Last Saturday, Wisconsin beat Michigan State 38-0 and when the game clock ticked to Zero, Wisconsin had demonstrated the best of balance and ball control football by way of compiling 222 Yards Rushing…180 Yards Passing…converted 46% of their 3rd Down opportunities, controlled the football for nearly 40 minutes, and posted their sixth victory of the season.
Yet, those stats are remarkably similar to stats posted by the Spartans in years gone by, let’s look back:
In 2014, the Spartans were a model of balance, ball control and consistency by way of averaging 235 Yards Rushing…265 Yards Passing…43 Points per game…converted 50% of 3rd Down opportunities…controlled the clock for 35 minutes, and posted an 11-2 record including a Top 5 finish.
In addition, in 2014 the Spartans Defense ranked #8…the Rushing Defense ranked #1 and the Scoring Defense yielded just a tick over 21 Points per game and the combination of Offense and Defense was a recipe for double digit victories.
But that was then and this is now and while injuries have been an issue during the past two years, nevertheless the drop in Offensive production has been “jaw dropping”. Take a look at the decline of the Spartans Offense from 2014 through 2018 when measured against 129 Division 1 schools:
- 2014…#11
- 2015…#73
- 2016…#75
- 2017…#91
- 2018…#116
To fill in a few blanks, the Spartans Offense averaged an auspicious 500 Yards per game in 2014, compared to just 342 Yards per game in 2018 and that’s an “eye glazing” decline of 158 Yards per game. Meanwhile, Rushing production declined from 235 Yards per game in 2014, to just 125 Yards per game in 2018, an incredible decline of 110 Yards per game.
And now, in 2019, the Spartans Rushing Offense is averaging just 117 Yards Rushing per game.
The numbers look worse in Big Ten competition:
Yet when we measure Spartans Rushing production in Big Ten competition, the Spartans are averaging just 88 Yards per game and after 4 Big Ten games only Purdue ranks lower. In fact, the Spartans Rushing Offense is sandwiched between Rutgers #12 and Purdue #14, and that’s not the type of company a football team wants to associate with if it has Championship aspirations.
By contrast, Ohio State is averaging 323 Yards Rushing per game in Big Ten competition or 200 Yards more than the Spartans. Let that sink in, the Buckeyes are averaging 200 Yards more than the Spartans.
And if you want another measuring tool, then I give you Minnesota whose Rushing Offense is averaging 133 Yards more than the Spartans in Big Ten competition.
Spartans Offensive decline is alarming:
By any definition, the Spartans Offensive decline, especially the decline in Rushing production is a 5 alarm emergency…and it appears there are no simple answers.
To quote Winston Churchill: “it’s a riddle, wrapped inside a mystery, inside an enigma” and Churchill was talking about dire issues leading up to World War II. Is it that bad? I don’t know, but it’s a quandary because it is the same coaching staff who built an Offense that averaged more than 500 Yards per game as recently as 2014 whereby the Offense ranked within the top 10 percentile of 129 Division 1 schools, yet curiously the Spartans Offense has been in steady decline since 2014, and now the Spartans Offense ranks in the bottom 25th percentile of 129 Division 1 teams?
I have written about the Spartans Offensive decline on numerous occasions, most recently at the end of last season, and then prior to this season, but the stats I put forth and the dire scenario I portrayed apparently got lost amidst other conversations, but the issue is topical again, and the stats speak for themselves. The Spartans Offense is floundering.
In fact, it’s nearly impossible to comprehend the Spartans Offense has fallen so far, so fast under the same coaching staff.
Lots of questions, including “…dumb ass Question (s)”:
Problematically, with 5 games to play, the young Spartans look dazed.
Their dreams of winning a Big Ten title, and moving on to the College Football Playoffs have been dashed, and from my perspective, their spirit appears to be broken. Sadly, these young players are subjected to all manner of radical commentary via Social Media, in fact, they don’t have to seek out demeaning stories on Social Media, rather it is delivered uninvited through a Fire Hose.
And some of the lunacy comes from the media as well, such as a question asked in the most recent postgame press conference.
Let me preface the events: after suffering a humiliating beatdown at Wisconsin, Mark Dantonio sat through a painful barrage of postgame questions, of course that’s his job, but let’s make this clear, there aren’t a lot of good answers after a humiliating beatdown, yet to his credit Mark Dantonio took on each question and answered each to the best of his ability.
But then a reporter representing the “lunatic fringe” asked arguably the most unseemly of questions. The reporter asked, in so many words if it was a mistake for Dantonio to rearrange his Offensive Coaching staff as opposed to changing the entire Offensive Coaching staff during the offseason.
Let me say, that question is preposterous. Anyone who has ever built, managed or guided an organization, isn’t going to comment on Organizational changes in a public forum…and so, in my view, Mark Dantonio answered appropriately, and here is what he said:
Quote: “Well, I don’t think we ask those questions right now…we’re seven games into the schedule”…but at that point I believe the absurdity and outrageousness of the question sunk in, and Mark Dantonio fired back:
“I think that’s sort of a dumbass question, to be quite honest with you.” (unquote)
Apparently the lunatic who asked the question wanted to “grandstand” and hear himself talk on a National stage, but no coach in the land is going to answer the question with coaches on staff who are currently under contract, so that is the legal point of view.
From a practical point of view, no coach is going to answer “yes” and insult members of his current staff on public TV, and/or lose the confidence of his current players who are playing in that system…nor on the other hand would a Head Coach answer “no” and thereby suggest that all is well, so Mark Dantonio said exactly what I would say, and that is: “I think that’s sort of a dumbass question, to be quite honest with you.”…in fact, I would take it a step further and reply, “to be quite honest with you, it’s dumber than a dumbass Question!!!”
At the bottom line:
There are plenty of questions, and very few answers.
In fact, there are issues within every Offensive position group, and there are challenges within the Defensive unit as well, so to say Mark Dantonio has his hands full would be a huge understatement.
Of course, it’s worth noting, Mark Dantonio has a record of 111-54 overall…67-36 Big Ten…he currently has a season record of 4-3 including 2-2 Big Ten yet in spite of an impressive won/lost record, yet at 63 will he have the appetite to fix the issues at hand?
This is a time when a Head Coach needs the best counsel, guidance and support of an experienced Athletic Director, and so we’ll explore that in more detail on Thursday.
