Michigan State vs. Oregon: Keys to Victory in Clash Between Spartans and Ducks
In a week where the final game between Michigan and Notre Dame takes place, the biggest matchup on Saturday's college football schedule takes place out west when the Michigan State Spartans head to Autzen Stadium to take on the Oregon Ducks.
September tends to be a slow time in college football, at least early on. Teams want to get their feet under them and prepare for the more grueling part of the schedule, so seeing a battle between two top-10 teams that play thousands of miles apart locking horns on the second week of the year is fantastic.
It's also notable because the loser will have a lot of work to do in the coming weeks to keep their hopes for the College Football Playoff alive. With two very distinct styles of play on display Saturday night, we've got the keys to victory for the Spartans and Ducks.
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What Michigan State Must Do To Win
You can tell how little respect there is for the Spartans and the Big Ten conference overall by looking at the odds for this game. Despite being ranked seventh in the AP Top 25, Michigan State has been made a 13-point underdog according to Oddsshark.com.
No matter what you think about the randomness of a point spread, that margin is blatant disrespect directed at the Spartans. They aren't exactly the same team that won the Big Ten and Rose Bowl last year, but Mark Dantonio has built one of the most physical teams in the country.
There has been a formula for beating Oregon in recent years, pulled off to perfection by Stanford. The Cardinal have held the Ducks to a total of 34 points in their last two games by slowing things down and keeping that high-octane offense off the field.
In the 120 minutes of football they have played since 2012, Stanford held the ball for 79 minutes and 39 seconds. You can't score 40 points if you only have the ball for about 20 minutes.
I use Stanford as an example because Michigan State bears a strong resemblance to David Shaw's team. The Spartans aren't flashy on offense but don't beat themselves, allowing the defense to set them up with good field position.
Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune put it best when he said the Spartans are just a smart fundamental team: "Michigan State already represents the guts of Big Ten football. The reigning Rose Bowl champions do it the way Bo and Woody devised it. The Spartans huddle before plays. They run the ball and stop the run. They create turnovers. They play smart."
Stopping Marcus Mariota from running is the key to slowing down Oregon's offense. The Heisman hopeful has tremendous ability as a pocket passer, but this offense shines when the read-option is firing on all cylinders.
Going back to the Stanford games, Mariota threw the ball well with 250 yards and two passing touchdowns last year. On the ground, though, the Cardinal picked him apart to the tune of minus-16 rushing yards.
Coy Wire of FoxSports.com spoke to former Stanford defensive coordinator Derek Mason, who took over as head coach at Vanderbilt in January, about the key to stopping Mariota in the read-option:
"I talked to Mason about his tactics for stopping Oregon’s read-zone, and he said that one of the keys is to make Mariota hesitate when he makes his read.
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Mason knew that the QB’s read and decision was determined by the quick decision and action of the unblocked man, so he went against conventional thinking. He told his player NOT to make a quick decision. He told his player to take two steps across the line of scrimmage and then just stop...
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Michigan State doesn't have the offensive firepower to win a shootout. Connor Cook is the epitome of a game-managing quarterback. He's not flashy or stylish, completing just 58.7 percent of his passes with 22 touchdowns and six interceptions last year, but does make the right read more often than not.
Cook also did something Mariota couldn't do last year: Conquer Stanford's defense. He threw for 304 yards against the Cardinal in the Rose Bowl. He will have openings against an Oregon group that thrives on forcing teams into situations where they have to throw the ball deep.
The easiest way to win a game is by slowing the other team down. Michigan State has the defense to do that. Now it just has to execute the game plan in a hostile environment to pull off the upset.
What Oregon Must Do To Win
To use a movie analogy, Michigan State is like a Terrence Malick film. It's slow, contemplative and frustrating at times but never less than fascinating when you get to the end.
Oregon, on the other hand, is the big summer blockbuster that generates $1 billion at the box office because it's nothing but fast-paced action that tickles your most surface-level senses.
That's not meant to denigrate the work done by former head coach Chip Kelly and current leader Mark Helfrich. Their work has built Oregon into one of the best programs in the country, and sometimes you just want to sit back and watch a really good action movie.
This is the kind of non-conference test the Ducks should have. Outside of Stanford, the Pac-12 is a finesse conference. No one wants to play physical football when they can recruit the flashy skill players to create big plays in a short amount of time.
Oregon's defense has to play better than it did last week against South Dakota. You would never know it looking at the 62-13 final score, but the Ducks weren't sharp.
Andrew Greif of The Oregonian wrote after the game last weekend that the effort on the defensive side of the ball was lacking any discipline. Defensive coordinator Don Pellum is quoted in the recap as saying that consistency was a huge problem:
"No one, at least from the sideline ... played great. Just a lot of guys making plays but no one really stood out.
I think if you asked our players most of them would tell you that our intensity, the way we like to shed, throw and go, the way we like to move, it was inconsistent. We're expecting a much faster, dynamic team. At times it showed a little bit but it wasn't consistent and obviously we have to get it consistent.
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That has to change against Michigan State. The Spartans don't want to run up and down the field, but they're more than capable of putting together sustained drives with an efficient passing game and the power-running style of senior Jeremy Langford.
Offensively, Mariota has to be able to make plays from the pocket. One strategy that would be smart for the Ducks to try, at least early on, is play-action passing. Everyone expects the Ducks to try running the ball because they do it as well as any team in the country and have a quarterback capable of breaking a big play with his legs.
However, there's a reason Mariota is considered one of the top quarterbacks for the 2015 draft class. He can throw the ball around the field and makes great decisions. He's got the arm strength and accuracy to make deep throws.
Striking early is the best way to take Michigan State out of its comfort zone, because then the Spartans are forced to play catch up with their offense and take more chances down the field. That's not their style and can get them in trouble.
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