Michigan Wolverine Football: Looking at Michigan State

Oct 18, 2014; Bloomington, IN, USA; Michigan State Spartans coach Mark Dantonio on the sidelines against the Indiana Hoosiers at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Posted at 5:45am — 10/23/2014

Michigan Wolverine Football: Looking at Michigan State

This Michigan State Thing — The Spartans Emerge

Sparta was not the most noble and pure place within the ancient Greek society. But when folks invaded Greece, the call went out to Sparta’s warrior culture to save the day. Sparta ceased to exist, as did Troy and Carthage. But the image of the legendary warrior culture of western civilization remains in East Lansing and Los Angeles, and a few lesser-known locales as well.

The Trojans of Southern California to most have the clear football history on the Spartans of Michigan State. However, some may not realize that Michigan State enjoyed a magnificent run during the 1950’s and 1960’s. During this timeframe the Spartans won or shared six national titles. Biggie Munn and Duffy Daugherty were national recognized names that produced plenty of victories with a style similar to today’s version of Sparty.

Football programs have an identity that seems to be self-fulfilling. So it is with the Spartan program. Mean green, tough and nasty, semi-sophisticated and blue collar, underdogish and overlooked, these descriptors fit the historical attributes of the Spartan program. Power, naked, merciless power, this is how the image is meant to be seared into perception and then confirmed by observation.

To some extent this trait, the tough guy image, is so, but one must understand that many plug and play Spartan pro style quarterbacks are playing on Sunday, hence the offense is more than brutal ball. Connor Cook is another tall, strong-armed, pro-style quarterback with a heavy shot at playing on Sunday. The Spartan offensive success consists of more than just quarterbacks. The last few years have yielded excellent running back play and a few premier wide receivers. The defense, however, has no problem wearing the tough guy mantle.

Oct 4, 2014; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio walks the sidelines during the 2nd half of a game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: MSU won 27-22. Mike Carter-USA TODAY SportsCurrent Head Coach Mark Dantonio and his staff are clear mechanists in their approach to football and game preparation, mechanistic to the point of being old school. But precision and consistent are not really old school; nothing is really old school if it works. Consistency is the hallmark of a champion. This is a trait that yields great dividends for a coaching staff; simply the coaches know what they have to work with and receive few surprises. Counter this to Michigan’s situation where there is inconsistency at every group and no true indicators of predictive performance.

The Spartan approach is simplistic, but such simplicity has gradually yielded a remarkable consistency; again it is stated that consistency is the hallmark of champions. The defense just brings it and has the speed to get to the ball as well as the nastiness to make a meaningful impact. The offense uses simple, time-tested pro style tenets, such as a power running game and a very effective play action alternative. The patterns range from simple quick sit-downs in the intermediate area to deep fly patterns. Michigan State frequently uses the deep out against single or man-to-man coverage. Michigan State loves to hit the quick skinny post and hope for the big play.

Nov 16, 2013; Lincoln, NE, USA; Michigan State Spartans quarterback Conner Cook (18) hands off to running back Jeremy Langford (33) Nebraska Cornhuskers in the second quarter at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY SportsWhile Dantonio does not cook up tons of new, innovative options, like the organicist spread program of the Oregon Quack-quacks, he does pay great attention to film, small details and values precision. If an opposing team has a predictable action or obvious weakness that can be exploited, there will be a play designed to take advantage. Note the fake punts, etc. that the Spartans have pulled off successfully over the years. This was not random luck, but instead a result of preparation.

The Spartan toughness aspect has not changed during Dantonio’s tenure. If anything it has accelerated. The familiar A-gap blitzes, the occasional corner blitz, the zone blitz schemes still remain. The corners still hit, tug and grab as much as flags will allow.

Oct 11, 2014; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines quarterback Devin Gardner (98) looks to the sidelines during the fourth quarter against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY SportsMake no mistake, any team, not only Michigan, will have a full plate dealing with the Spartans. The Quack-quacks used the organic spread speed and design to hit Michigan State hard in the middle of the game. At the end Michigan State was on the road back to competing with Oregon’s speed and scheme. The Spartan offense is much better this year with dependable receivers that catch the ball and a line that can play the power game. The line works well as a unit and enjoys valuable experience.

To compete with the Spartans, Michigan will need to have a functional offense (including sound quarterback play), block the blitz, have offensive answers to the blitz, stop the Spartan running game, and provide tight coverage that is helped out with pressure on the quarterback.

This may sound like a tall order. Do not be fooled, it indeed is.

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Written by GBMWolverine Staff — Doc4Blu

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