As the old adage goes “Defense wins
championships”. This is none more
evident than in the 2013 Michigan State Spartans football team. The Spartans are nearing the end of their
season with a strong mark of 8-1 (eight wins, one loss) and are in the driver’s
seat to make it to the B1G Ten championship game. The 17th ranked Spartans are top
five in every defensive category and are first in defensive touchdowns scored. They’ve been the best defensive team in the
country and have been winning games with pure defensive domination week in and
week out. Michigan States defense has
shown true to be carry the workload, for both the offense and defense. In a dangerously average conference in the
B1G Ten, where not much defense, let alone offense, is played, the Spartans
stand out.
Starting with the B1G Ten, the
conference Michigan State plays in. The
B1G Ten has been as weak as it’s ever been, if not worse than that, and that
has led to some criticism as far as really knowing how good the Spartans
defense really is. With only three teams
from the down conference currently ranked in the top 25 of all of college
football, it doesn’t help the Spartans case when it comes to getting more
national notoriety and respect. Looking
at just how dominant Michigan State has been on the defensive side of the ball
however, you can’t overlook them and right them off because of their
competition. “It doesn’t matter who you
play, how good they are or what have you” in this case. When you compile the resume the Spartans have
this season and have statistically shown sheer dominance over every opponent,
respect deserves to be given. (Butkus 87)
The Spartans offense has been a
huge area of concern for this team as well.
Through their nine games, inconsistency has been the trend. One game Michigan State plays lights out, the
next they struggle to even score points at all, putting more pressure on their
defense. This even heightens the
Spartans defensive status because of how much they’re on the field. Though their offense has shown small improvement
with each passing game, it is still widely known where Michigan State’s bread
is buttered.
This ratio of pathetic offense to
incredibly stout defense has not changed since last year either. Even with slight improvement made, this trend
has continued on into their 2013 campaign.
Last season the Spartans finished 3-5 in B1G Ten play due to their inept
offense. The margin of defeat for all
five of those games was an astounding thirteen points. Thirteen points is an average for just one
game, not five games worth. The Spartans
only averaged twenty points per game that season while allowing a miniscule
sixteen points per game. Since this
defensive dominance has continued into this season, how can one not conclude
that is one of the very best defenses in the country?
With all of this being said, the
looming question over the Spartans is if they can really win the B1G Ten with a
dominate defense and a “good enough” type of offense. They would not be the first to do so and if
history has shown us anything, they will surely not be the last team to be
carried by their defense. More recently,
the biggest beacon of sheer defensive power carrying an offense would have to
be the 2007 New York Giants in the NFL (National Football League). The Giants finished their season 10-6 and
most did not peg them to make it to the Super Bowl, let alone win their first
playoff game. Needless to say, their
defense had other plans.
The Giants tore through the
playoffs riding their defense and more specifically their front seven which
consists of linebackers and defensive lineman.
The Giants won on the road in Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay facing a
greater challenge than the last. In
Dallas and Green Bay, the Giants faced two of the top offenses in the NFL that
year and made each look very pedestrian, holding each to under 21 points in
their respective home stadiums no less.
Dispatching each of these teams would propel the Giants to the Super
Bowl where they would face none other than three time Super Bowl Champion Tom
Brady and his undefeated New England Patriots.
During the 2007 season, the
Patriots offense averaged almost 40 points a game, totaled the most offensive
points in the history of the NFL with 589, Brady set a record with an
astounding 50 touchdown passes and the Patriots came into their championship
matchup with the Giants with an unblemished record at 18-0. During their championship matchup with the
Giants, the Patriots didn’t score more than 14 points. All game long, the Giants defense harassed,
disrupted and completely handled the Patriots record setting offense. The Patriots only scored on their opening
drive and their last possession as they watched their undefeated season get
taken from them in historic fashion, 17-14.
Though there are countless other
examples of defense truly winning championships and every year in football, as
well as many other sports, it seems like it doesn’t matter how good your
offense is, the same theme is always there, “Defense wins championships”.
The Spartans seem like they’re on
the right track as their season winds down but as far as their personnel goes,
history is again on their side. Having a
very strong front seven is key to any defense if you have championship
aspirations and that’s exactly what the Spartans have. Their backend in the secondary is good but
it’s their front linebackers and lineman that teams are more concerned
with. In order to really create havoc on
an offense and their intricate game plan, you must be able to first disrupt
their point of attack, the offensive line.
That’s exactly what a front seven does and that’s what the Spartans have
perfected. They create the most trouble
when they stop an opponent’s run game, get in the backfield and are laying the
wood to the quarterback, forcing him to make ill-advised throws. Michigan State, in a sense, has the perfect
defense to carry them through the rest of the season.
“With only loss… Michigan State has set itself up nicely for a potential
spot in a BCS bowl game.” (Kramer)
Coming off a historically dominant defensive
performance against “little brother”, the Michigan Wolverines, the Spartans are
playing with a massive amount of confidence.
The Wolverines were battered into submission by the Spartans and saw
themselves finish with negative 48 yards rushing and eventually would lose the
highly anticipated matchup, 29-6. With only three games to go, the Spartans
have all but locked up a spot in the B1G Ten championship game in Indianapolis
with, presumably, the top ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. Only the Nebraska Cornhuskers stand in their
way, as Michigan State will take on the Cornhuskers next week in a game that
undoubtedly will prove to be their biggest game of their season thus far. With the offense coming along nicely and
defense as strong as ever, there’s no reason to believe that the Spartans
couldn’t find themselves running the table all the way to the Rose Bowl in
Pasadena, California.
Citations
Kramer, Adam.
"Michigan State Poised for BCS Run After Michigan Beatdown."
Bleacher Report. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Web. 9 Nov
2013.
Butkus,
Dick, and Bob Billings. Inside Defensive Football.
1st ed. 1. Chicago: Regnery, 1971. 87. Print.
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