Observations on the first Half with Michigan State, 6-0
Michigan gets two field goals in one red zone, and the Spartans were stopped a foot short of a red zone, then missed their field goal.
Offense has 168 net yards, only 60 on the ground with 7 first downs. We are 3 of 8 in 3rd down conversions. Michigan maintained one minute time of possession advantage. Denard Robinson is 8 of 13 with an interception to close the first half, and had 12 rushes for only 17 yards. Fitzgerald Touissaint had 3 carries for 40 yards including a 38 yarder setting up the only red zone of the game. Drew Dileo has 3 catches for 72 yards. Jeremy Gallon has a 22 yard reception and a 3 yard run. They have forced us into 3 punts.
Jake Ryan leads the defense with 6 tackles including a sack. Desmond Morgan has 5 tackles, and Thomas Gordon has 4; however, Gordon let MSU complete a 45 yard bomb right after Ryan's sack to give them great field position. J.T. Floyd has 3 tackles and 2 pass break ups, but some of the bombs were dangerously close to complete. It is obvious where MSU thinks they can exploit our defense. Maxwell is 10 of 16 for 99 yards. Le'Veon Bell only has 31 yards on 11 carries. MSU is 3 of 9 on 3rd down conversions, and only 4 first downs. MSU has only 121 yards and just 25 on the ground. We have forced them into 5 punts with 3 three and outs.
Special teams have been solid! Both Gibbons and Wile hit field goals of 24 and 48 yards. Jeremy Gallon had 3 fair catches and a nice 26 yard return just before the end of the half. Wile has hit some nice kickoffs, but kickoff coverage was poor on the opening return to the 44 to start the game. Hagerup and Wile have done a nice job punting.
2nd half, no turnovers, no MSU win, Go Blue!