Eight weeks to kickoff A tantilizingly short eight weeks. Thankfully while we have a long and warm summer to bask in before we get there?oh wait, you mean this damned city is currently undergoing frigid fifty degree weather? That students are wearing sweaters instead of sundresses? That everyone is cold and implacable to one another instead of warm and welcoming?No wonder Baron Davis is heading out of the East Bay Environment is everything. Weather likes this makes me wish for global warming.Anyway, back to the biz at hand. Remember when I did those previews during the season about what to expect from each game? Yeah, it?s time to start doing those again, because no one really paid attention to them during the season. Print these out and take them to the games with a ball-point pen, so you can note how wrong our interviewers were about what to expect.First off is our opening tilt with Michigan State. After all the Michigan-Cal doublespeak from the last post and the indignant chatter it set off between Wolverines and Spartan fans, it only seemed appropriate we start there. I recently contacted Scott from Enlightened Spartan (if you?re curious to what he looks like, here are some of his glamour shots) to talk about the upcoming season opener, and here are his responses, completely unedited.
Well?the images were my doing.Note: I have a preview of Cal?s side of the story that?ll appear on Enlightened Spartan eventually I?ll let you know when it?s up.1. How similar is Michigan State?s 2008 team looking to its 2007 team? Is the roster mainly intact or are there and fundamental lineup changes that leave you frittish about what to expect for starting day?The Big Green Machine will ride it?s A-1 Abrams into Berkeley with probably its strongest team on paper in 10 years. The ES will be there with ?em; notably, the ES watched every home Cal game (minus the Big Game) from 1977-1983 while growing up in Suisun City, Calif. Them were lean years, but the ES looks forward to returning as an adult and maybe pissing in Strawberry Creek after we kick your tails on August 30.Similar? Yes Different? Yes OK.
Like any other squad, we?ve had some graduations, some drop outs, and some academic advancement ? and other guys just eating too much pizza and getting fat. If there was any spot that gets the ES jittery, it would be at wideout. Our All-American receiver, Devon Thomas, was the first wide receiver selected in the NFL draft after a record-setting year? but he wasn?t even on the Spartan radar after the 2007 Spring Game. So, can these other ?who are theys?? ? BJ Cunningham, Mark Dell, or Deon Curry ? make the same leap to greatness? Unlikely, but not out of the question. Bottom line, MSU will have one of the best-skilled and experienced QBs in the Big Ten, and unless he can find a go-to guy at receiver, there will be lots more running plays to #23, Javon Ringer.The secondary is the best its been since? well since our coach, Mark Dantonio, was a defensive genius for MSU under Nick Saban in the late 1990s? yes, our defensive secondary has sucked for 10 years. Finally, it returns solid with depth in both talent and experience. Safety Otis Wiley will knock your block off and has All-American written all over him.
LBs are solid, all return with significant experience, led by Greg Jones who topped the Spartans in tackles as a freshman last year and was named a freshman All-American by that behemoth of a website, Rivals. Both lines need some work; they return more experience than talent. 50% of starters on both the offensive and defensive lines return. Expect some pass rush, expect some good run blocking? but how good? The Spartan nation awaits with baited breath.The defensive line won?t be a solid as the Hoover Dam, but still should do better than projected. In steps Trevor Anderson, a holdover from Dantonio?s days at Cincinnati. He left Cincy after leading the Bearcats in sacks as a freshman and sat out last year per NCAA rules. Brandon Long, a senior with plenty of experience, has been a ?sleepmaster?? he had two sacks last year but if he plays to potential (he needs an electrode to the tail), there shouldn?t be much of a drop off.