Featured News
August 12, 2007
Michigan State and Minnesota Preview
By Apparao Prattipati
Michigan State
One would have better luck predicting the weather than prognosticating how the mercurial Spartans do this season. The highlight of the 2006 season for Michigan State came on the Monday after the Notre Dame game when an MSU Radio host had a complete meltdown on the air. We can only hope something similar happens this year.
New coach Mark Dantonio has been hired from Cincinnati and will do away with the gimmicky, and mostly annoying, spread offense that John L. Smith ran. He will replace it with a more traditional offense where the run sets up the pass. Gone is the versatile Drew Stanton and in is the strong armed Brian Hoyer. He’s not as much of a threat as Stanton, but he will be consistent. The star of the offense will be Javon Ringer, MSU’s first 1000-yard rusher since the human bowling ball, T.J. Duckett, rolled his way through the Big Ten. The receivers will be inexperienced but athletic, and the offensive line will be very capable in doing their job.
Michigan State isn’t likely to stop many teams from running all over them, and that generally isn’t a good thing when it comes to winning football games. Four new starters on the line and two new linebackers will have to step up. One positive thing that they have going for them is that Otis Wiley returns at Safety and might be the best at his position in the conference. They also have a “Knight of the Realm” starting at Linebacker. Well not really, but they do have Sirdarrean Adams – and he should make some plays with his excellent athleticism.
With the exception of a trip to South Bend, the non-conference schedule isn’t very intimidating (a game vs. Pittsburgh should be interesting). A 2 – 1 start in Big Ten action is likely. That looks like a 5 – 2 or 6 - 1 start, and a good chance to become Bowl eligible. This season should be an great beginning for Coach Dantonio’s stint at MSU.
Minnesota
Minnesota is the epitome of a rebuilding program. New coach, new quarterback, and new playmakers. Tim Brewesters very first head coaching job will be a job in the Big Ten, and he’ll have his hands full.
Three-year starter Brian Cupito and all-everything tight-end Matt Spaeth are gone. While there are two upperclassmen as the front-runners to replace Cupito, watch for the incoming freshman Clint Brewster (the coach’s kid), to win the starting job sooner rather than later. Whoever the quarterback is should have decent protection, a good tailback in Amir Pinnix, and a playmaker in Ernie Wheelwright at receiver. He should be one of the Big Ten’s better deep threats this season.
Defensively, the one all-conference player on the unit is Willie VanDeSteeg who had 10 sacks last season. Otherwise the defensive tackles are undersized, the linebackers a bit on the slow side, and they’re inexperienced at the cornerback position. The Gopher defense could possibly struggle to say the least.
While The Gophers have their usual set of fluff non-conference opponents, their best chances to win in Big Ten action comes on the road @ Indiana and @ Northwestern. It’s a possibility that Minnesota will be winless in the Big Ten. Unfortunately for the Gophers, this has all of the makings of a team ready to prop up the bottom of the Big Ten standings.
Up next we’ll look at Northwestern and Ohio State as the NittanyFootball.com Big Ten preview series continues.
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