FAU Aftermath

In two words: It Rained.

During the MSU/ND game in 2006, in the second half at least, it rained harder. This was more like dripping water torture. It rained constantly. We were wet in rain gear under a tent.

Not-so-Sharp from the Free Press gives all the credit to two things: the rain and Ringer. Wow. Profound. He gets paid for this?! Next he'll be telling us people don't like high gas prices and the Lions are a terrible football team. He's right again. Way to go out on a limb.

The pass rush was bad. There was little to no pressure on the FAU QB. When it rains receivers can't get in and out of cuts, things take longer to develop, and the QB takes longer to get out from under center and get a good grip on the ball. That should have provided MSU's defensive ends a chance to get 3-5 sacks. We got zero. We can't hope to be a good defensive team until we pressure the QB. On the bright side the run defense was solid. Drew Dull seems to ignore that fact, saying the MSU defense was lucky it rained and stopped the passing attack, but FAU couldn't run the ball effectively either. Coming into the game FAU had run for over 150 yards per game. Last Saturday they had 82.

Ringer was Big Ten Player of the week. I'm still not sold on the offensive line. Most of the credit goes to Ringer, both for his raw talent and for decision making. Young backs run as fast as they can either straight up field or to the corner, trying to bounce outside. Experienced backs are patient. They wait for the blocks to develop, don't panic, then burst through when they see an opening. That is exactly what Ringer did this past weekend running the ball 43 times for 282 yards and 2 TD's. A 30 yard TD was called back on a hold.

Hoyer is...Hoyer. The conditions were terrible so I can't be too hard on him. However, he fumbled or almost fumbled three times as many snaps as the opposing QB. At one point a high snap went over his head. He ran to the ball and had the right idea; fall on the ball and eat the loss. He somehow screwed that up. Hoyer has now added "falling on a fumble" to a list of things he is not so good at.

I have no idea what to expect from the MSU ND game this weekend. ND looked terrible against lowly (very, very low) San Diego State and honestly should not have beaten Michigan. I'm ok with the latter. They just don't look all that impressive.

MSU is hard to figure as well. The offensive is, well, Ringer. I like the receivers I just don't know that I trust Hoyer to make good decisions or throws. The defense is hard to figure. Most importantly MSU v ND games are always strange.