Iowa: The Takeaway

Well another road game and another historical monkey off our backs. MSU walked away with their first Iowa victory at Kinnick since 1561. With that, I move to 0-4 at picking road games for this year. So we'll be losing at Northwestern(my official prediction!) in a couple of weeks. The thing that surprised me about this win was how comfortable it was. Yes, Iowa made a run in the second half, but it never closed within thirteen. A two possession game is pretty comfortable as far as I'm concerned.

So we have a couple of outstanding monkeys under Dantonio now and then I think we're good on monkey control. One, we need to win a bowl game. Two, we need to beat Nebraska at all as twitter follower MSUAlum2002 pointed out. The first is "more concerning" than the second, although, neither is worrisome yet.

How good was Kirk Cousins day yesterday? His passer rating was 160.5 and the only B10 game he had a higher one against was Wisconsin. It was his third best away game ever after 2010 Michigan and 2010 Penn State.

Why was our road offense so improved this week? Honestly, I saw plays I haven't seen this year yet. I saw several draw plays including Bell's 35 yard touchdown run. Also, I think the formation where the 3 WR lined up in a shallow diagonal to the right of the line and Cousins rolled right was new. Further, I think using Bell as the starter with Baker as the change of pace back worked perfectly. Bell got yardage early so Roushar didn't abandon the run too early and then the pressure was off Baker when he came into the game. I believe Michigan State is undefeated when LeVeon Bell gets 15 carries.

How did we hold Iowa's Offense down so well? Well, simply put, Vanderbeek isn't as good a Quarterback as he was in Varsity Blues, knowing full well a win put them in the catbird's seat to win the Rotel Division he opted for the simple life.



So MSU turned their attentions to stopping Iowa's run game and made Vanderbeek win the game on his arm. This was MSU's defensive gameplan against Iowa in 2009 and I assume that it was also the plan in 2010, but we'll never know. I figured Coker would not be tossing up 150 and 2TD's on us as he has been want to do the past four weeks, but I did not anticipate him being held to 57 yards on 21 carries. So when the fourth quarter came and Vanderbeek was playing from behind he started making bad reads and crappy throws.

Why were Iowa fans booing our injured players?

Because they're a bunch of whiners.



Seriously though, I'm not going back to rewatch the game to count up this number, but there were a lot of injuries that magically were fixable in 2-3 plays. At this point there might be a hint of truth to the injury fairy, because this happened at Nebraska too. More likely is that it's November and this defense is tired and dinged up. Genuinely hurt without a doubt yesterday though were Gholston and Dennard, hope they heal up soon.

Is this becoming a rivalry game?

Would you go with a double reverse pass off a reverse (thanks to @Baylan295 for finding that error) Keshawn Martin pass up 31-7 on someone you liked? What about faking a field goal three plays later? What about having Marvin McNutt throw a pass to Iowa's drug lord DJK in 2010 in the fourth quarter up 37-6? Make no mistake about it, there is bad blood brewing between Iowa and MSU. That plus all of the new offensive business from Roushar leads me to believe this was the second most important regular season game to this staff to win. BTW Pop Psychology thought, Iowa doesn't creep back in if we don't run the trickeration.

Bowl Outlook: I don't think we fall any farther than Cap One Bowl now. If we win out, we play for the Big Ten title in Indy and if we lose that game we're likely Cap One Bowl Bound. Our likely Big Ten Title game opponent? Wisconsin.

Spartans, this is about as good as it gets. Enjoy.

Kirk Ferentz: The Nemesis of Mark Dantonio?

In Iowa City, there lives a man. His name is Kirk Ferentz and he is the Head Coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes. After four years of watching this man in relation to our coach Mark Dantonio I have come to an indisputable conclusion. Kirk Ferentz's purpose in life is to shit in Mark Dantonio's cereal.

Last year was of course the most severe example with MSU losing 37-6 and Ferentz gleefully rubbing his nose in it. You know, as much as he gleefully does anything. In the video below, he cites the excellence of a play made by his team in this 37-6 blowout as payback for the "Hook and Lateral" that Michigan State ran against them in 2009.



You know, he was paying back Michigan State for making their 2009 game close. Maybe it wasn't satisfying enough for him to grow 70,000 arms and punch everyone in the gut as the clock expired in 2009. Seriously, what the hell kind of comment is that? The kind you deliver when you just drop the hammer on someone.

In 2008, MSU carries a 13-3 lead in at the half and is a 4th and 2 stop of Iowa's Shonn Greene away from losing at the end of the game. In 2007, we lose out in double overtime in a game we took right down to the wire. (Side Note: I watched that game in the Capital City airport bar with Tom Izzo.)

It's not that Ferentz beats MSU, it's that when he does beat MSU my blood hurts afterwards at the fashion in which the beating occurred. It's because of this that I find myself wondering if Kirk Ferentz is the nemesis of Mark Dantonio.

One Step Ahead

Ferentz and Dantonio share the mantra of playing football traditional Big 10 football with a focus on high percentage passes, minimizing turnovers and stifling defense. The problem is that in this match-up so far, Ferentz has totally outdueled Dantonio in these areas. The only time we won the turnover battle? When we won in 2008. How many times have we outrushed Iowa in this series? Zero. Even in 2008 win, they outgained us in total yardage and time of Possession. Why did we win that game they turned the ball over three times, we turned it over one. It's becoming clear that when Ferentz and Dantonio get themselves together in the yard, Ferentz beats Dantonio at his own game.

How And Why Is This Year Different?

There are two teams that control their own destiny in the Legends division. They are playing in Iowa City on Saturday. As a result, Iowa is getting the red-letter game treatment this week. Dantonio has closed off player access from the media for the second time this year. The first was against Ohio State who is apparently a much better team than we all thought they were after that game. Of course MSU has to win every game in November to have the opportunity to play for the Rose Bowl, but no remaining game will be more difficult than this Saturday's game in Iowa City.

Is there an analog for this season's game

Actually, yes. I'm glad you asked. This game actually reminds me a bit of the 2009 MSU-Iowa game. Iowa had a stifling defense, an at times baffling quarterback and was on their fourth string running back. MSU was having a disappointing season and struggled with losses in games they probably should not have lost. This game is mildly different in that 2011 Iowa is better than 2009 MSU was, but the stakes for 2011 MSU are equally as high they were for 2009 Iowa.

How Can Ferentz Foil Dantonio This Year? (Aka cause Mark Dantonio to say "I'll GET YOU NEXT TIME GADGET!!!!")

Simple. If he beats Dantonio on Saturday, goes on to lose a game to Nebraska, letting Nebraska back into the B10 title game and securing a bowl berth for MSU somewhere tepid in January like Tennessee. If this happens, next year this article will be titled Kirk Ferentz: The Man Who Ruins My Happy Times.