Tomorrow Kelly and I are heading up to East Lansing to see Michigan State play football against Purdue. Michigan State football is in the middle of a golden age. Since Mark Dantonio took over the program in 2007, the team has had 79 victories and 31 losses. Excluding his first three years, his record is 57 and 14. Over the past four seasons MSU has won the Outback Bowl, Buffalo Wild Wings bowl, Rose Bowl, and Cotton Bowl (which had a classic comeback victory).
My Dad went to Purdue so I grew up a fan of Purdue’s football and basketball teams. During those years, they were actually pretty good. Drew Brees, who went on to a superstar career in the NFL including a Super Bowl victory, led Purdue to a Big Ten Championship and a Rose Bowl. A few years later, Kyle Orton led Purdue to four straight bowl games before having a decent NFL career. These days, Purdue football is dreadful. Current head coach Darrell Hazell is 5-23, and his predecessor Danny Hope went a mediocre 22-28. So far this season they have only beaten Indiana State and lost to Marshall, Virginia Tech, and Bowling Green.
One weakness in MSU’s team this year is the secondary. Michigan State’s pass defense is ranked 114th out of 128 FBS teams. This is simply abysmal, especially considering one of our four games was against Navy which is ranked dead last in passing offense. Despite Purdue’s rough start to the season, their passing offense is a formidable foe. If they can reduce their interceptions (7 in 4 games), their 257 passing yards per game is more than enough to win a Big Ten game. Tomorrow all eyes will be on MSU’s cornerbacks and safeties to perform.
This year MSU has started the season with four straight wins and an amazing second place ranking nationally. Tomorrow’s match-up against Purdue will be one of many cupcake games against Big Ten teams including Rutgers and Indiana. In two weeks we will face off with a Michigan team defying preseason expectations after a 31-0 victory over BYU under first-year coach Jim Harbaugh. After defeating Oregon (ranked seventh at the time but now out of the top 25 after a brutal 62-20 loss to Utah) the match-ups against Michigan and Ohio State on November 21st are the two remaining tests to prove we are contenders for a national championship.