Michigan State Spartans 2011 Season Preview

Coming off an 11-2 season with a share of the Big Ten title was quite an accomplishment for Sparty coach Mark D’Antonio. 

The Spartans may have had a magical season but their luck must continue in 2011 for any chance to remain as a top 10 regular season team.

The entire offense returns including all of their skill players outside of Mark Dell at receiver.  Starting quarterback Kirk Cousins threw for 2,825 yards and 20 TDs in 2010 and is looking to finish off an illustrious career in East Lansing.

Cousins has a solid arm and comes into the season as one of the most experienced, talented signal callers in the Big Ten.

Bowl Obliteration

Cousins has all of his playmakers back which will certainly make this offense potent. Wideout B.J. Cunningham is only 10 catches away from becoming the all-time receptions leader in East Lansing. 

Running back Edwin Baker will cause major headaches for other teams in the Big Ten once again.

The offensive line kept the team together a season ago and they return Joel Foreman and Chris McDonald. They are still primarily a running team and it showed in their crushing loss to Alabama in the Capital One Bowl.

The Spartans were absolutely obliterated by the Tide getting hammered 49-7. MSU was gashed for 275 yards and six rushing touchdowns. They only turned the ball over once which shows you how outmatched they were against Alabama.

Three Spartan quarterbacks were sacked a total of five times.  Luckily they had all offseason to recover after getting beating into oblivion.

They are a bit overrated in my opinion because of a tough schedule.  They have solid speed at the skill positions but I question how great their back seven will be on defense.

They were fairly lucky all of last season, which begs the question: Are the Spartans one year wonders?

Sparty Has Skills

Kirk Cousins has improved his yards per attempt and consistency the past three seasons.  He's thrown 39 TDs the past two years. Cousins has a ton of moxie and is now a savvy senior primed to come out victorious with the expectations high as ever.

The receiving corp is very solid with B.J. Cunningham, Keshawn Martin, Keith Nichol and Brian Linthicum. Cunningham was the leading wideout with 611 yards and 9 touchdowns in 2010.

A broken foot kept him out of the Capital One Bowl and hopefully he will be healthy in time for the opener against Youngstown State (not that they would need him).

Keshawn Martin and Keith Nichol are two slot receivers that can stretch the field enough with their great hands and route running.

Martin and Nichol only combined for 2 touchdowns mainly because of the playing time that Mark Dell received.

Loaded Backfield

The offensive line was vastly underrated with a solid group of blockers that knew how to get the job done. Joel Foreman and Chris McDonald were solid contributors and most expect Foreman to make All-Big Ten.  

The backfield is crowded but very talented. Edwin Baker, Le’Veon Bell and Larry Caper will bring a ton of speed and athleticism to East Lansing in their second year together.

Baker has been ranked among the top five tailbacks by SportsNation. Taking that for what it's worth (nothing), the Spartans backfield is very talented.

Who Is the Top Dog?

Taking a step back from the players and looking at the competition is always fun. Is Nebraska going to hang 40 points on this Buckeyes defense when all the studs return on offense and defense?

Who exactly is the odds-on favorite to represent the Big Ten in the BCS/Rose Bowl? Well, this may be the first year in a long time where nobody could convince me that there is a legit favorite.

I like Nebraska a lot and would list them as the favorites with the majority of their defensive and offensive starters coming back. The Cornhuskers are new to the game of Big Ten football, though, so I would not assume they run the table in the Big Ten.

Michigan State has a chance if they can become road warriors. Those four brutal trips will be quite the challenge and some prognosticators will be picking them to lose a minimum of two or more games this season.

Rebuild or Reload?

Greg Jones will certainly be missed this season as he seemingly made every play for the Spartans in 2010.  Sparty was 37th against the run a season ago, allowing only 133 yards per game.

Eric Gordon was another stud linebacker who contributed a lot the past few years. Those two were arguably two of the best players on the entire defensive side. Luckily, they have a few other contributors back up front.

All primetime programs do not rebuild, they reload with players who are licking their chops in the wings. Steve Gardiner and Max Bullough are two backups from a season ago that are slated to start this year. 

Chris Norman is an All-Big Ten caliber linebacker that should lead the team in tackles among this unit.

They need to stay healthy because they are not quite as deep as they have been in the past. The front four will help linebacker corps stand out.

I AM WORTHY!

Jerel Worthy is the one beast on the line that will be consistent at making plays behind the line of scrimmage. Worthy is a hog at 6’3," 305-pounds and he is one of the better linemen in the country, let alone the Big Ten.

Kevin Pickelman will start adjacent to Worthy and they should be an impressive one-two punch up front. Worthy is huge but also very athletic.

Pickelman is not nearly as big, but is an under the radar stout linemen that will be making some headlines early in the season. This front four is so loaded with talent that Anthony Rashad White (6’2," 320 pounds) may start over Pickelman.

Tyler Hoover and William Gholston will be the two edge rushers. Hoover played in all 13 games last year and started in nine of them. Only a junior, he is a gigantic 6’7," 274 pounds.

Hoover had a career game against Northwestern by forcing a fumble and recording two sacks in their come-from-behind victory in Evanston. 

Secondary Will Be Tested

The secondary was an issue at times last year but Chris L. Rucker was the player who patched it all up. They still return Trenton Robinson and Johnny Adams who were both Second Team All-Big Ten.

Robinson had solid games all season starting in 12 of 13 and had a high impact game against Penn State as he led the team with seven tackles and a pick.

Adams is a third-year player going into his junior season who started all 13 games last year. He was named Spartan Co-Defensive Player of the Week after picking up six tackles and almost returning an interception in a win at No. 18 Michigan.

Drama's Forecast

The Spartans defense will be solid in 2011, but going up against Floyd (Irish), McNutt (Iowa) and Kinnie (Huskers) will be the stiffest challenges of the year.

Those three teams have great defenses that should bottle up the Spartans running game, making their offense inept.

If the Spartans can be the cardiac kids once again there is no doubt 2011 might have the same outcome as 2010.

However, I feel that the new look schedule will be the toughest in the conference and that it will cost the Spartans a nine-win season as well as a premier New Year’s Day Bowl.

RETURNING STARTERS: 6 OFFENSE/ 6 DEFENSE

PROJECTED RECORD: 8-5, 5-3

PREDICTED FINISH: Fourth in Legends, Seventh Overall

PROJECTED BOWL: Ticket City Bowl

Note: I have nine Big Ten teams making a bowl resulting in the above bowl as the top choice for Sparty. I will have an article for all 32 bowl games the day the season starts.