The Spartans rolled out their revamped Offense two weeks ago vs Tulsa in the season opener at Spartan Stadium, yet in spite of grand expectations, it was an inauspicious start.
The Offense struggled throughout the game and produced just 303 Yards, including a paltry 108 Yards Rushing, 2.7 Yards per Rushing attempt and a single Offensive Touchdown. The Tulsa game was a far departure from “Pound Green Pound”. The Spartans won the game of course, but the meager Offensive production set off alarm bells inasmuch as Tulsa was hardly a Defensive Dynamo. In summary, the offensive production wasn’t enough to efficiently move the chains and/or win Championships.
The fans were irate, and so was Coach Dantonio, and so he obliquely called out his team as well as his coaches, even if not by name.
Apparently Coach Dantonio’s message resonated, because in the second game of the season vs Western Michigan, the Spartans Offense came out hot and rolled up an incredible 582 Yards of Offense including a robust 251 Yards Rushing at an average of 7.4 Yards per attempt, and in the final accounting the Offense posted 6 Touchdowns to play a major role in scoring a record setting 51 points.
Every Offensive position group played a part in the dramatic improvement, but it all starts up front and for the first three possessions the Spartans deployed Kevin Jarvis at left tackle, Luke Campbell at left guard, Matt Allen at center, Matt Carrick at right guard and Jordan Reid at right tackle. That unit produced three straight touchdowns to open the game and that set the tone for the Spartans to dominate.
But it’s still not a finished Offensive product…
The Spartans need to find the “Sweet Spot”…a consistent blend between Rushing, Passing and Scoring. Given the Championship caliber of the Spartan Defense, as well as the Championship caliber Punting and Field Goal units, I submit the “sweet spot” is 200 Yards Rushing …200 Yards Passing…and 30 points per game, and while that production is not heroic, yet it’s enough to win Championships when complemented by their Defense and Special Teams.
Now comes Arizona State:
ASU is only in the second year of the Herm Edwards coaching era and while it takes time to implement a new system, nevertheless Herm Edwards has made an immediate impact.
Edwards inherited an unstable program that was not too unlike the unstable program Mark Dantonio inherited in 2007. The Sun Devils posted an upside down record of 18-20 in the 3 seasons prior to Edwards arriving on scene, so there was a lot of work needed to reverse ASU fortunes, yet in his first season, Edwards posted a solid record of 7-6 including victories vs Southern Cal, Utah and the Spartans.
Throughout his career, Edwards distinguished himself as a Defensive player as well as a Defensive coach. He was an Assistant NFL Coach from 1990 to 2000, and then Edwards got two Head Coaching gigs in the NFL: NY Jets, 2001 to 2005, and KC Chiefs, 2006 to 2008. After 2008, Edwards took a 10 year sabbatical from coaching, then accepted the Head Coaching job at ASU in 2018.
Edwards prides himself on coaching Defense and at ASU he deploys a nuanced 3-3-5 Defense. For opposing Offenses who commonly play against traditional 4-3-4 Defenses, ASU’s Defensive alignment with just 3 “down linemen” can cause major confusion for opposing offenses in terms of Blocking assignments.
In addition, with ASU deploying 5 Defensive Backs it collapses passing lanes making it a challenge for receivers to find open space in a congested secondary. So perhaps it was fortuitous that the Spartans faced a 3-3-5 Defense when they played Tulsa. The Tulsa game film should facilitate a remedial coaching clinic and thereby help the Spartans crystallize blocking assignments and passing routes.
ASU is not an automatic win by any measure.
Given Herm Edwards background as a Defensive specialist, it’s no surprise that ASU is yielding just 81 Yards Rushing per game, while yielding a meager 7 Points per game (#5 in the land). So, even though ASU’s first two opponents were Kent State and Sacramento State, nevertheless ASU was able to essentially “shut down” their respective Offenses, yielding just two Touchdowns in two games. So it will be incumbent upon Spartans Offensive Linemen to have a clear understanding of their Blocking assignments to ensure they read and react instinctively and without hesitation.
On the other hand, ASU is suspect on Offense…
ASU only average 130 Yards Rushing per game, while yielding an average of 3 Sack’s and nearly 8 Tackles for Loss per game, so the Spartans Defense, all things being equal, should be able to “Tee Off” and cause a grand amount of mayhem for ASU given the Spartans are Sacking opposing Quarterback’s nearly 5 times per game, and as well as averaging nearly 10 Tackles for Loss per game.
While the Spartans Defense had a generally good day vs Western Michigan, yielding just 67 Yards Rushing and yielding just 5 of 16, 3rd Down Conversion attempts, nevertheless the Defense yielded a fairly robust 285 Yards Passing at 7.0 yards per attempt, and so, in spite of hauling down two interceptions, I think Mike Tressel and his Defensive Coaching staff would agree they need to tighten up passing coverage in pursuit of a Big Ten Championship.
At the bottom line:
I predict Mike Tressel’s Defense will carve up ASU Offensive Line and cause a major amount of mayhem for ASU Offense, thereby shutting the down the running lanes and causing grand chaos for ASU Quarterback and Running Backs.
As another measurable, I predict the Spartans Offense will achieve a “sweet spot” balance of 200 Yards Rushing…200 Yards Passing…and a minimum of 30 Points, thereby closing out the non-conference season with a perfect record of 3-0. I don’t pay much attention to point spreads, but the Spartans are favored by 14 points, yet I think the Spartans final margin will be closer to 18.
Mark Dantonio can step into history:
I’m old enough to remember when the Spartans ruled the football landscape during the 1950’s & 1960’s, winning or sharing an unprecedented 6 National Championships in the span of 15 years.
It all seemed so normal that the Spartans would be in the National Title hunt in those days, but of course things changed. John Hannah, the grand architect of Michigan State University stepped down in 1969. Biggie Munn the grand architect of Spartan Football stepped down in 1971, and finally Duffy Daugherty who took the baton from Biggie Munn stepped down in 1972, and while there were moments of success thereafter, there was always a sense of instability within the football program until Mark Dantonio and his staff arrived on scene to commence the 2007 football season.
But now, in his 13th season at the helm, Mark Dantonio can step into Spartan history by etching his 109th victory tomorrow, thereby rendering MD the winningest Spartan Football Coach of all time complemented by 3 trips to the Big Ten Championship Game, 3 Big Ten Championships and an invitation to Football’s Final Four including multiple Top 5 rankings. By every single measure, Mark Dantonio has guided the Spartans with integrity and dignity and rendered the name Spartans synonymous with relentless, hard hitting football.
The only achievement to elude Mark Dantonio is a National Title, but he’s not done, and by every measure Mark Dantonio is still in the hunt…and with history as an indicator, never count out Mark Dantonio.
Congratulations, and continued success coach!
