After a massive win on the road in week 2, the Spartans return home to face FCS foe Prairie View A&M
Following an imperfect but extremely gritty and resilient week 2 win at Maryland, the Spartans find themselves alone atop the Big Ten standings. Sure, the Spartans and Terrapins are the only teams to play a conference game so far but it’s nice to take the glass half full approach once in a while.
There may have been some cautious optimism surrounding the Spartans with the hiring of Jonathan Smith, signing a solid transfer portal class, and coming out of spring practice. Then, there was reason to question that after week 1 vs. FAU. But after a hard fought win that featured plenty of big plays, the sense of optimism has hopefully returned. The Spartans have a chance to continue their forward momentum in week 3 as they welcome Prairie View A&M university to East Lansing.
Prairie View is a historically Black university with an enrollment of almost 9500 students in Prairie View, TX, about 50 miles Northwest of Houston. They are members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and play in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
The Panthers were 6-6 last year, including 6-2 in conference play, winning the SWAC West Divsion before falling to Florida A&M in the league championship game. They are off to a 1-1 start this year, dropping their opener to Texas Southern at home before winning on the road at Northwestern (LA) State.
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Prairie View Coaching
Former Houston Oilers standout Bubba McDowell leads the Panthers into Spartan Stadium. McDowell begins his second season as head coach at Prairie View but has been on staff since 2011, previously serving as assistant head coach and defensive backs coach. Prior to Prairie View, McDowell had coaching stints at Texas Southern and Houston. He has also coached high school football in Houston for several years along with NFL coaching internships with the Packers, Dolphins, and Texans.
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McDowell played safety for the Oilers from 1989-1994, earning All Pro honors in 1991, and then spent one season with Carolina Panthers before retiring. He graduated from the University of Miami, where he was a starter on Jimmy Johnson’s 1987 undefeated national championship team.
Anthony Weeden is in his first season on the Prairie View staff and coordinates the offense. Weeden comes to Prairie View after three seasons at Campbell University and prior stops at Dixie State, Northwestern Oklahoma, and Missouri Southern State. Weeden played at Prairie View where he was a return specialist, wide receiver, and team captain. He began his coaching career at Prairie View as a quality control coordinator and assistant coach.
Alvin Fosselman, III coordinates the defense and is in his seventh season on the Panthers’ staff. This is his second year coordinating the defense after previously serving as special teams coordinator.
Prairie View Offense
Through two games, Prairie View has averaged 23 points and 354 yards per game. They’ve only been able to generate 104.5 yards per game and 2.9 yards per carry on the ground. Through the air Prairie View has averaged 249.5 yards per game while completing 50% of their passes. When they’ve reached the red zone, the Panthers have been pretty efficient, scoring on 6 of 7 trips.
Junior Cameron Peters starts at quarterback for Prairie View and threw for 280 yards and 2 TD’s against NSU. Peters split time with University of Houston transfer Lucas Coley in the opening week loss to Texas Southern.
Junior Connor Wisham and grad student Lamagea McDowell lead the Panther rushing attack and combined for 136 yards and 2 TD’s in the week 2 win at Northwestern State. McDowell transferred from Campbell, following OC Anthony Weeden to Prairie View.
Shemar Savage is the Panthers’ leading receiver, catching 6 passes in each of Prairie View’s first two games for a total of 238 yards.
Prairie View Defense
The defense has given up 29 points per game so far, while yielding 135.5 rushing yards and 4.2 yards per carry. The pass defense has been solid, limiting the Panthers’ first two opponents to less than 180 yards per game and 5.95 yards per attempt. Opponents have only completed 50% of their passes and converted 29% of their third down attempts.
Redshirt sophomore Jayven Jackson and redshirt freshman Ayden Jones lead a young Prairie View linebacker group. Jackson has 12 tackles so far this year while Jones has 10 and the Panthers only interception this season. Senior safety Bryce Turner has contributed 11 tackles.
How Worried Should We Be?
This might be a good time to fall back on some of the coaching cliches like “we won’t overlook anyone” or “they all count one” and there is probably good reason for that. Look no further than Northern Illinois knocking off Notre Dame in South Bend last week after everyone had the Irish in the playoff after one game. Then there is Appalachian State over Michigan in Ann Arbor in 2007. After the 1987 Rose Bowl season, MSU opened 1988 by losing to Rutgers. This was followed by losses to Central Michigan in 1991, 1992, and 2009.
So anything is possible but if the Prairie View A&M Panthers roll into Spartan Stadium and leave with a victory, it will certainly equal, and probably surpass, any of those games mentioned above. After winning at Maryland, MSU’s outlook is a lot brighter but a difficult schedule remains. This is by far the most winnable game and the Spartans should roll to victory.
It would be great to see the starters put the game well out of reach by midway through the second quarter, avoiding any further injuries in the process, and then sit the second half. I look forward to seeing a lot of new and younger players getting their first game reps in the Green & White. Other things I’d like to see Saturday:
- Along those same lines, rest any lingering injuries. Ed Woods comes to mind. He was in street clothes for the second half of the Maryland game. Coach Smith mentioned he was hopeful that it would be a short term injury situation for Woods but hopefully he can sit this one out and be back for Boston College.
- Cut the penalties at least in half. If the game does get out of reach and we see a lot of inexperienced players in the game, then some penalties may be expected. But 10 for 100 yards against Maryland, after 12 for 140 in the opener against FAU, is way too many. Limit penalties to 5 or less.
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- Pound Green, Pound. Watching Chiles complete bombs to Marsh and Glover last week was thrilling, but the Spartans should not have to rely on that to win on Saturday. If we see Prairie View players meeting Lynch-Adams or Nate Carter in the backfield, it will be very disappointing. The offensive line needs to be able to overpower an FCS opponent while avoiding the miscommunication and missed assignments that may have contributed to some struggles in the first two weeks.
- No MSU turnovers.
- Finally, another step forward from Chiles. Obviously he took a big step last week but did have 3 turnovers and was inaccurate on some of his throws. Hopefully he won’t have to play more than a half or come anywhere close to the 39 passes he threw against Maryland. When he does have a chance to throw, he should have time to set his feet and deliver the ball accurately.
Hopefully it’s a largely stress free afternoon in Spartan Stadium and then we can all officially start looking forward to a huge game at Boston College in week 4. Go Green!