Wisconsin Game Yields More Questions and Very Few Answers

Written by: Hondo S. Carpenter Sr. on 27th September 2009

Madison, Wisconsin

Camp Randall Stadium

As I sit here in the press box I am puzzled. Puzzled that today’s loss to the Badgers yielded more questions than answers. Sure the Spartans lost. Sure the momentum coming into the season seems to be coming out of the balloon of hope for the year. All is not lost. I still KNOW that Mark Dantonio is the right man. Being close to the program myself, I can see that the foundation has been repaired. We have a team.

Having questions in year three does not bother me. It’s the questions that we are now looking at that frankly shock me. We are asking some that no one anticipated for this season.

No matter how frustrated some of the staff may get with this statement, this defense was supposed to carry the young offense in 2009. It clearly hasn’t carried them, it needs a crutch, a wheel chair and one of those “I have fallen and can’t get up bracelets” mercifully calling some unknown call center to get us a magic pill that can help guys tackle and play their position.

We have great kids. For the first time in many years I can report to you that the character of this team isn’t bad. We have a super group of young people. Some may not have the talent we thought. Some may have come into the year with experience, but missing talent? I don’t know about that yet. I think it is fair to question the job performance of the defensive staff. They are good men. I believe that they are good coaches, but I insert a line that Bill Parcells said and I believe, “You are what your record says you are.”

I wouldn’t have been shocked (surprised but not shocked) if the Spartans were 1-2 coming into today with an offense struggling to score points. I was shocked that the defense couldn’t stop or cover anyone. One person said to me this week, “No offense H, but you could get open on a fly route on this DB crew.” OUCH.

The offense before today had done a great job. I questioned some of the holding their foot on the brakes against CMU, but that was on the coaching staff and not the players. They were scoring points and moving the ball…until today. Today they did NOTHING wrong. Today they were what we anticipated. Today they had their first truly poor game of the season and the defense could stop or do nothing.

We still, however, come back to a defense that is supposed to be a staple of this team. Not only aren’t they the staple, I don’t think they are even a paper clip. How about a piece of scotch tape? Nope, can’t even say that. You can’t blame those that cover the team or follow it for being disappointed. This was not what we were told or what the Spartan Nation had every right to expect in year three.

In year three, this defense was supposed to be and should be significantly better. Again, I want to reiterate that this isn’t a Big Ten championship team and never was. This was year three. It was, however, the year that you could see the horizon. It was the year that after rebuilding a cracked and moldy foundation we could move forward.

Starting 1-3 in year three of a rebuilding process isn’t something to give up hope on your team, your players, or the staff. That is why it is called rebuilding. I do know this, however, once the foundation is laid you shouldn’t have to go back and tear up concrete to redo under the slab plumbing.

Tackling? Special teams? Pass coverage by a defensive backfield that we were told would be a strength because of the depth of experience is not something we should be dealing with in year three. That unit isn’t being led by freshmen. This staff thought the defense would lead them. I agreed. They haven’t. They not only haven’t led, each time they take the field the Spartan Nation holds their respective breath.

I don’t mind dealing with the issues of a year three. I don’t like dealing with the issues of year one in year three. This staff proved how good they were the first two years. To attack them would be foolish and a major disregard of what they have done the first two seasons. I totally agree that what is going on shouldn’t. I totally agree that people have to be held accountable. I am simply saying that 1-3 in the light of the overachievement in the first two seasons would be unfair.

The good news is that they are NOT the same old Spartans prior to the arrival of this staff. Sadly, they just aren’t the same old Spartans of the last two years either. They are not overachievers as they had been in ‘07 and ‘08. They are a group of great kids that are 1-3. The season isn’t over. The sun will come up in the morning.

The Spartan Nation has been so faithful for so long. You can’t blame them for having hope. You can’t blame them when they filled the High Cathedral of the Spartan Nation, sacrificed to buy tickets, paid personal seat licenses and got robbed by a ticket office that raises the ticket price for a home Michigan game, but doesn’t lower it for a scrimmage against a 1-AA Montana State

If you don’t like the heartache the fans feel, you have to get over it. Some of the negativity makes me sick. I understand it, but it makes me sick. Hopefully, this staff can do what they have done the last two years and save the year. A bowl game is a must.

By the way, speaking of what I KNOW? Next week is the biggest game of Mark Dantonio’s career. This is a must win. They have to beat Michigan for a second year. They have to give the fans that. Nothing covers the heartache of the Spartan Nation more than a win over their nemesis in Ann Arbor. That win alone will cover a lot of mistakes.

Mark Dantonio said before the season that his team had to show up and compete in big games this year. I agree with him. There has been none bigger in his career than this one. He needs it. The Spartan Nation needs it and his staff needs it.

By beating a rebuilding Michigan for the second straight year the Spartans can go back to Thanksgiving and Christmas family reunions with some respect that their team, the team they sacrificed to pay and follow this year, the team that was supposed to be a balm over the unemployment and economic tsunami that has attacked our state, is still on the right track.

Spartan fans are not delusional. They aren’t the problem. They have been faithful more than any cheated on and emotionally battered spouse. Their anger and frustration is germane because they showed up when many other programs’ fans quit. They deserve a win on Saturday. This is for them. You have heard our rivals declare all in for Michigan? I say, let’s win again, for the fans, for the kids, for the coaches, and the program.

A win next Saturday fixes the poor season thus far, and buys some credit for what could be more struggles as the season progresses. I truly believe that in the adversity of this season, the seeds of championships will be sown.

I also believe that I don’t want to deal with year three problems in year five. A win next week starts the season over and will allow the Spartans to move forward and right the ship.

There are some players that made plays last year that aren’t now. I can tell you this. There is no group of people upset this morning like this staff and the players. Fire away, question, and be upset. They are. I can also say that coaches can call plays and not make them. I saw a lot of mistakes. I saw a lot of moments that made me and many others shake their heads. I can also say that giving up or quitting are not the answers.

I am around this team more than most and I have no idea what will happen next Saturday. That is for analysis later in the week. I do know that a win next week in the biggest game of this staff’s career as a unit is huge.

Last year at Penn State was for a Big Ten title. Next week against Michigan is for respect. I understand that freshmen and players who haven’t played making mistakes. Mark Dantonio has said many times that for teams to succeed, “Their Seniors have to have their best seasons.”

It is time for this staff to have their best game of the year and players who have done it before, to dig deep and find what is missing. Not just seniors. Please.