2013 MSU parallel

[shakes3858]

I have lots of good friends that went to MSU and watch several games with them. I see a lot of similarities with NU and the 2013 MSU team. We both had bad years the previous year. We both bad QB battles going into the off season and eventually went with the younger player. Both knew they had a great defense and good RBs. Lots of WR questions too.

MSU started the year with a 26-14 win over WMU.... 26 points included 2 defensive TDs. Then they beat USF 21-6 again with 2 defensive TDs. All my MSU friends were trashing them. They thought it was going to be an awful year. They destroyed Youngstown... But whatever Youngstown sucked and dropped a game in South Bend. OMG THIS SEASON IS TERRIBLE. No QB, no WRs... But then they started rattling off wins. Some games were pretty like beating the 2 big ten teams in Illinois a combined 72-9. Some were ugly like beating Minnesota 14-3 or Purdue 14-0. But they just kept winning. They rose up in the rankings and saw OSU in the championship game... And won when few gave them a chance. And then they beat Stanford in the Rose Bowl.

Will we do that? We'll see... But I know we're 3-0 and I'm not going to debate if we should be ranked or start tearing apart Thorson. He'll develop over the year just like Connor cook did in 2013 or JT Barrett in 2014.

 

[NJCat83588]

I have lots of good friends that went to MSU and watch several games with them. I see a lot of similarities with NU and the 2013 MSU team. We both had bad years the previous year. We both bad QB battles going into the off season and eventually went with the younger player. Both knew they had a great defense and good RBs. Lots of WR questions too.

MSU started the year with a 26-14 win over WMU.... 26 points included 2 defensive TDs. Then they beat USF 21-6 again with 2 defensive TDs. All my MSU friends were trashing them. They thought it was going to be an awful year. They destroyed Youngstown... But whatever Youngstown sucked and dropped a game in South Bend. OMG THIS SEASON IS TERRIBLE. No QB, no WRs... But then they started rattling off wins. Some games were pretty like beating the 2 big ten teams in Illinois a combined 72-9. Some were ugly like beating Minnesota 14-3 or Purdue 14-0. But they just kept winning. They rose up in the rankings and saw OSU in the championship game... And won when few gave them a chance. And then they beat Stanford in the Rose Bowl.

Will we do that? We'll see... But I know we're 3-0 and I'm not going to debate if we should be ranked or start tearing apart Thorson. He'll develop over the year just like Connor cook did in 2013 or JT Barrett in 2014.

Fair enough. Some good parallels between the teams.

 

[beetlemania74]

Shakes, I was actually thinking about this same comparison this summer. I remember the preseason predictions for that 2013 MSU team, even from the ESPN bloggers (who, of course, know everything, since this is their job). In 2012, MSU went 3-5 in conference play but lost those five games by a total of 13 points. That's amazing, really. They had a good defense but struggled on offense, so of course the assumptions coming into 2013 were that there would more of the same with the Spartans. I thought that they'd be better in 2013, but I admit I wasn't predicting 13-1...

I guess the point with all this is that most of the "experts" don't really know much. Their predictions are in large part based on the previous season's performance. Northwestern was written off by basically everyone coming into this season, mostly because of the two consecutive 5-7 season. Never mind that many of those losses were close ones or that the team had been hit pretty hard by injuries. Also completely disregarded were the talented younger players rising up through the ranks, the result of stronger recruiting classes in recent years. We the fans knew these things, but the "experts" didn't, since NU was one of many schools they had to try to follow.

Will we finish 13-1, like MSU did two years ago? I don't know about that, but I do know that we're better than what was predicted this offseason, just like MSU was in 2013.

 

[beetlemania74]

Some games were pretty like beating the 2 big ten teams in Illinois a combined 72-9.

One of those games wasn't pretty at all, Shakes.

 

[beetlemania74]

But I know we're 3-0 and I'm not going to debate if we should be ranked or start tearing apart Thorson. He'll develop over the year just like Connor cook did in 2013 or JT Barrett in 2014.

Easier said than done, but that would be.....awesome. This team, with Thorson getting better and more experienced each week, could be special. And again, very good analogy with 2013 MSU. I would love for CT to develop like Connor Cook did that year....

 

[shakes3858]

Easier said than done, but that would be.....awesome. This team, with Thorson getting better and more experienced each week, could be special. And again, very good analogy with 2013 MSU. I would love for CT to develop like Connor Cook did that year....

I didn't mean Thorson will develop to Heisman trophy candidate level like Barrett before the injury or to an all big ten level like Cook. I just meant Thorson will develop and improve and pointed to two guys who looked terrible during their first few starts but got it going.

 

[phatcat]

I also see some 95 parallels. Tireless stud running back, one true receiving threat, good kicker, deep, solid defense with a Tasmanian devil at linebacker.

 

[NJCat83588]

I also see some 95 parallels. Tireless stud running back, one true receiving threat, good kicker, deep, solid defense with a Tasmanian devil at linebacker.

Agree with all except the receiver point. Bates was the best receiver to play at NU in my 41 years of watching NU football. CJ is OK but no DB......

 

[phatcat]

Agree with all except the receiver point. Bates was the best receiver to play at NU in my 41 years of watching NU football. CJ is OK but no DB......

Yeah, that's why he still has all the records, even on a run oriented team, well before the video game stats of our Y2K+ spread. He was really good - our best ever. Loved watching him play Two of my all-timer faves were #5, him and VMark. No offense to Shuler.

 

[beetlemania74]

I didn't mean Thorson will develop to Heisman trophy candidate level like Barrett before the injury or to an all big ten level like Cook. I just meant Thorson will develop and improve and pointed to two guys who looked terrible during their first few starts but got it going.

Yes, I understand, and I would be thrilled if CT develops along those lines. Frankly, I expect it to happen this season. The game will slow down for him, and he'll settle in. We don't need him to be All-BIG this year. I'd just like to see him cut down on the mistakes and be a bit quicker and more comfortable with his decision making. Example - that 3rd and 3 play in the 4th quarter should have been an easy TD pass to Shuler. But CT saw it too late, reacted a second too slowly, and underthrew the ball. That's the kind of play I expect him to make easily when he gets a bit more experience under his belt. The game will slow down for him. It'll happen, and this team is going to be really special when it does.