((No longer) UFR-Style) Liveblog
Live from the pressbox at Spartan stadium, I'm going to try to do a UFR-style liveblog of the game. If it doesn't work out through the first quarter or so, I'll ditch it for a more standard liveblog.
3:27, the clock shows five minute until gametime.
3:30 I have never seen a cornier presentation of the National Anthem than that by the MSU band, complete with ROTC members shaking a giant nylon flag to make it look like it's rippling in the wind. Hart comes out as captain.
3:34 Michigan kickoff. Devin Thomas 26 yards to the 26.
1-10 M Defense 4-2-5 crable standup de ezeh and adams tackle ringer at 28 gain of 2
2-8 4-3 Reverse, Harrison whiffs, englemon tackles kellen davis on the 32 gain of long 4. Why is State running a reverse to the TE?
3-4 Hoyer's pass tipped and caught by kellen davis. Tackle by Harrison 17 yd gain. ball on 50
1-10 4-3 caulcrick cuts back into filing linebackers for 3. ball on M 47.
2-7 4-2-5. Ringer swing lateral, gain of 8, first down MSU.
1-10 4-2-5, Crable lined up to blitz. He and Harrison do. Bad coverage by Trent gives Devin Thomas a lot of room to make the catch. 18 yd gain for MSU.
1-10 4-3 weakside shift Crable on LOS. Caulcrick up the middle for 3 yd gain.
2-7 4-3 lots on the line. Tim Jamison off the line and covers short flat. Shitty pass by Hoyer would have gotten Davis an easy wide open TD.
Delay of game MSU. Taken back. Dantonio called a TO on the sideline before the clock expired. Ref says TO Michigan, he means MSU. It is impossible to UFR at game speed, so I'm stopping after this drive.
3-7 Hoyer in shotgun nexct to ringer. 3-3-5 way overshifted to the strongside for M. Changes to 4-2-5 as Jamo puts his hand down. Brandent Englemon makes a bi hit to break up a pass to Thomas that wouldn't have netted MSU a first down anyway.
4-7 Swenson barely makes a 36 yard FG inside the right upright to put State up 3-0. M played safe cover on the attempt.
Michigan gets that ball on the kickoff, Short one that Brown rturns to the 29. Fighting after the whistle.
10:35 1Q Hart gets the first carry on the drive for 8 yards, and the second, which doesn't count as MSU had a player in the neutral zone. Free first down.
Diving catch by Arrington. Not a great throw by Chad, but way to haul it in for Adrian. Offsides again on State. Same Old Spartans. NO DISCIPLINE.
Hart's ankle is getting taped. Manningham gets gifted a PI call that should have been on him.
Minor goes down in the backfield on a tackle he should have broken form Saint-Dic. Unsportsmanlike conduct coming up. Offsetting on Savoy and Eric Gordon from State.
9:18 1Q second and long Henne in the gun. Nice pass pro by Hart. Henne hits Manningham who may have actually lost yardage.
Third and long for the first time. State doesn't rush a lot of people, and Henne has all day. Manningham's guy falls down, and he is wide open. Henne overthrows him. Was Manningham grabbed as his cover fell?
8:15 1Q Michigan punt fielded at the 18, first and Ten State.
So far, M defense is playing bend but don't break, and the offense needs to find a groove after Henne and Hart have been out (or limited) for a couple weeks.
2-10 MSU, own 23. Ringer stumbles up the middle for about five as Adams comes up to play the run. 3-5 Hoyer from the gun connects for 2 yards. Harrison on the tackle. MSU playcalling not impressive, but neither is M's defensive play thus far. Not a whole lot of pressure on Hoyer.
Mathews drops the punt at the UM 38, but manages to cover it up before the coverage arrives.
Mallett is warming up on the sidelines, but Henne comes out to start the drive (as does Hart).
6:10 1Q. 1-10 Michigan from their own 38. Not bad field position. Twins left with Moundros on the right as a TE with Butler. Arrington Motions across for an Ace standard lok, and Henne hits Butler for an 11 yard gain.
On first and Ten, Hart gains 3 when his cut isn't sharp enough to find daylight. I feel like a 100% healthy Hart makes that cut and gains 8-9 yards. A lineman is down on the field. 57. Kraus. Lots of shuffling on the OL.
Long-Cuilla-Boren-Mitchell-Schilling
This OL clearly works, as Hart hits a huge hole and fights off safeties (if only he were a little faster) to the MSU 11. 1-10 after the 37 yard gain.
A bit of unclean play as Hart gets forward progress for no gain, and a couple Spartans wrestle him after the whistle for 5 yards back in 10 laterally.
Easy TD on the fade to Mario. Hilariously bad coverage by #31 Ashton Henderson.
7-3 Michigan 3:54 1Q
Great kickoff by Wright lands 6 yards deep in the corner of the endzone.
A pass to Thomas and a false start result in a second and ten for State. No discipline.
Chris Graham destroys Ringer on a swing pass. Loss of 7 puts MSU in a long-distance 3rd down. Does English bring the heat? 4-3 with Crable a standup DE. Pass tipped at the line by Jamo. State in to punt. Thomas would not have caught the pass for 1st down yardage.
More good field position, as the MSU punt goes end-over-end and rolls dead at the UM 44. Michigan takes over with 1:44 in the first.
Hart slips in the backfield, but manages to keep his balance long enough to make it to the line, which is a yard behind the LOS. The horribly disciplined Spartan DT Justin Kershaw shoves the Michigan center for 5 free yards. This is laughable. An example of when trying to use emotion can work against a team.
Arrington drops a pass in his numbers. Very good D by Davis-Clark to force the INC.
Carson Butler hasn't hit enough nerds yet this year, so he hits a State player after the incompletion for Manningham (Henne ends up on his back). Bad punt by Zoltan means State gets the ball on their own 41.
Hoyer horrifically underthrows Devin Thomas, who was fifteen yards behind Trent. It wasn't his fault, he was pointing for safety help that never came. Ringer runs into the line to end the first.
End 1st quarter. Michigan leads 7-3.
Stats? Stats:
Hart 5-48
Henne 3-6 for 23
Ringer 4-8
Caulcrick 2-6
Hoyer 6-10 for 43
Hoyer puts in on Jamar Adams's numbers. Returned to the State 42 (19 yds), where he goes out of bounds. Adams has stepped up his game statistics-wise this year, which is what he was definitely lacking in the past couple years.
Kraus center, Boren LG. Hart breaks tackles near the line to get down to the State 11.
More personal fouls on State. This team is a fucking joke. Davis-Clark hits Manningham for a PF, half the distance down to the 5.
Mitchell gets an early start to give back the yardage, but the free first down remains.
1-10 Michigan from MSU 10. Hart gets a hole at the line for 2-3, makes a push down to the 5.
3-G from the MSU 5. Henne to Butler near the left sideline right at the GL. K.C. Lopata kicks it through for a 14-3 lead.
12:46 2Q 14-3 Michigan.
Thomas returns the kickoff to the MSU 42. Fullback dive loses 2 yards.
Adams breaks up a pass intended for Davis. Devin Thomas dives and almost catches it. 3rd and long. Michigan brings 6 (4 DL, CGraham, and Adams). Hoyer swarmed under by everyone, Taylor and B Graham get credit for the sack. Illegal formation (lol State penalties lol) declined, MSU punts from their own 32.
Mathews lets it go over his head, and State downs the punt at the 6. Greg had a chance to field it on the bounce near the 25, but didn't do so. 67 yards on the punt.
11:24 1Q. 1-10 Michigan from the UM 6.
MSU hasn't had a first down since their first drive, and had 56 yards on that drive, 1 since. ABC's coverage is showing something about MSU basketball during the first play. Hart runs behind the FB shuffle right. Must be about the Spartans BBall losing to a DII team.
Hart runs a draw, he stands straight up once he's 7 yards past the LOS, lucky he didn't get completely pasted. Uncalled 5 yard facemask.
Henne in the gun, scrambles and drops it. Mitchell falls on the ball for a 3 yards gain. Michigan 4-1 forced to punt.
Another unimpressive one by Zoltan, as MSU will start the drive in Michigan territory.
Hoyer skips a pass a yard before it gets to Thomas. Run up the middle gets state in a third and medium. Hoyer with 2 backs in the gun. Both stay to block. He is flushed, then finds a TE for the first down. Best cure for MSU positive yardage? MSU penalties! Holding this time, and MSU will be in 3rd and long. Screen to Ringer nets them 2 yards, and state will have to punt again.
Punt downed at the UM 8, for some reason the ref decides to move back a yard before spotting it. Michigan will start the drive on their own 7 with 7:01 remaining in the first half.
Hart gains one on first down, then makes a cutback hard right on second to gain 6 yards. He is creating yardage by himself, the blocking has been decent but not great. Henne pressured from the gun on third, wings a dumpoff wide of Minor.
Zoltan with another bad punt. What is his deal today? Only 35 yards. State beings on the UM 49.
Ezeh has to make a tackle pretty far downfield. Why Ezeh was playing from in front 10 yards downfield I have no idea.
Devin Thomas goes deep for State. He puts his hand behind him to try to draw a PI call on Warren, but no avail. Just god handfighting by both guys, on a not very good pass by Hoyer. Touchback on the punt.
The offesne has been conservative of late, though a lot of that is probably just a product of bad field position. Still, on first down Carlos Brown runs up theback of his OL for no gain.
2nd and 10, Henne is hit as he throws, pass is low intended for Arrington. Maybe a bit of contact, but not bad enough to draw a flag. State's defense tries to get the fans into it on thrid and ten. Lloyd takes a timeout from the sideline. It's a short one.
Henne is pressured, and his pass intended for Mario is tipped and nearly intercepted by Henderson. Did the wind catch that one? Chad was throwing into it. Michigan will punt, and Zoltan finally boots one.
1-10 MSU own 28. 3:15 2Q.
Reverse to Thomas, Ezeh crushes him. 2 yard loss on the play.
Hoyer runs into a pulling guard at the snap on second down. Scramble drill and he takes the loss for a sack credited to Ezeh. 3rd and 18 MSU.
Michigan stops the clock to get the ball back with enough time for another score. This leads me to a coaching philosophy question. If Michigan forces the punt, MSU will expect a pass (because Michigan stopped the clock to allow time for them to score). Is this a god time to run a draw? I think so. You still have one timeout if it doesn't turn out well.
Hoyer's pass is high for Kellen Davis, he tips it up to himself and almost catches it, but is separated from it when he hits the ground.
Great punt return from Greg Mathews, although he demonstrated why he has never been described as a "burner." That's a new season long for him (29), it was 18.
Henne completes one to Mathews, who gets out of bounds. Then, Henne is nailed as he throws, and Arrington has to go to a knee to get it for a loss of one. Manningham open along the sideline, he tries to make something happen after the catch (such as a first down), but doesn't do it. Tackled in bounds 3 yards short.
UM calls a timeout, and appears to be going for it one fourth from the MSU 34. Surprised they didn't run it down a little more first, in case they didn't get it. Michigan State sees the Michigan formation after the timeout, and calls one of their own.
4-3 Michigan from the MSU 34. :59 Second Quarter. Henne in the gun with Minor. Arrington and Manningham to the right, Mathews left. Butler off the line to the left.
Henne throws right for Mario, intercepted by Otis Wiley. MSU will have the ball on their own 30 with :54 to play in the half. Wiley's pick netted the Spartans -4 yards.
On the first play, Hoyar finds Dell open between levels of coverage on the left sideline.
Incomplete pass on the first down, then MSU goes 5 wide with Davis in the slot. He is wide open in the middle of the field for 10 yards+lots of YAC, but his hands are one spot where Hoyer shouldn't hit him. Curry gets another MSU drop, at least he got drilled as the ball arrived. State will punt it.
A decent punt lands at the 18, I expect Michigan to take a knee to run out the final :19.
3:27, the clock shows five minute until gametime.
3:30 I have never seen a cornier presentation of the National Anthem than that by the MSU band, complete with ROTC members shaking a giant nylon flag to make it look like it's rippling in the wind. Hart comes out as captain.
3:34 Michigan kickoff. Devin Thomas 26 yards to the 26.
1-10 M Defense 4-2-5 crable standup de ezeh and adams tackle ringer at 28 gain of 2
2-8 4-3 Reverse, Harrison whiffs, englemon tackles kellen davis on the 32 gain of long 4. Why is State running a reverse to the TE?
3-4 Hoyer's pass tipped and caught by kellen davis. Tackle by Harrison 17 yd gain. ball on 50
1-10 4-3 caulcrick cuts back into filing linebackers for 3. ball on M 47.
2-7 4-2-5. Ringer swing lateral, gain of 8, first down MSU.
1-10 4-2-5, Crable lined up to blitz. He and Harrison do. Bad coverage by Trent gives Devin Thomas a lot of room to make the catch. 18 yd gain for MSU.
1-10 4-3 weakside shift Crable on LOS. Caulcrick up the middle for 3 yd gain.
2-7 4-3 lots on the line. Tim Jamison off the line and covers short flat. Shitty pass by Hoyer would have gotten Davis an easy wide open TD.
Delay of game MSU. Taken back. Dantonio called a TO on the sideline before the clock expired. Ref says TO Michigan, he means MSU. It is impossible to UFR at game speed, so I'm stopping after this drive.
3-7 Hoyer in shotgun nexct to ringer. 3-3-5 way overshifted to the strongside for M. Changes to 4-2-5 as Jamo puts his hand down. Brandent Englemon makes a bi hit to break up a pass to Thomas that wouldn't have netted MSU a first down anyway.
4-7 Swenson barely makes a 36 yard FG inside the right upright to put State up 3-0. M played safe cover on the attempt.
Michigan gets that ball on the kickoff, Short one that Brown rturns to the 29. Fighting after the whistle.
10:35 1Q Hart gets the first carry on the drive for 8 yards, and the second, which doesn't count as MSU had a player in the neutral zone. Free first down.
Diving catch by Arrington. Not a great throw by Chad, but way to haul it in for Adrian. Offsides again on State. Same Old Spartans. NO DISCIPLINE.
Hart's ankle is getting taped. Manningham gets gifted a PI call that should have been on him.
Minor goes down in the backfield on a tackle he should have broken form Saint-Dic. Unsportsmanlike conduct coming up. Offsetting on Savoy and Eric Gordon from State.
9:18 1Q second and long Henne in the gun. Nice pass pro by Hart. Henne hits Manningham who may have actually lost yardage.
Third and long for the first time. State doesn't rush a lot of people, and Henne has all day. Manningham's guy falls down, and he is wide open. Henne overthrows him. Was Manningham grabbed as his cover fell?
8:15 1Q Michigan punt fielded at the 18, first and Ten State.
So far, M defense is playing bend but don't break, and the offense needs to find a groove after Henne and Hart have been out (or limited) for a couple weeks.
2-10 MSU, own 23. Ringer stumbles up the middle for about five as Adams comes up to play the run. 3-5 Hoyer from the gun connects for 2 yards. Harrison on the tackle. MSU playcalling not impressive, but neither is M's defensive play thus far. Not a whole lot of pressure on Hoyer.
Mathews drops the punt at the UM 38, but manages to cover it up before the coverage arrives.
Mallett is warming up on the sidelines, but Henne comes out to start the drive (as does Hart).
6:10 1Q. 1-10 Michigan from their own 38. Not bad field position. Twins left with Moundros on the right as a TE with Butler. Arrington Motions across for an Ace standard lok, and Henne hits Butler for an 11 yard gain.
On first and Ten, Hart gains 3 when his cut isn't sharp enough to find daylight. I feel like a 100% healthy Hart makes that cut and gains 8-9 yards. A lineman is down on the field. 57. Kraus. Lots of shuffling on the OL.
Long-Cuilla-Boren-Mitchell-Schilling
This OL clearly works, as Hart hits a huge hole and fights off safeties (if only he were a little faster) to the MSU 11. 1-10 after the 37 yard gain.
A bit of unclean play as Hart gets forward progress for no gain, and a couple Spartans wrestle him after the whistle for 5 yards back in 10 laterally.
Easy TD on the fade to Mario. Hilariously bad coverage by #31 Ashton Henderson.
7-3 Michigan 3:54 1Q
Great kickoff by Wright lands 6 yards deep in the corner of the endzone.
A pass to Thomas and a false start result in a second and ten for State. No discipline.
Chris Graham destroys Ringer on a swing pass. Loss of 7 puts MSU in a long-distance 3rd down. Does English bring the heat? 4-3 with Crable a standup DE. Pass tipped at the line by Jamo. State in to punt. Thomas would not have caught the pass for 1st down yardage.
More good field position, as the MSU punt goes end-over-end and rolls dead at the UM 44. Michigan takes over with 1:44 in the first.
Hart slips in the backfield, but manages to keep his balance long enough to make it to the line, which is a yard behind the LOS. The horribly disciplined Spartan DT Justin Kershaw shoves the Michigan center for 5 free yards. This is laughable. An example of when trying to use emotion can work against a team.
Arrington drops a pass in his numbers. Very good D by Davis-Clark to force the INC.
Carson Butler hasn't hit enough nerds yet this year, so he hits a State player after the incompletion for Manningham (Henne ends up on his back). Bad punt by Zoltan means State gets the ball on their own 41.
Hoyer horrifically underthrows Devin Thomas, who was fifteen yards behind Trent. It wasn't his fault, he was pointing for safety help that never came. Ringer runs into the line to end the first.
End 1st quarter. Michigan leads 7-3.
Stats? Stats:
Hart 5-48
Henne 3-6 for 23
Ringer 4-8
Caulcrick 2-6
Hoyer 6-10 for 43
Hoyer puts in on Jamar Adams's numbers. Returned to the State 42 (19 yds), where he goes out of bounds. Adams has stepped up his game statistics-wise this year, which is what he was definitely lacking in the past couple years.
Kraus center, Boren LG. Hart breaks tackles near the line to get down to the State 11.
More personal fouls on State. This team is a fucking joke. Davis-Clark hits Manningham for a PF, half the distance down to the 5.
Mitchell gets an early start to give back the yardage, but the free first down remains.
1-10 Michigan from MSU 10. Hart gets a hole at the line for 2-3, makes a push down to the 5.
3-G from the MSU 5. Henne to Butler near the left sideline right at the GL. K.C. Lopata kicks it through for a 14-3 lead.
12:46 2Q 14-3 Michigan.
Thomas returns the kickoff to the MSU 42. Fullback dive loses 2 yards.
Adams breaks up a pass intended for Davis. Devin Thomas dives and almost catches it. 3rd and long. Michigan brings 6 (4 DL, CGraham, and Adams). Hoyer swarmed under by everyone, Taylor and B Graham get credit for the sack. Illegal formation (lol State penalties lol) declined, MSU punts from their own 32.
Mathews lets it go over his head, and State downs the punt at the 6. Greg had a chance to field it on the bounce near the 25, but didn't do so. 67 yards on the punt.
11:24 1Q. 1-10 Michigan from the UM 6.
MSU hasn't had a first down since their first drive, and had 56 yards on that drive, 1 since. ABC's coverage is showing something about MSU basketball during the first play. Hart runs behind the FB shuffle right. Must be about the Spartans BBall losing to a DII team.
Hart runs a draw, he stands straight up once he's 7 yards past the LOS, lucky he didn't get completely pasted. Uncalled 5 yard facemask.
Henne in the gun, scrambles and drops it. Mitchell falls on the ball for a 3 yards gain. Michigan 4-1 forced to punt.
Another unimpressive one by Zoltan, as MSU will start the drive in Michigan territory.
Hoyer skips a pass a yard before it gets to Thomas. Run up the middle gets state in a third and medium. Hoyer with 2 backs in the gun. Both stay to block. He is flushed, then finds a TE for the first down. Best cure for MSU positive yardage? MSU penalties! Holding this time, and MSU will be in 3rd and long. Screen to Ringer nets them 2 yards, and state will have to punt again.
Punt downed at the UM 8, for some reason the ref decides to move back a yard before spotting it. Michigan will start the drive on their own 7 with 7:01 remaining in the first half.
Hart gains one on first down, then makes a cutback hard right on second to gain 6 yards. He is creating yardage by himself, the blocking has been decent but not great. Henne pressured from the gun on third, wings a dumpoff wide of Minor.
Zoltan with another bad punt. What is his deal today? Only 35 yards. State beings on the UM 49.
Ezeh has to make a tackle pretty far downfield. Why Ezeh was playing from in front 10 yards downfield I have no idea.
Devin Thomas goes deep for State. He puts his hand behind him to try to draw a PI call on Warren, but no avail. Just god handfighting by both guys, on a not very good pass by Hoyer. Touchback on the punt.
The offesne has been conservative of late, though a lot of that is probably just a product of bad field position. Still, on first down Carlos Brown runs up theback of his OL for no gain.
2nd and 10, Henne is hit as he throws, pass is low intended for Arrington. Maybe a bit of contact, but not bad enough to draw a flag. State's defense tries to get the fans into it on thrid and ten. Lloyd takes a timeout from the sideline. It's a short one.
Henne is pressured, and his pass intended for Mario is tipped and nearly intercepted by Henderson. Did the wind catch that one? Chad was throwing into it. Michigan will punt, and Zoltan finally boots one.
1-10 MSU own 28. 3:15 2Q.
Reverse to Thomas, Ezeh crushes him. 2 yard loss on the play.
Hoyer runs into a pulling guard at the snap on second down. Scramble drill and he takes the loss for a sack credited to Ezeh. 3rd and 18 MSU.
Michigan stops the clock to get the ball back with enough time for another score. This leads me to a coaching philosophy question. If Michigan forces the punt, MSU will expect a pass (because Michigan stopped the clock to allow time for them to score). Is this a god time to run a draw? I think so. You still have one timeout if it doesn't turn out well.
Hoyer's pass is high for Kellen Davis, he tips it up to himself and almost catches it, but is separated from it when he hits the ground.
Great punt return from Greg Mathews, although he demonstrated why he has never been described as a "burner." That's a new season long for him (29), it was 18.
Henne completes one to Mathews, who gets out of bounds. Then, Henne is nailed as he throws, and Arrington has to go to a knee to get it for a loss of one. Manningham open along the sideline, he tries to make something happen after the catch (such as a first down), but doesn't do it. Tackled in bounds 3 yards short.
UM calls a timeout, and appears to be going for it one fourth from the MSU 34. Surprised they didn't run it down a little more first, in case they didn't get it. Michigan State sees the Michigan formation after the timeout, and calls one of their own.
4-3 Michigan from the MSU 34. :59 Second Quarter. Henne in the gun with Minor. Arrington and Manningham to the right, Mathews left. Butler off the line to the left.
Henne throws right for Mario, intercepted by Otis Wiley. MSU will have the ball on their own 30 with :54 to play in the half. Wiley's pick netted the Spartans -4 yards.
On the first play, Hoyar finds Dell open between levels of coverage on the left sideline.
Incomplete pass on the first down, then MSU goes 5 wide with Davis in the slot. He is wide open in the middle of the field for 10 yards+lots of YAC, but his hands are one spot where Hoyer shouldn't hit him. Curry gets another MSU drop, at least he got drilled as the ball arrived. State will punt it.
A decent punt lands at the 18, I expect Michigan to take a knee to run out the final :19.
This entry was posted by Tim, on
Saturday, November 03, 2007.
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