Michigan State - 5 things you need to know
- Thread starter jesterondirt
- Start date
Weather hit most of the high points.
We run the Baylor base package, but run heavy. When we tempo we’ve been timed as the fastest team in college football. But the head coach can slow it down at times.
We have a new strength guy and the coaches best friend has taken over the defense, so it may not be as fatiguing as years past.
Our head coach calls the plays from the sideline and can go into a shell if leading by 14 in the second half. Conservative play calling at critical moments has been an issue.
The coaching staff is very very loyal to older players. We have a few WRs who are either true freshmen or guys who should have been playing but weren’t last year because they were down the depth chart, any one of those guys, and there’s probably 3 or 4 possible choices, could turn into the annoying guy that catches 8 passes out of nowhere and makes things interesting. Our money receiver is Keylon Stokes. Expect him to have one or two big plays. Both of our RBs could start for you but are undersized and will rotate. Our big body back is RB#3 or RB#4 and saw limited action as a freshman. We don’t really have a go to guy on third down either running or receiving now that Anderson is ineligible.
Last edited:
That must be pretty fast. When we played Utah state last year we clocked them at a good 8 seconds between snaps. It was insane and completely draining on our defense. Which is why we struggled so much against them.
When we had Dane Evans at QB a couple of years ago we ran at that type of pace. He lead the first squad in the NCAA to have a 3000 yd passer, two 1000 yd rushers, and two 1000 yd receivers. When we had the horses we were clicking on all cylinders and moved the ball at a frenetic pace, that all of us in Tulsa are eager to get back to.
Not to mention Tulsa is where Malzahn fully adapted his high school HUNH offense to the college rules.
We used to be 5,000 Yards/5 Second Snap University
Coach Wells was an Assistant at Tulsa and still very respected amongst boosters and alumni.
I'll echo the Zaven Collins getting under your skin thing I'll also echo the hope that it's Zach Smith at QB cuz then there might be some hope of us winning. If it ain't Zach then we'll just be counting on the defense to cover the spread.
Dannysheridan.com MSU opened as a 21 point favorite but no lines from the 4 casinos he includes on his website.
other lines of interest
OSU by 16 at Oregon State
NC State by 20 over ECU
Memphis by 6 over OleMiss
Ark State by 3 over SMU
OU by 26 over Houston (all favorites at home except Oregon State).
it appears that neither San Jose nor Wyoming open the first weekend
other lines of interest
OSU by 16 at Oregon State
NC State by 20 over ECU
Memphis by 6 over OleMiss
Ark State by 3 over SMU
OU by 26 over Houston (all favorites at home except Oregon State).
it appears that neither San Jose nor Wyoming open the first weekend
Thanks to ckozi and Kluegs17 for posting some FOOTBALL discussion. I always like to hear a fan's opinion of their team. I'm trying to decide if it's worth making the trip to Lansing to experience the University, the football atmosphere, and get out of the Oklahoma heat.
IMO, Tulsa's offense has become predictable to our opponents. The RPO is a joke because the run part develops so slowly, fools no one, and the pass part wasn't good either. I find it hard to watch. Tulsa has a couple receivers that I would say are better than average but will be average performers due to coaching in that position. We had some exceptional talent there in the past that just couldn't get to the next level and the comments were that they didn't have the technique or discipline. MSU corners shouldn't be overly challenged. OL is a huge question; they could be good but likely not by the first game. Our QB has to impress beyond expectations for the offense to get past the 50.
On defense, LB and DE should be really solid with interior DL serviceable. The guy that may frustrate MSU fans in Trevis Gipson 15, DE. He's a senior with a shot at the next level and is hungry for some attention. He may be in the backfield more than you want to see.
So, here is to hoping I have no idea what I'm talking about and our offense puts at least 21 on the board. It happened at Texas last year so "I'm saying there's a chance".
IMO, Tulsa's offense has become predictable to our opponents. The RPO is a joke because the run part develops so slowly, fools no one, and the pass part wasn't good either. I find it hard to watch. Tulsa has a couple receivers that I would say are better than average but will be average performers due to coaching in that position. We had some exceptional talent there in the past that just couldn't get to the next level and the comments were that they didn't have the technique or discipline. MSU corners shouldn't be overly challenged. OL is a huge question; they could be good but likely not by the first game. Our QB has to impress beyond expectations for the offense to get past the 50.
On defense, LB and DE should be really solid with interior DL serviceable. The guy that may frustrate MSU fans in Trevis Gipson 15, DE. He's a senior with a shot at the next level and is hungry for some attention. He may be in the backfield more than you want to see.
So, here is to hoping I have no idea what I'm talking about and our offense puts at least 21 on the board. It happened at Texas last year so "I'm saying there's a chance".
I think the OL will surprise some folks. Some kids who I've been big on are getting their chance now and they have some nasty to them. Xauvea Gadlin, Tiller Bucktrot are going to move guys around.
Zaven Collins and Cooper Edmiston are the LBs MSU fans will wonder why they're at Tulsa and not a P5 program. Cooper doesn't necessarily pass the eye test on speed but he did lead the team in fumble recoveries, INTs, and fumbles forced. Collins is literally everywhere. Probably someone who will play in the NFL and be converted to an end rusher, Khalil Mack type.
One thing that has not been mentioned is the DB group. All big, all fast. I think the avg height for the group is about 6'3". It is easily the biggest and most physical group of DBs since I've been following Tulsa football (25 years).
Honestly the x-factor in this game is going to be the play calling and whether or not Monty wants to be aggressive or just limit damage. Do we come out trying to actually win the game, or just to keep it respectable. Tulsa had a very real chance to beat Texas last year and played pretty reserved on both sides of the ball.
Zaven Collins and Cooper Edmiston are the LBs MSU fans will wonder why they're at Tulsa and not a P5 program. Cooper doesn't necessarily pass the eye test on speed but he did lead the team in fumble recoveries, INTs, and fumbles forced. Collins is literally everywhere. Probably someone who will play in the NFL and be converted to an end rusher, Khalil Mack type.
One thing that has not been mentioned is the DB group. All big, all fast. I think the avg height for the group is about 6'3". It is easily the biggest and most physical group of DBs since I've been following Tulsa football (25 years).
Honestly the x-factor in this game is going to be the play calling and whether or not Monty wants to be aggressive or just limit damage. Do we come out trying to actually win the game, or just to keep it respectable. Tulsa had a very real chance to beat Texas last year and played pretty reserved on both sides of the ball.
I’ll be honest our game day experience needs a lot of work. Dantonio is good friends with Dabo and went down to Clemson this summer to talk to him about it and get some ideas. Hopefully, they make some changes there this year. The tailgating especially is pathetic. The AD basically does everything they can do make it worse though they say their goal is to improve it every year. Since this is a night game the lots won’t open until about 4pm. Which isn’t terrible but a lot of other programs would open up much earlier. Especially, with it being Labor Day weekend and all.
I think it is a stripe the stadium game so if it gets close to a sellout that will be nice to see. Not for you I guess haha but in general.
East Lansing isn’t too happening of a place. There’s some good spots and breweries in and around town but I guess it depends what you’re looking for, if anything, outside of the game. The campus is beautiful though and worth touring around.
Some people will come and stay in Detroit. It’s about an hour and a half drive though to the stadium. Grand Rapids to the west is a great town but also over an hour drive away.
Yeah I’ve heard of Gipson a bit. Our OL is a complete ? mark so I imagine he could see some success potentially depending on who he lines up against.
If I had to say I think the best bet for your offense against our D is a quick and short passing attack and I’d attack the safeties and LB’s with it. Crossing routes are our kryptonite along with tunnel screens and slant routes (see Northwestern’s offense). Mix that with some real tempo and things could get moving. But the QB’s gotta be accurate. NW has beaten us 3 years in a row with the same damn game plan and it’s infuriating.
Whoever Josiah Scott covers (Insert your best receiver here) they likely won’t get thrown to very much if I had to guess. Your coordinators will know not to throw that way if they can avoid it. That’s not an arrogance or anything but the kids a stud. Justin Herbert couldn’t hit that side of the field with any success in our bowl game with Oregon.
Auburn opens their campus for tailgating at 5pm on Thursday for Saturday games and there’s people lined up to claim parking and grassy areas right outside classrooms like they are part of the Oklahoma land run within minutes of it being OK to do so. And they sit there and cook and get drunk until sunset on Sunday. The South knows how to do it.
Depends...do they use the DB to match up with a certain WR or does he play a side of the field? Our most dangerous WR tends to line up in the slot.
Tevis Gipson has been getting a lot of run as an underrated edge rusher from some of the draft pundits. He's long, 6'5", and pretty quick.
That sounds awesome. MSU has never opened tailgating that early. It used to be that you could begin tailgating at midnight the day of the game. That all ended in 2005 after a Notre Dame night game. There was a reported "incident," which was later determined to be a false report. Regardless, they changed the tailgating times to:
7AM for a Noon Game
9AM for a 3:30 or 4:00 game (a lot of the Fox games are 4PM now)
Noon for a night game (usually 7-8PM eastern)
There is a similar "land run" once the lots open (I typically have a ground crew walk some gear in early to save our spot as I wait in line), but it doesn't happen on Thursday, haha.
MSU administration does everything it can to stifle the atmosphere. We still have a great time, but the administration and local police tend to be overbearing. For example, you are not allowed to play drinking games like beer pong/flip cup, can't have ice luges, etc. You can't bring "common" sources of alcohol like a keg...but you can bring 400 cases of beer if you want! Makes a lot of sense!
...it should be noted that since the Tulsa game is on a FRIDAY evening, which is a school day...the lots will not open until 3:30 in order to allow school faculty/administrators to clear out of many of the tailgating lots...so that will be an abbreviated tailgate, unfortunately.
What do your fans think of the Friday home game? We’ve had one per year for the past few seasons and it does interfere with the High School scene. Attendance does suffer a bit for those with conflicting priorities.
We love it actually. But really only for the first game because it falls during Labor Day weekend. It’s kind of a tradition for us to open on that Friday night.
A couple of years ago they moved away from it and did it on a Saturday and the attendance for that game greatly suffered. Here in Michigan we like to go “up north” a lot during Labor Day weekend for vacation. Having a Friday night game allows us to go to the game and still head out the next morning for a few days. Having it on that Saturday greatly disrupted people’s travel plans for that weekend.
Now, a Friday night game after week 1? That wouldn’t be ideal at all for the reasons you mentioned.
I would like to remind Tulsa fans that more than likely, schools in Michigan don't actually really get started until after Labor Day. I know that's the way it is in MA and a lot of the northern states. In looking at the East Lansing school calendar, it looks like they do 2.5 days the week before but no school on the Friday and no school on the Monday (Labor Day). Most OK schools start somewhere the week of August 19th and that's 2 full weeks of classes before the Labor Day weekend. The HS schedule would start on the 29th/30th with what is called "0" week right? And most will play in the preview games the week before (22/23/24).
Sounds like a good weekend.
Oklahoma high schools started playing “Week 0” games a few years ago in order to get the opportunity to play against schools in neighboring states, so they’ll start on 8/30 this year.
Agree on play calling as the X Factor since we don’t knew where Smith or Boomer are at now. We were aggressive at Ohio State and were moving the ball, but that aggressive mind set also turned into two turnovers and 14 points just before half. It was a ballgame before that. The opposite was true at Texas. We were running our base package and really just staying in our lane and got 21 up on them. Then the coaching staff tried to run out the clock on them with 10 minutes left in the 3rd quarter and gave up 28 points and the contest. We have a mega control freak over prepared coach. If TU stays on schedule and no surprises from the MSU it will be more interesting than the average Spartan fan would predict. If we get up by 14 points at any time prior to 2 minutes left in the game and he runs 3 times in a row, well we’ve seen that movie before and know how it ends. If we fall behind by more than 21 then with our run first veer-option offense you can go ahead and make out the check payable to University of Tulsa Athletic Fund.
That was the USF game when they were still undefeated that we had the 21 pt lead. I don't think we ever had the lead versus TX and we couldn't get the key stop late when we were right there with them...plus we left 9 pts on the field because of kicking.
During their spring game, they ran 4 or 5 no-huddle plays & looked totally discumBOBulated. If they run a no-huddle, it's gonna take some real work although it will help their D prepare for those who run it(& those suckers don't need any help!)
Good call. I’ve tried to blot this game from my mind. We went down 21 due to 2 turnovers and 3 missed field goals (But we don’t need a special teams coach, just a volunteer punt coordinator for his son). Not to mention what 4 or 5 dropped passes on third down? We could have led by 35. We cut the lead to 21-14, they scored again and we scored late to make it look close. We beat ourselves.
That’s funny, Kelly is reporting there is no clear winner and no timetable for naming a starter.
Better get a memo over to the Case Center.
Yeah....I’m not sure I’m buying that story line. Zac Smith is the guy and will start the season as QB1. I know Monty wants to promote competition among the QBs but Smith has a skill set the others simply don’t.
Don’t necessarily disagree and Dane didn’t know he was the starter until 20 minutes before kickoff Monty’s first game so there’s a good chance yours is the right call. But I also think we would have heard more talk out of voluntary workouts or practices last year if the talent gap was that wide. I’m not convinced. People were hearing/reading Mayfield was the best player on the team while he was running the scout team at OU after some inconsistent play at Tech. That’s just one example.
Smith had some really questionable performances at Baylor. The spring game wasn’t a throw show. It may be closer than we think. or we could be hoping it’s no contest without a lot to go on.
Who was his competition that year? Rubley / Calcagni? Pretty sure he was going to be the starter considering he was the guy who threw for 3,000 yards the year before.
I see one of the other Spartan posters already replied...but generally, most people are fine with it. Labor Day weekend is the last long weekend for people in Michigan to head "up north" to enjoy their cottages, camping, etc. The weather can turn into a crapshoot after Labor Day. The Friday game allows for people to attend the game and then head up north to get the most out of the long weekend...so I see it as a win-win and it probably helps our attendance. Traditionally (over the last 6-7 years), Labor Day is the only weekend where we play a game that is not on a Saturday.
Personally, I don't head up north but the Friday game allows me to set up shop at a watering hole that Saturday and catch the first full day of college football action, uninterrupted.
We also had 2-3 good chances to get the ball back one last time on their final drive where they ran out the clock. I think Ehlinger converted a 3rd and 8 scrambling and hit Lil'Jordan Humphrey on another 3rd down. Seriously, we really should have won that game. We should have won 2-3 more last year. He;;, we did the same thing at Arknasas getting the ball in plus position after a TO on their opening drive and missed another FG. The game is different if we score there. Defense kept us in the game all day long.
President was a true FR coming in that year and very hyped. He played a handful of games as a true FR coming in to run the R part of the RPO stuff. Not sure he threw more than 3-4 passes that entire season before going down. 2016 he played in the opener vs San Jose St. before missing the rest of the season with an injury. He would have been a SR this year with a possibility of gaining a 6th yr of eligibility next year because of all the injuries he sustained.
Tulsa is an underdog by 21.
Looking at Mich St record and the teams they played last year I predict Tulsa will cover the points.
If Smith is the real deal Tulsa will scare the sh%^$ out of Sparty.
GO TU!!!!
Looking at Mich St record and the teams they played last year I predict Tulsa will cover the points.
If Smith is the real deal Tulsa will scare the sh%^$ out of Sparty.
GO TU!!!!
That job was never going to President as a true Freshman. Especially since he couldn't throw.
Would not surprise me to see you guys cover at all.
I try not to put too much stock into the coaches poll. That #20 was probably giving us the benefit of the doubt. Coaches don’t have time to watch other teams play so they go off of reputation and other things.
But I’ll take it
