Shallow thoughts:
1). DAntonio tried to do what Hope tried: stop the run, and refuse to believe that the rookie QB could beat them. He added stopping Eifert to that plan. It was a sound theory. Kelly and Golson were good enough to defeat it.
2). Bobby the D again found the way. You cannot run on Notre Dame, so you better be able to pass. MSU couldn't. The D-Line destroyed almost everything, and the ramped up speed and flexibility of the deeper defenders [including LBs] prevented all consistency from MSU.
3). The defense did more than prevent consistency though; they attacked passes, not just preventing long gains. We are now tipping balls and deflecting. We will now become the elite defense which intercepts and returns for scores. We're inches away from a D which can win games on its own.
4). The offense did what it had to against one of the best defenses in the country. MSU is going to grind up a lot of teams. They could not do that to us. Our O-Line finished the game. That's two monster D-Lines in a row to play [I still think that Purdue's is better, but they are both monsters].
5). Golson is THE quarterback. Opposite opinions are so preposterous that they must be trolling. Golson is a rookie. Think Tyrod Taylor just starting out. He will first become relaxed about the whole game, then properly improvise more, produce astonishingly good plays with extended plays, and then will come the thoughtful but devastating runs. Watch the evolution.
6). Robbie Toma still anchors our receiving corps with his unspectacular and underappreciated but completely dependable presence. TJJones was starting last year for a reason, and gets almost no respect either. Cierre Wood is our best back against thug defenses like Purdue or MSU, while McDaniel probably would be our second if Kelly didn't have the "psychology game" he has to play to keep the whizkids "up". Those whizkids [Riddick and GAIII] are deadly against teams less physical.
7]. Thankfully Kelly and Diaco are coaching and pay no attention whatsoever to some of the crap we have to read on IE. We KNOW Diaco's got it covered, and with our greater speed and defensive comfort-with-scheme, we will severely limit Michigan and win that game. Kelly is still maturing his young offense --- but his ability to juggle about 15 players at the five "skill" positions and produce winning performances with a still-learning QB, frankly staggers my mind.
8]. Unlike teams like Purdue or MSU [and many others familiar to us], this team is a baby with an undetermined but gigantic upside. Whether we grow that fast just this year, well, let's wait and enjoy the ride.
