Not so long ago, the Spartans Offense was an utter embarrassment.

In fact, for over 5 full seasons, from 2016 to 2020, the Spartans Offense never finished better than #96 nationally when measured against 130 D-1 Teams.

It also meant over those same 5 years that the Spartan Offense was generally in a race to finish near the bottom of the Big Ten statistically…and that usually meant Spartan Football finished near the bottom of the Big Ten standings as well.

Now comes 2021 and while the Offense is only ranked #27 in the land, nevertheless the Offense is demonstrating great balance by way of averaging more than 200 Yards Rushing…250 Yards Passing….and nearly 35 Points per game.

The Spartans are now 7-0 overall and stand alone atop the Big Ten standings with a record of 4-0.

The Spartans are also ranked #9 in AP Poll and #7 in the Coaches Poll for the first time since 2015. In fact, within the Coaches Poll, the Spartans rank ahead of Penn State, Oregon, Notre Dame, Texas A&M and Clemson, so raise your hand if you thought that was possible after watching the dysfunctionality of last season?

I certainly didn’t and while I’m still uncertain if I am ready to drink the Kool Aid given the fact the Spartan Defense is yielding more than 400 Yards per game, including the Spartan Pass Defense yielding more than 285 Yards per game, nevertheless each week the Spartans overcome adversity and find a way to win..

Let’s remember, the Spartan Pass Defense yielded a whopping 388 Yards to Miami, and then yielded 488 Yards to Western Kentucky yet found a way to Win.

And of course, the Spartans lost the battle of Total Yardage to Nebraska 442 to 254 (-188 Yards) yet found a way to win. And last weekend, the Spartans lost the battle of Total Yardage to Indiana 322 to 241 (-81 Yards) yet found a way to win.

Let’s be honest, the Spartans roster management has confounded pundits across the land, including me.

Based upon everything we know about the fundamentals of building a roster, and the importance of roster continuity, the turnaround of Spartan Football from dysfunctional in 2020, to dynamic in 2021 should be considered an improbable proposition, especially given the enormity of the roster turnover including 27 players who unexpectedly transferred out after last season, while nearly 20 or so new players transferred in, yet here we are!

Let’s remember, last season the Spartan Offense stunk up college football, averaging just 330 Yards of Total Offense, while the Rushing Offense was the worst in Spartan history averaging less than 92 Yards per game (ranked #122 in the land).

So we’ll have to see where this goes for the balance of 2021, but so far the Spartans are 7-0 and ranked in the Top 10 and that means Spartan Football is an unmitigated surprise.

Spartan Football has become the Cinderella of college football while making believers out of skeptics!

 

At the bottom line (Michigan and Michigan State will likely meet as unbeatens):

This coming weekend, Michigan will host Northwestern and at this writing, Michigan is a prohibitive 23.5 point favorite.

It would be a fair assumption that Michigan will beat Northwestern in Ann Arbor, which in turn sets the stage for the Spartans hosting Michigan on Oct 30.

The Spartans and Michigan will likely be ranked in the Top 10 and boast unbeaten 7-0 records when they play on Oct 30 and in my mind, it will set the stage for the best theater since 2015, whereby the Spartans gained possession of a mishandled punt and scored a TD as the stadium clock ticked to zero.

 

In full disclosure:

I trust everyone is aware that I haven’t written since the Western Kentucky game, so I wanted to let everyone know that I am currently in Houston, Texas undergoing medical tests.

I won’t go into more detail at this time, but Medical professionals have told me that my medical condition is treatable and that the prognosis is favorable.

Nevertheless, I may be writing less frequently, yet I shall continue to provide the best statistical analysis possible.

Take care and thank you for reading.