Mercutio said it best in Romeo and Juliet "a plague on both your houses". It does not matter if Michigan State football is playing at Spartan Stadium or on the road, whatever be the house, there is indeed a plague upon it. I have had this inkling for some time now, that MSU football, is cursed. The Dantonio Era was the closest to breaking it and we may have even had glitter in our eyes at the time keeping us from truly seeing the curse. But yes, this program is cursed. There is no other way to explain the constant ominous cloud that sits and feeds off of our childish hopes and silly expectations. We should know better too. The curse always wins, ask Mercutio. So, as the dark cloud lingers and continues to suck our souls like a Death Eater, let the weather report begin.
Sun #1
Suns are pretty tough to come by these days but my first one is going to Jaziun Patterson. On a team that lost its number one back for the season, Patterson managed to pick up the slack in the backfield Saturday. He averaged 4.8 on 15 carries for 72 yards and another 18 in receiving. He was also doing a lot of it by himself. When you have an offensive line that plays without consistency, we get excited about 72 yards. I know he wasn't able to seal the deal at the end of the game but that was more about play calling and not his ability.
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Sun #2
My second sun is going to the MSU defense that was minus at least seven players and five of them starters. Did they show up at the end of the game? No, but they did play with heart. They actually had some sacks, managed to keep Chiles contained for the most part, and even blocked a field goal. As difficult as it is in a loss to see the positive, the defense was just that, a positive. I would have liked to see a forced turnover and a bit tighter run defense, and it is shocking in an Aiden Chiles-led offense that he did not throw to us as he was so apt at throwing INTs. But he also had a really tough time throwing to anyone wearing green. We all witnessed that for two years.
Sun #3
My final sun is going to Ben Roberts. Roberts has been around for a while but the last two weeks he's played some of his best football. 8 tackles and 2 sacks, and the sacks were ones that counted. Last week, he had 7 tackles and for the season, he's at a career high. This defense is so depleted, specifically in the secondary, so to have someone getting pressure and taking down someone with the escapability of Houdini at QB, is a must right now. It will be interesting to see if he stays hot.
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Cloud #1
My first cloud goes to three, no, four straight runs up the middle when you have an opportunity to win the game. I understand you are trying to get Northwestern to burn its timeouts. How did that work out for ya? You know who else knows you're trying to do that? Your opponent. When you've lost 4 straight and you are gifted the ball on the 28 yard line with 3:30 to go, you do everything in your power to get first downs and take the win. The illegal snap penalty is further proof of the curse. With only three penalties called on MSU the whole game, the timing of that third one could not have been more curse driven. After that penalty with a third and twelve, you have to pass the ball. At the very least set up a screen so if nothing is downfield you can dump and try to get the first. To run it up the middle just felt cocky for a team that has no business brandishing that kind of swagger. Just writing this cloud has me sick to my stomach again.
Cloud #2
My second cloud is going to Alessio and his misses. He had some opportunities and just missed badly on them. I can think of at least three big ugly misses that if connected, perhaps changes a lot in this game. Alessio is a placeholder. He is not the guy. There hasn't been a guy since Connor Cook. MSU has produced some decent QB's but it has been a drought. Look at all the former QBs playing all over but not at MSU. The Spartans need to find a guy. Someone who makes you think we got a shot when the game is on the line. I don't feel that with Alessio and I'm curious if anyone wants to tell me I'm wrong. I can understand misses; I can't understand multiple ones by that much.
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Cloud #3
My final cloud goes to literally everything that occurred in the final 45 seconds of this game. The blocked field goal, like, seriously? Then, you let Aiden Chiles, I repeat, Aiden Chiles lead the Wildcats effortlessly down the field to secure the loss. Again, the great Billy Shakes says it best, "The common curse of mankind, folly and ignorance, be thine in great revenue!". The folly and ignorance on how this game ended is indeed a curse we drank right up.
Northern Lights
While football is like eating out of the dumpster, we can experience the beauty and splendor of the northern lights when we check in on MSU hockey. MSU coasted to a 5-1 victory over RIT in front of a very rowdy sold out crowd in Rochester New York. Joshua Ravensbergen had 25 saves and 15 of them in the third. Ryker Lee, Anthony Romani, Eric Nilson, Chase Reid and Tommi Männistö all netted goals for the Spartans. MSU has scored at least 5 goals in every game thus far. I wonder if any of these guys can score touchdowns. The game had a ridiculous number of penalties and the Spartans will have to clean that up. They remained hot on the power play and managed another penalty kill scoring a shorty. New Hampshire is up next for the icemen.
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Well, TOC Nation, I can only imagine how you are feeling and I implore you to use the comments section as your therapy. In the very least, I hope the words of Queen Elizabeth in Richard III will at least lead us to some help as we say with her, "O thou well skill'd in curses, stay awhile. And teach me how to curse mine enemies!".
