2009 Michigan State Spartan Football Team Preview

(Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

Michigan State Spartans
2008: 9 -4, 6 – 2, Lost to Georgia in the Capital One Bowl.
2009: Prediction 11 – 1, loss to Penn State, Plus Bowl Victory give them 12 -1 for 2009….

The Spartans continue to make successful progress under Mark Dantonio and his staff.  2009 will be no exception in the march toward national prominence.  SpartyMSU will detail each of the opponents  so that YOU, can have an idea how they will fare and who they are up against… poor Purdue…

This years strength of schedule is ranked to be (By CFN) 44th, and 4th in the Big Ten..  but they don’t play the OSU Buckeyes this year..  or if you want to believe Phil Steele’s toughest opponents rankings method, the Spartans are ranked 28thand 5th in the Big Ten… Either way, its not a cake walk.

As the Spartans enter the year, they have huge holes to fill with the loss of:
Javon Ringer RB  (96 percent of all carries in 2008)
Brian Hoyer QB
Justin Kershaw DT
Brandon Long DE
Roland Martin G
Jesse Miller  OT
Otis Wiley S

Ringer was the focus, the  heart and soul of the Spartan offense last year. He had 390 carries.

No one yet seems to be as versatile and talented...that’s not to say the spot is empty.Ohhh contraire Pierre.

Ashton Leggett, A.J. Jimmerson, Andre Anderson, and Caulton Ray will compete for starting job. In looking at last year's stats, with Javon getting so many touches, it didn’t leave room for anyone else to even make a dent in the records.

Second closest was Andre Anderson with 26 carries and 116 yrs. ….  but based upon the limited stats in 2008, and with watching the spring game, I think its down to Leggett (5’11” – 235) and Jimmerson (5’10” – 215). Either one will be a success and difficult to stop.

This is one of the first years in a long time I have seen so much talent in the Green and White quarterback position. This is a real boon for the Spartans. 

Kirk Cousins and Keith Nichol seem to be 1 and 1A for the spot.  Combine this with the loss of Ringer, plus the depth at receivers, and the ball will be in the air much more than last year. 

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