On Saturday both major schools from the state of Michigan lost their season openers. Michigan was beaten at home by Utah 25-23. Michigan State traveled to Cal and was beaten 38-31. After watching both games these schools started of shaky, only to make games of it in the 2nd half.
Rich Rodriquez clearly proved he doesn't have the players to fit his system. Nick Sheridan started the game at quarterback and he showed that he cannot make the throws consistently on the college level. Steven Threet played the 2nd half and sparked a comeback for the Wolverines. He definitely has the better arm. I was surprised to see Brandon Minor not start, but found out later that he had been held out of some practices. Carlos Brown the other returner in the backfield played sparingly because of a groin injury. This opened the door for freshmen Sam McGuffie and Michael Shaw to get significant playing time. These two each scored but could not move the ball on the ground. Michigan ended up with 36 yards rushing. That's ridiculous! Their offensive line did not open any holes and sustain any blocks. This is the number one area of concern.
On defense they let Utah pass the ball down the field in the 1st half. I was surprised that they didn't blitz Utah's qb after watching him pick apart the secondary. The front four had a couple of sacks but did not standout the way I thought they would. The bright spot of the defense had to be Obi Ezeh. He was all over the field and ended up with 15 tackles and 1 interception. While Michigan struggled in the 1st half stopping Utah, they came out and played hard in the 2nd half. Overall Michigan was exposed for the weaknesses we thought they had. Inexperience on offense is their flaw and hopefully the 1st game will give them some tape to watch and work on their mistakes.
The Spartans played against a strong opponent on prime time and had high expectations. However Brian Hoyer their senior qb did not play like a returning starter and leader on this team. While he played better in the 4th quarter, he missed too many passes and made too many bad decisions. I was expecting a lot more from him. MSU did what we thought they would do on offense, pound the ball with Javon Ringer. He didn't break any big runs but kept the chains moving. The biggest surprise on offense had to be Mark Dell. The sophomore receiver had a career day with over 200 yards receiving. He stepped up in that number one receiver role.
Mistakes on special teams and not stopping the run on defense hurt the Spartans. The long snapper was shaky from the get go, and that has to be addressed in practice this week. The defense did not fill the holes that Cal opened in the running game. I thought Greg Jones was active but had an up and down game. Otis Wiley proved to be a play maker in the secondary. Two picks, one going back for a score carried the defense. MSU made the game close, and showed some fight, but Hoyer and that offense has to limit mistakes for this team to win this year.
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