Open Letter to the team - MSU 2014 Edition

olddominionhusker said:
sd said:
Moiraine said:
olddominionhusker said:
My letter

You are playing the most overrated team in the country Saturday. They are worse then the team you played last year and you are better. They were soundly beaten by the only decent team they have played
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oof. i hope we do not lose to such a terrible team.
also, espn has only been talking about msu/nu as the best hopes for the B1G in the playoffs.
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First let's not be dramatic. Overrated is not equivalent to terrible. Show meOne place I said MSU was terrible or even bad. Overrated IMO. Worse then last year. Never said bad so stop trying to put word in my mouth.

Umm no. I sat through an entire conversation on ESPN (either CFB Daily or experts I think) where two guys debated whether MSU or Wisconsin was the best chance for the Big 10 this year. Then one of them piped in and said "don't count out Ohio St."

Look I don't really care if you all want to make out MSU to be the end all be all. Make all the cute little emoticons and gifs you want. They aren't that good. Just because they played a solid HALF of football against Oregon doesn't mean anything. In the end they got rolled by 19 and managed 3 second half points. Washington State was a hell of a lot more impressive and competitive against Oregon then MSU was and they are sitting at 2-3 with losses to Nevada and Rutgers. NC state played a solid 3 quarters against FSU And has one loss. They've accomplished roughly as much as MSU this year from an objective standpoint. I think MSU has a significantly worse defense this year and is drastically overrated for what they have accomplished so far this year. A lot of their ranking is nothing more then carry over from a strong finish last year.

Yes this would still be a big win for our program because let's face it we haven't played anyone either and beating MSU would help with national perception of the team. but if we do win I'm not going to act like we just knocked off Alabama or Oregon either.
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I'd say 75% of my response was due to it veing one of the most terrible ways possible to motivate this team. "Hay guys they're not that good anyway."

 
I can see how you would take it that way in print but there is a difference between saying these guys suck lets not even take them seriously and hey these guys are beatable and we are just as talented as they are. There is a difference between confidence and overconfidence or cockiness. I want my team to think they are the better team and have a chip on their shoulder because no one else does. This isn't David and Goliath and you don't want your team going in thinking that way. That's just giving them a built in excuse to lose. "Well they were so much better then us it was a Longshot anyway"

 
1995 Redux said:
Michigan State has a stellar defense. They have a vastly imoroved offense. They have home field advantage. This is not an easy game. I envy your confidence. Im nervous Ill admit. I know we are capable of winning and winning handily. But weve gotta play perfect football. We cant play with mistakes. We have to beat them up. If we go in with the overrated approach we will lose. This is a tall task, but achievable if we have the right mindset.
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Agreed. No where did I say they were bad. I just think they are overrated right now based on what I've objectively seen. We do have to play well to win.

I am more confident about this game then I have been about NU in a big game for a while. I'm not an optimist regarding this team by nature either.

Hey maybe I'm wrong but I do know that I want my team going in there thinking they are the better team and hell bent on proving the pundits wrong.

 
I dont want them thinking they are the better team, they need to know it, to feel it and to want it.

CockIness is not a strength here. This is a big road game. Sparty may not have the most intimidating venue but at night with serious post season implications on the line, this place could be wild since last time we went there we ripped victory out of their hands with seconds to spare.

We need to be the more well oiled machine to acieve the win. Thats why they beat us at home last year. We had the home field advantage and the more talented team, but they played better. We just have to return the favor.

 
Both teams will have to have their "A" games to win this week. Sparty can't just go through the motions, either. From what I'm hearing about the weather forecast, it just might be the team that doesn't panic when it gets sloppy, which could easily happen in bad weather. I think it's going to come down to the play along the line of scrimmage on both sides. I know this is not some big revelation, but the team that is able to get some push on the line of scrimmage will have the advantage. Ameer will have a hard time with hard cuts and bouncing around, but his balance after contact will be huge. If that contact comes 3 yards beyond the line, it will be a good night. I would think that Imani could get some more carries, he's not exactly Tigger out there and his speed and power could be useful. How big are Tommie Armstrong's hands? If he can get a decent grip on a wet ball, the playaction will be there.

 
I think despite our different confidence level in the outcome we are on the same page Redux. These kids don't need to hear about how great MSU is. They aren't idiots. They know it's a big game and if they aren't taking it seriously at this point, nothing will change that.

This team needs to get a little swagger back. As you said they need to know they are better.

Never thought I'd see the day we would tiptoe around Michigan State like they were the second coming of the Michael Irvin Alonzo Highsmith Canes

 
We are bigger up front on O and D. At all times during this game we will have the best player on the field. This game will come down to execution. If we have a clean game or limit the mistakes to a minimum we will win. We have had success against this team in the past. We know it and they know it.

Offensively we are going to run the ball and mix in some play action. If they load the box which I think they will Bell, Westerkamp and company have to get seperation and make them pay. If you burn them early they wont be so willing to stack the box. I also expect a trick play...Bo dosent do these things but Saturday is where I could see it happen.

Defensively I believe we get after them. Bringing more than they can block and playing almost press coverage when blitzing. We need to speed up Cook when he drops in the pocket. We need to hit him early and often. Need to let him know we are coming all 4 quarters. If the Blackshirts play with good technique and dont do anything out of the norm and play assignment football I think we can frustrate Sparty by creating 3rd and longs. Were not going to shut them out or anything but if you can limit them to 25 or so that is a job well done.

The other thing....were the dog and no one is picking us. MSU is the home team with No 10 ranking in the country coming off a Rose Bowl victory all the pressure is on them. This isnt the be all end all either, theyre not even in our division. They have everything to lose and we have everything to gain. We are a confident group that isnt getting any attention as an underdog. This is a great position to be in.

 
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