It is the beginning of the school year, and the Spartan football team took a few pop quizzes last night and just like in the classroom, the results were mixed, so let’s grade the Spartans:
For the Spartan Defense, it was a brilliant night and they distinguished themselves by earning an “A++” and their future looks beyond brilliant.
For the Punting and Field Goal units, they each got an “A” by way of excellence and efficiency.
On the other hand, the Passing Offense was marginal and seemed like they hadn’t prepared properly so they receive a “C”…
But at the bottom of the class was the Rushing Offense which was abysmal and they received an “F” and given an Dunce Cap to wear.
It appeared as though the Rushing Offense hadn’t read the classroom material and hadn’t prepared, and therefore they received a failing grade…a Bolded F. Sadly, the future for the Rushing Offense looks bleak, and that means the fortunes of Spartan football in 2019 are problematic. Needless to say, if a team is incapable of controlling the Line of Scrimmage, then they can’t run the football with efficiency and if a team is incapable of running the football they become one dimensional and therefore beatable.
Offense scores a single Touchdown?
On the scoreboard, the Spartans beat Tulsa 28-7 yet the Offense was only able to score a single touchdown and that occurred in the first 3 ½ minutes of the football game. All looked good at that point, but then inconsistency and miscues set in and the Offense went dark. There were dropped passes, momentum stopping penalties, and general dysfunction.
I said prior to the game, that minimum Offensive production should be 200 Yards Rushing…200 Yards Passing…and 30 points, but that assumed the Offense posted all 30 points, but that is not how it worked out.
Take a look at the scoring:
- 4 Field Goads = 12 Points
- 1 Safety = 2 Points
- 1 Defensive TD & PAT = 7 Points
- 1 Offensive TD & PAT = 7 Points
Juts one Offensive TD.
The Offense posted a miserable 303 Yards of Total Offense (nearly 100 Yards below fair minimum) and scored just 1 TD. The Passing Offense compiled a 195 Yards (a few yards shy of the minimum) by way of completing 22 of 38 passes (middling 58%). Yet the Rushing Offense posted a miserable and disgraceful 108 Yards Rushing for an meager average of just 2.7 Yards per carry.
Keep in mind, the opponent was Tulsa…TULSA…and I want to be respectful, but Tulsa deployed one of the worst Defenses in the land over the past 4 seasons by yielding an average of 228 Rushing Yards per game vs mostly non Power 5 schools, and yet all the Spartans could post was 108 Yards Rushing?
Interestingly, I predicted this from the Spring Game. It’s notable the Offense struggled in the Spring Game, posting a meager 108 Yards Rushing (the same as last night), and not a single Running Back in the Spring Game gained more than 3.3 Yards per attempt. Last night it was a dismal 2.7 Yards per attempt, and you don’t have to be a mathematician or need a high powered computer to determine that anything less 3.3 Yards per attempt won’t move the chains.
Moreover, the Spartans committed an eye glazing and undisciplined 14 penalties for a whopping 122 Yards, mostly committed by the Offense. In football speak that translates to “shooting oneself in the foot”.
Celebrate the Spartans Defense:
The Spartans Defense performed above and beyond all expectations.
The Spartan Defense controlled the Line of Scrimmage and generally “beat up” and then “beatdown” Tulsa’s Offensive Line. The Defense yielded a meager 80 Yards net, including an amazing, minus 73 Yards Rushing (-73). And let’s be clear, holding an opponent to negative Rushing Yardage is nearly impossible in 21st Century football. Moreover, the Defense got a Defensive Touchdown, a Safety and 3 Turnover’s so, celebrate the Spartan Defense which is coached by Defensive Coordinator, Mike Tressel and his cadre of coaches including Ron Burton, Chuck Bullough and Paul Haynes.
The Defensive unit was angry, aggressive, efficient, and highly disciplined…sadly, the Offense appears to be the polar opposite.
At the bottom line:
I want to be respectful, but the so called “new Offense” needs help…and fast.
The Spartans ran well rehearsed, basic plays last night and floundered. And based upon miserable Offensive production, there was nothing to be optimistic about. And to be honest, it’s hard for me to envision that this Offense will be better in 2019 than it was in 2018. At least we didn’t see signs of “any” improvement last night. I’ll leave it there for now, but there will be plenty more to write about before the Spartans host Western Michigan next week.
