Badgers vs. Spartans - The Wisconsin Take

Yesterday we provided you with a great preview of this weekend's Wisconsin-Michigan State tilt from or local Michigan State expert, Sparty Tom. As a side note, in the future, Sparty Tom will provide us with a step-by-step guide on how to set fire to a couch. Anyhow, today you are going to get a less accurate preview of the game from a Badger alumni, Roger Murdock.

This is a great game to kick off the Big Ten season. Both teams are trying to figure what exactly they have and the result of this game will go a long way in setting the tone for the Big Ten season for both teams. Here is what we know so far. Wisconsin is 3-0 with a balanced offensive attack, but has definitely shown warts in their first three games. Scott Tolzein has been a wonderful surprise for all Badger fans. He throws a great ball and is willing to stand in the pocket and take a hit to deliver the ball at the last possible moment. The Badger's JS beat writer told me that Tolzien gained a ton of confidence last season in his few mop-up appearances and it is definitely showing in his play this year. The running game is not off to the greatest start ever, but I am not as down on these guys as a lot of people are. One of the biggest things slowing down the running game is the fact that the O-line is still coming together. With Bill Nagy and John Moffit out for most of the first 3 games, the best O-line has not been on the field yet. It probably won't be out there on Saturday either, but the guys playing have had 3 games to gel, so that is a plus. Everyone knows about Clay's fumbling issues last week. Maybe he was wearing the Ahman Green Memorial Wet Leather Arm Sleeve. At any rate, Clay wasn't a big fumbler last year, so hopefully this is just a blip on the radar. Brown has been ok. Nothing flashy, but that is what you get out of Zach Brown. Erik Smith looked good against Woffard, but in the Big Ten he looks to be nothing more than a 3rd down/change of pace type guy.

The Badgers defense looks solid up front but relatively brutal in the secondary. I almost wish Soup Campbell and B.J. Tucker were out there. OK, maybe not so much on Tucker. Anyhow, O'Brien Schofield has just been a beast this year. He has 6.5 tackles for loss so far this season and just always seems to be flying towards the ball. By far and away the defensive MVP so far this season. The Badgers seem to be getting a decent push up front this year. May be attributed to better D-line depth. The secondary got torched by Fresno State. Aaron Henry still seems a bit unsure following two knee surgeries and an illness. By all accounts he is a great person and was a great talent prior to the injuries. Let's hope he can get back the groove this year. In general, the D-backs seem to be lining up in no mans land. They are plying too far off the line for bump and run coverage but not deep enough to hang with receivers on deep routes. This unit really needs to step it up starting now.

MSU comes in to the game at 1-2 but could easily be 3-0. Hey, losses to MAC teams occasionally happen. It stinks, but losing to Central Michigan wasn't the end of the world for the Spartans. Central Michigan needed to recover an on-sides kick and then have an off-sides penalty on Michigan State on the missed game-winning field goal attempt before they hit the actual game winning FG. The game last week against Notre Dame should have, at minimum, gone into overtime. Cousins missed a wide open receiver in the end zone and on the next play throws a terrible pick when the Spartans were easily in FG range. So, this team could easily be 3-0.

As I mentioned, this game should be interesting. I think it will be a close game throughout with plenty of scoring. Michigan Sate is going to rely on their passing attack and go after the Badgers secondary. If they start hitting on some plays early, it could be a long day for the Badgers. I hear Cousins has looked good so far this season and there is no reason it shouldn't continue on Saturday. To combat this, the Badgers are going to have to bring some pressure and make Cousins uncomfortable in the pocket. If the line can get good pressure and force him to throw the ball before he wants to, this will help out the secondary greatly. Look for the Badgers to blitz a bit more than usual.

I look for the Badgers running game to step it up this week. Look, I really don't care who the starter is, Clay and Brown will get the same amount of carries. I almost like having Brown start and having Clay come in later in the game and using his size to just run over some guys when they are tired. The running game will rack up solid yardage and Tolzien will continue to impress against a suspect MSU secondary. Cousins and Tolzien will both rack up some good stats, but in a game where the last team to have the ball may win, I look for Tolzein to come through in the clutch with a pass to Toon or Graham.

Michigan State needs this game badly. They play at Michigan next week. A team that had New Years Day bowl aspirations at the start of the season cannot tolerate a 4 game losing streak. The Badgers have motivation for this game as well. They will remember last year's vomit-inducing loss at State and be out for blood. I am going to call this a 31-28 victory for the Badgers and give the game a solid 6.5 High Lifes out of 10 High Lifes on the Miller High Life Watchibility Scale.

Both Sparty Tom and I will be at this game so hopefully one of us can produce a solid recap next week.

Badgers vs. Spartans - The MSU Take

Our friend Sparty Tom is back to give us a look at this weekend's Big Ten Opener between the Badgers and the Spartans from a Michigan State viewpoint. Sparty Tom will be attending the game this weekend so we hope to get a wrap up of his trip to Madison some time next week. Also, look for my take on this game from a Badger perspective sometime tomorrow. I am sure you are all anxiously awaiting to see where this rates on the High Life Watchibility Scale.

On to Sparty Tom's preview:

The Spartans must win this game, plain and simple. For a team and fans that had preseason expectations of Big Ten Championship contention and a New Year’s Day Bowl game, falling into a 1-3 hole could be the beginning of a lost season. Although Wisconsin has enjoyed a light early season schedule, the fact that the Badgers are 30-3 at Camp Randall since 2004 doesn’t make the Spartan faithful feel any more comfortable. Wisconsin will be looking to avenge last year’s 25-24 heartbreaker at the hands of Sparty in East Lansing. Wisconsin has more talent on offense this year and will be geared up for their first real test of the 2009 season.

On offense, Michigan State will look to expose a Wisconsin defense that has some new faces this year. Head coach Mark Dantonio has said in his weekly press conference that he will continue to utilize both Kirk Cousins and Keith Nichol at the quarterback position (…and to inject my personal feeling on the matter, this circus needs to stop. Kirk Cousins leads the Big Ten and ranks 14th in the NCAA in passing efficiency. He completed 70% of his passes against Notre Dame, throwing for over 300 yards. He was voted team captain and leader of the offense….let him play). The return of senior center Joel Nitchman, along with junior wide receiver Mark Dell for a second week should also give the Spartans a boost on offense. On the other side of the ball, Wisconsin will have to shore up its running game for this one. The Badger running backs had problems with fumbling against Wofford, and junior Quarterback Scott Tolzien will also have to be sharp against a blitz-happy MSU defense (at one point during the ND game, MSU blitzed 26 consecutive times).

Anytime the Badgers and Spartans line up, it promises to be a typical hard hitting Big Ten slugfest. Both teams take pride in winning the battle of the trenches. Although both have struggled with the run game early on, don’t expect them to completely abandon their style. Big Ten openers are hard to predict because emotions are running high on both sides. However, I think MSU just has too much to lose in this one and will be playing with more desperation.

Prediction: MSU – 27 WIS - 17

Real Football Insight: Michigan State vs. Notre Dame

Since the Badgers are playing Wofford this week, I figured we could take a look at some other match-ups that may be of interest to the locals. Lets start off with Michigan State at Notre Dame (2:30, NBC).

Let me start off by saying I really dislike Notre Dame. However, after years of looking like crap (and an emu) Jimmy Clausen is looking like a pretty good QB this year. It helps when you have a beast like Michael Floyd running routes and catching balls for you. However, their coach is still Charlie Weis. His latest in douchbaggery came this week when he started his presser by complaining about the officiating in the Michigan game, saying that was all he was going to say because he had Big Ten officials this week, and then spending the rest of the presser talking about officiating. Hey, if you want to see bad officiating, check out a tape of the Packers-Bears game from Sunday night. I was convinced the officials were trying to see if there was any way they could digitally put a 12th Packer on the field during the fake punt review.

Anyhow back to the MSU-Notre Dame game. I know State was embarrassed last week by Central Michigan and Notre Dame played a good game against Michigan. However, I see the Spartans rising up and winning this one. As wildly inconsistent as MSU football has been for as long as I can remember, they always seem to play well against Notre Dame. I am going to go with a Michigan State win here. In terms of watchability, I am going to give this one 8 bottles of High Life on a 10 bottle of High Life scale.

For a better look at the game, lets see what a MSU alum, who I will dub Sparty Tom, has to say about this game:

MSU has beaten Notre Dame an unprecedented six times in a row in South Bend. No other team in college football history can claim that feat in the 78 year history of Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame is coming off a painful loss at the hands of the Wolverines in Ann Arbor, while Michigan State is trying to forget that embarrassment in East Lansing against the mighty Chippewas of Central Michigan last weekend. Jimmy Clausen figures to have a big day throwing the ball as Michigan State's secondary has been a weakness in the first few weeks of play. Pre-season All American Linebacker Greg Jones and the rest of the Michigan State defensive line hope to provide enough pressure up front to keep the Fighting Irish offense off balance.

On the other side of the ball, there is still a Quarterback controversy in the Spartan camp. Both Oklahoma transfer Keith Nichol, and redshirt sophomore Kirk Cousins have split playing time in the Spartan's first two games of the season. Nichol likes to use his quickness to leave the pocket make plays on the run, while Cousins is more of a drop-back passer who throws a more accurate ball. MSU coach Mark Dantonio has not revealed who will receive the playing time against Notre Dame. Either way, they'll have to deal with a Notre Dame defense that is looking to redeem itself after giving up too many big plays against the Wolverines last week. Irish head coach Charlie Weis has had his first team defense taking reps against the first team offense this week in practice to instill more toughness.

This is the type of game that will set the tone for the rest of the season for both teams. How will each team respond to an early season loss? For Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis, two early season losses will most likely resurrect calls for his job that were so prevalent at the end of last season. For Michigan State, this is the start of a 3-game stretch that will define their season (Notre Dame, Wisconsin, and Michigan). A loss would put them in a hole that they want no part of. Given the nature of the rivalry, this game promises to be one of the best battles of the weekend

Nice Work Sparty Tom. Look for more Sparty Tom analysis throughout this season as well as basketball season when we discuss Big Ten Championship basketball banners left rolled up in the rafters.