season day, but when you have .0003 seconds to throw, you'd be hard pressed to hit a moving target, too.

5.  Despite Chris Spielman being a complete tool during the broadcast trying to stir up trouble, a) there is no QB controversy and b) I didn't have a problem with bringing Devin in on a number of plays.  It's just something different teams have to prepare for.  Did he make some bad plays, like going over the LOS on the "TD" pass?  Sure.  But so did the entire team.  I don't think Hoke/Borges were creating problems using him, I think they were trying to find solutions to an offense that simply wasn't working.  A weak passing game was even worse with the wind.  I think it was reasonable to attempt to find something -- anything -- that would work. 

6.  Some Michigan fans need to channel The Dude and relax (or I need to set my Twitter feed to Asshat Blocker).  Frankly, I'm stunned by how quickly some fans jumped ship (if they were even on board to begin with).  Trashing Hoke after his first loss?  Comparing Borges to Gerg after one bad game?  Seriously?  In case those folks missed it, "Offensively inclined" Michigan scored 17 points vs. MSU last year -- a staggering 3 points more than Saturday. 

7.   As somebody said in (I think) the comments section and continuing the above (in what could really be labeled as 6B), is anybody really surprised?  By that I mean, did anybody think we were going to go 12-0 and contend for the B1G/National Title?  This was the 108 ranked defense in the country last year.  I think by all measures they've radically improved, and not simply because "they have a year more experience."  And the offense, as potent as it is/can be, struggled mightily against the better teams.  So while we can and should expect improvement, just because Hoke seemed to have, as Brian said, a horseshoe up his ass, we can't and shouldn't expect miracles.

If someone would have told you that we'd be 8-4 this year, but show improvement across the board while building a solid foundation for the future, I think most sane fans would have taken it.  I still think that's where we're headed.

8.  I have no problem with the 4th and 1 bootleg call...now kinda.  I was pissed at the time like, probably, many/most of you.  "Why didn't he just sneak it?!?!?"  But while performing this autopsy, I've changed my tune a bit.  We're all pissed because it didn't work.  Because MSU lucked out and had exactly the correct call at precisely the right time to counter it.  That's football.  Put it this way, you know "The Catch"?  The 4th and short Grbac-to-Desmond TD vs. Notre Dame that we all have probably seen 700 times (and still get chills watching)?  Well, if that pass is about 6 inches further out, we're still bitching about why Moeller didn't run a safe play and just pick up the first down.

When one of these gutsy calls work, it's a highlight for generations to come.  When it doesn't work, you're an idiot.  That's football.

But if only he he'd snuck it!...

9.  Please stop with the "special" jerseys/uniforms/whatever.  Michigan has now played two of its three biggest rivals -- ND and MSU -- and in both games, neither they nor Michigan looked like themselves or Michigan.  These Pro Combat/Legacy/Throwback/My Shoe Company Needs to Sell Shit looks are getting out of hand. 

10.  Seriously, what the f*ck was up with the plastic bags in Spartan Stadium?  It was like the landscape from MAD MAX blew across the field for the entire game.  Pick up your trash, East Lansing.