Hey, I'm new to this board and an MSU fan, but I'm an MSU guy first, Montana guy second, and Big Sky Conference guy third. I've had season tickets to MSU since 1990 except for five years I lived abroad. This is easily the best effort I've ever seen out of an MSU team. A few thoughts...
MSU had an easy schedule for the 3 games prior to this one. UM had to play Weber last week, then get on a bus and play another top 10 team a week later. It isn't surprising UM came out flat.
This is a different game if Akem is healthy, especially with Troy Anderson injured. While Tyrell Thomas did an amazing job on Toure today in mostly single coverage, the Cats had no one healthy enough with the size to cover Akem. He was missed.
The Bobcat defense has quietly been astonishing since Sac State. You can make an argument they are the best defense in the FCS right now. Moreover, today Amandre Williams played the best football since he got to MSU. The pressure he provided changed the game.
All of this being said, your OC killed you today, not the defensive coordinator. Your defense was on the field for almost 40 minutes. The Cats offered you short passes and runs, but instead your OC wanted more. When this failed, it not only cost the Grizzlies possession, but also put your defense back on the field over and over again.
When I had beers with one of my Grizzly friends last Sunday, I told him that what the Bobcat lack in playmakers, they make up for it with depth. I told him that I thought MSU's only chance to win was if they could get the run game going and cycle through WR, RB, TE, D-Line, and LB. Everything UM did on offense played to MSU's strength. Because of rotations and favorable time-of-possession, individual players on the MSU D-Line were probably only on the field for 10 minutes this game.This resulted in them getting QB pressure without blitzing, giving them 7-8 players in coverage. I'm assuming Sneed isn't 100%; he was a sitting duck when pressured in that pocket. The ideal game plan against MSU, would have been full of short passes and runs with players moving laterally when receiving the ball, coupled with shuttle passes to keep the pass rush honest, and a few selectively timed big throws to the middle of the field. Instead, your OC forced the ball to the middle of the field even though that area was the most guarded. Given this, JLM should have been able to torch MSU today. Instead, he was a non-factor...