In 2003 John L Smith was stepping into a great situation as he inherited 14 starters from the most underachieving team in the NCAA. I also said teams tend to buy into a new coach's program quicker when they have early season success and they opened 7-1 vs a soft early slate. The 2003 squad was +11 in turnovers and finished 8-5 despite being outgained by 14.1 ypg in Big 10 play. Had Drew Stanton been healthy all of 2004 it may have been a different season. They had 3 tough losses as they led Michigan 27-10 with 8:43 left (Stanton left 3Q), led OSU19-17 with 3:06 left (Stanton DNP) and vs Hawaii were hurt by some questionable officiating. Despite the 4-4 conf record, the Spartans actually outgained conf foes by a Big Ten BEST 113.4 ypg. They were -10 in turnovers in 2004. However John L. Smith commented that it was the bestoffseason they've had heading into 2005 despite having just 80 scholarship players at the start (73 at the end). The Spartans rolled up 594.3 ypg and a4-0 start including an upset of #10 ND, which was their 5th straight win in South Bend. They were favored over Michigan forthe first time since 1967 and climbed to #11 but lost in OT and then at Ohio St had a 17-7 lead until a blocked FG was ret'd for a TD turning the game around. The Spartans lost despite a 27-13 FD edge. Against Northwestern, MSU had 2 int's inside the Cats' 2,2 missed FG's and had an 86 yd fumble returned for a TD against them. They were int'd at the Purdue 10 with :05 left. Needing to beat Big 10 champ Penn St to get to a bowl game, they had 23-16 FD and 401-293 yard edges but gave up a blk'd punt for a TD, missed a 38 yard FG, were int'd in the EZ as well as int'd at the PSU 31 & 8 yd lines in the 9 point loss. The Spartans went just 2-6 in Big 10 play despite outgaining conf foes by 70.2 ypg (3rd BEST). The Spartans have been a great starting team getting off to 3-0,5-2,3-2,7-1,4-3 and 4-0 starts the last 6 years but with a 5-15 record in November, are just 2-6,2-3,1 -6,1 -4,1 -4 and 1 -6 in the 2H. Smith, who is 18-18 here at MSU, is under heavy pressure. The Spartans return 7 offensive starters including QB Stanton, their top 2 rushers and top 2 receivers from a unit that averaged 33.8 ppg, the second best in school history, and will have a high octane unit once again. Despite the loss of 5 defensive starters, including their top tackier and top DL, this is the most experienced D since 2003 when they allowed just 22.5 ppg and will be stronger than the 2005 version (28.7 ppg). MSU is an outstanding 9-2 vs teams ranked in the Top 10 going back to 1997! Provided the defense holds up and Stanton stays healthy, this team is a Big 10 Title.
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