Bleacher Report - Articles by Johnathon Gustin

The John L. Smith Curse On Michigan State

Johnathon Gustin — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 05:55:50 -0500

I had been watching the Bowl games for a while now. I watched the defeat of Northwestern in an amazing game against Missouri. I saw Wisconsin get there tails handed to them. I loved it when Iowa got a huge win over South Carolina. And then came the Michigan State vs. Georgia CapitalOne Bowl.

I had such high hopes to see two of the nation's best running backs in a bowl game, and watch them lead either of their teams to victory. The only problem with this was that both defenses showed up and kept both running backs under 65 yards. The two combined for just 109 yards on the ground.

So it fell onto the shoulders of the quarterbacks. Or not. The Spartans' signal-caller, Brain Hoyer, had 169 yards throwing, no TD passes, and a interception in the last few seconds.

The problem with Hoyer as a QB is that he is highly inconsistent and has a habit of throwing critical picks. Don't get me wrong. I like Hoyer as a play caller and he can possibly become a great coach one day, but he doesn't have enough skill to pull through against higher quality teams.

Who's to blame? One John L. Smith. First off, it feels better than blaming it on Mark Dantonio who I haven't seen him do anything wrong and secondly, the reason Michigan State lost was that the senior class of players that was recruited by Smith is not talented.

Besides running back Javon Ringer, I haven't seen any seniors that have been able to really step up to the challenge of playing at a high level. I look at current head coach Mark Dantonio's recruits, and they are arguably the best class of players to come to Michigan State in a long time. The Spartans managed to lure a running back that USC wanted to offer a full ride scholarship, and instead, Dantonio brought him to East Lansing.

We have a great group of freshmen and sophomores that are playing quite well and are going to be unstoppable by their senior year. In my opinion, the best underclassman at the Spartans' disposal has got has to be sophomore linebacker Greg Jones, who had at least 10 tackles in the bowl game and has played just as well throughout the year.

The only recruit that might save John L. Smith in my eyes has to be Keith Nichol. The former Sooners quarterback that was passed over in favor of Heisman-winner Sam Bradford transferred back to Michigan State after going to Oklahoma for one year since the coach that recruited him had been fired.

There is no doubt in my mind that Nichol is much more talented than Hoyer, and should add a passing game that the Spartans have been lacking for a while, an attack that was missing in the bowl game as well.

I don't really have anything more to say on this subject except that Michigan State has proven that it has a strong team this season, but the Spartans just don't have enough players with enough talent to compete against the big teams like Ohio State and USC. Basically, Michigan State would lose to any top-15 team, and can beat anyone below the top 15. Still, that is a great accomplishment for only a second-year coach, and next year should be even better with the level of talent coming in.

This is my first article critical of the Spartans, and I wrote it like this because I think someone needed to critique Michigan State on its performance, and it's best that it come from a Spartans fan, and not a Wolverine.

God Bless The BCS (if your in Big Ten Country)

Johnathon Gustin — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 10:27:28 -0500

For a while now people have been complaining about the BCS rankings, mostly about the Texas, Oklahoma,and Texas Tech confusion to play for Big 12 Championship.

If you’re in Big Ten country, you're celebrating like crazy.

Here's why: First, Penn State and Joe Pa get to go have fun in California against a USC who has been unimpressive in their losses and their victories.

Penn state on the other hand has only lost once at an away against a hyped up and amazing Iowa defense (I say defense because Iowa can't really do anything else).

Second, Ohio State gets bumped up, thanks to the BCS championship contender Oklahoma, to the Fiesta Bowl against Texas. Can't say much about this match except it is going to be epic!

Third, MSU gets bumped up to the Big Ten's number two bowl game, thanks to the BCS bumping up OSU, and MSU gets to play against a team that was ranked number one preseason and since then they haven't been able to stop the running game.

Of course I'm talking about Georgia. Just look in this game for Javon Ringer to break records.

Fourth, is all the other bowl games the Big Ten gets to partake in.

Iowa gets to go to a January first bowl game; Northwestern gets to play Missouri; Minnesota gets the Champs bowl; and Wisconsin somehow got a bowl game due to fan popularity.

All in all this has been one of my favorite Big Ten football seasons because I got to see underdogs succeed, saw giants fall and watched as old Joe Pa' got his legacy.

Andrew Maxwell: Say "Goodbye" to East Lansing...For Now

Johnathon Gustin — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:11:31 -0500

MSU's hot recruit and future quarterback had a chance to play at East Lansing this upcoming Saturday for the state semifinals. But, alas, Andrew Maxwell wasn't able to win his regional championship game and Sparty fans at home will not go to a game this weekend.

Maxwell is one of the best high school quarterbacks in the nation, ranked No. 8.

So here is the promise given to Maxwell and his team. Win the next two games and you are at Ford Field for the state championship game.

Another new discovery was made early last week for the team in question, the Midland High Chemics. It was that MSU had said that their field could be used as the neutral site between the semifinal teams.

For Maxwell, it would have been like a home field to him. It would have also been one of the best advertising campaigns ever. Have the future quarterback playing for the semifinals for states at his future alma mater.

The problem with the loss to Davison was that it crushed so many dreams of a return to Ford Field. Not just Maxwell, not just the future Northwestern receiver, Drew Moulton, not just his team, but the whole school's as well.

The 212-man high school marching band, the MSU alumni band director, Mr. Monroe, and the whole school wanted to see a redemption victory after last year's state final loss to an all-senior football team called MLK Jr. High, which came from Detriot.

OK, last year's loss is still eating me up. The MLK High's coach had gone around to the multiple closing Detriot high schools, recruiting the best players. The result, one of the biggest teams in the nation, half of which went to USC and UCLA for their college of choice.

OK, sorry about my rant, but I think others should know about it.

Well, in this year's loss against Davison, Maxwell was perfect. Every single pass was dead on, but too bad the other receivers besides Moulton couldn't hold on to the ball. The Chemics were even able to score in the last minute of the game, but, in the end, the onside kick just didn't work. They lost, but at least the team they lost to was good, no thanks to recruiting but to old-fashioned hard work.

The score was 25-19, Davison.

The New Kid On The Block

Johnathon Gustin — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:19:16 -0500

If you haven't been paying attention this year to the Spartans their quarterback, Brian Hoyer, is a senior. So who is the next player to lead the Spartans next year?

Maybe Kirk Kousins, State's backup QB who has only really played one game. Sure that was against Ohio State and he did show some promise, but in the end Kirk was still a red shirt (no Star Trek pun intended) and got beat.

I say a new up and coming quarterback will lead the Spartans to victory but it isn't Kirk. The kid's name is Andrew Maxwell and he maybe just one of the best player to be part of Spartan football.

Last year Maxwell lead his high school team (The Midland Chemics) to the finals, but got beat in the second half at Ford Field. Also the team they lost to was pretty much all seniors and half went to USC and UCLA (not joking).

Andrew Maxwell is now a senior at Midland and is now on the Saginaw Valley Championship game only two games away from Ford Field again.

Okay you maybe saying by now that Maxwell is an okay QB but has some sort of player on the team that wins the game? Wrong, though the rest of the team is good Maxwell went to the Elite 11 quarter back camp all summer and was voted MVP multiple times at the camp.

This kid is the eighth best QB in the entire nation and already talked with and committed to Mark Dantonio and the Spartans. Maxwell will begin spring training with the Spartans and will probably start.

So if you were wondering what could happen to the Spartans next year? Don't worry, we're in good hands.