MSU vs Illinois weather report
This team is most definitely “bleeding me dry like a, damn vampire”. It has been a really slow painful drain and the worst part is I won’t even be turned and end up with fun powers. My “drivers license” will just have the same information, a very numb Spartan fan.
If I had told you MSU did not turn the ball over against Illinois what would you think happened? Let’s even add in total yards and time of possession were nearly equal, now what would you say? Well, if you are a pessimist like myself you would assume the worst right? Another pathetic attempt at football this weekend but the sour spots are not the typical sources. I guess we can’t delay any further, time for another weather report.
CLOUD 1: OFFENSIVE LINE
I’d love to open this one up to discussion. Has MSU seen a worse offensive line output than this season? We’ve spoken at length about the injuries, depth, ineptitude and down right embarrassment this unit has been this season. Honestly though, has there been worse in team history? I’d love to take some time to dive deep into the statistics but I’m sure I’d be sacked before I can finish typing in the search engine. They gave up five sacks and it is truly a miracle that it wasn’t ten. Considering Chiles barely had time to blink, it’s impressive what he actually achieved. Get an offensive line that is above junior varsity level of competence and maybe this team has a couple more wins this year. What’s the going rate for an offensive line on black Friday? Maybe we can get a good deal at Macy’s.
CLOUD 2: DEFENSIVE LINE
Here is another sour spot this season. Another unit riddled with injuries but no more excuses for the lack of production. It’s pretty difficult to win when you give an opposing quarterback a trip around the sun’s time to throw. There was barely even a hurry. Six straight games without a sack is a pathetic statistic and shows an absolute lack of guts by the unit. No pass rush puts an enormous amount of pressure on the secondary, which is young and inexperienced due to its depletion. This is another unit that if it were better may have garnered us a couple more wins this season.
CLOUD 3: RUNNING GAME
Once again the run game is on my cloud list. The backs just don’t have it this year. The line is obviously a strong enabler to the lack of production and even the play calling has some fault. That being said, I still just see a lack of creativity and vision on most plays. I also see a lack of strength and no bruiser mentality in anyone. When the quarterback is the leading rusher because he’s running for his life you’d like to be able to depend on a back to take some of the load. Unfortunately, this team just doesn’t have one. The last two games combined are less than a hundred yards total rushing. K9 is not coming around the corner any time soon. Running back needs to be a big focus during the off season.
CLOUD 4: THE CORNUCOPIA OF TACKLING, PLAY CALLING, PENALTIES AND CLOCK MANAGEMENT
This cloud is for the smorgasbord of disappoints that are too many to give each it’s own cloud status. Here is a quick list of the additional rough weather experienced in this game. Tackling in this game was rough to watch. The second chance yards given up kept far too many drives alive for the Illini. Play calling had many head scratchers in there. The largest being, in my opinion, the calls and use of the clock before the half. You have three timeouts and a wasted season, what are we waiting for exactly? Clearly there is no blocking for the running game and no blocking for Chiles to throw so, what is the plan? Where is the inventiveness? What is the solution? The same status quo hasn’t worked and the fan base expects more. Lastly, penalties jump back in a rear its ugly head for nearly 75 yards worth. I know a couple of those were close such as the not allowing time to make a catch from a punt and Marsh’s call on the illegal pick. Still, the team was a bit all over the place and that isn’t acceptable.
SUN 1: CHILES
I know all the voices calling for this guys neck. Yes, he has definitely cost us some with the turnovers and some stunted development. However, he played as well as he could with all the circumstances thrown at him in this game. 256 yards and 2 TD’s with the defenders’ breath all over his face every play. Plus he leads the team in rushing, granted, some was running for his life as mentioned earlier but he still did more with running the ball than anyone else. This game was not lost by Chiles at all. He just has so much around him falling apart that it is difficult to succeed and grow. I think our complaining as a collective has plenty else to satiate us this week and we can leave him be.
SUN 2: PURDUE NEXT WEEK
This is a game that we should win. The stadium may be rather empty, but there are still two games left and victories in those two mean a bowl game. If I remember correctly, that was the goal of most Spartan fans this year and it is not yet off the table. Would you think the season was an improvement if they get eligible? I would and it is unfortunate that games like BC, Weasels, and Illini were all winnable and then imagine how we’d be looking at this season.
HURRICANE: BELLEVILLE JUNK
TOC writers have recently been chatting about all this weird Belleville stuff. The NIL possibility, the connections, etc. What have you all been hearing? Would love to hear your thoughts as our fanbase will devour it faster than a Whistledown diamond publication.
4-6 as we head into a, wait for it, another night game! I expect a win but, “I used to think I was smart and this team’s made me feel so naive”.