Michigan State-Alabama Recap

Going into today's game, Spartan head coach Dantonio and the rest of his staff touted their New Year's Day match-up with Alabama as a measuring stick for the program's success, as well as a tremendous opportunity to see just exactly where they fall. After the game, it's clear that the Spartans are far below the level of Alabama, in terms of talent and also performance.

On defense, the Crimson Tide swarmed the football play after play, bottling up Le'Veon Bell and Edwin Baker for a total of 27 yards, and knocking starting QB Kirk Cousins out of the game with a vicious hit. They also held MSU scoreless for nearly four full quarters, forced a goal-line fumble, and busted through State's O-line for four game-changing sacks. On the offensive side of the football, 'Bama pounded the Spartans 44 times for 275 yards rushing as a team, including six scores on the ground, and threw for 220 yards. Those stats, combined with their speed and talent all across the board, made a huge difference in this game, and ultimately decided the Spartans' fate.

Even more disturbing was the lack of toughness and drive that State played with. All throughout this season, MSU battled back time and again, winning games with and without their head coach, on fake field goals and rushing touchdowns. Yet, neither that classic Spartan toughness nor drive rose to the forefront today.  This led to stalled drive after stalled drive, and merciless maulings by the Alabam offense. In fact, the way in which this game was won directly reflects the way the Spartans played in so many of their games.

Nick Saban's crew ran the football with abandon, mixed in the pass well, and put points on the board early and often.  But, even after giving up two quick scores, the Spartans were still in the game, and after driving inside the 10 in the second quarter, MSU was in position to score. But, as was the case for much of the game, State blew their chance, quite literally fumbling their opportunity away. After that, they never established any kind of offensive rhythm until the game was out of reach.

Given the chance to seize greatness, thrust themselves into the national conversation for next season, and cap off a tremendous season with a huge win, Michigan State put forth their worst effort this season. Not only do the Crimson Tide have more talent across the board, they also executed their gameplan to perfection, and that made all the difference today. Now, the Spartans know exactly what it takes to reach the elite level that Alabama and so many others play at. Victories not only require outstanding play-they also require all the intangibles that transform good football teams into  great ones: things like toughness, focus, and heart. The Spartans played with all of those traits this season. Yet, today, they played without any of those attributes, and for a squad that needed nothing less than their best effort to win, that qualifies as a disappointment.  Until next year, they'll have to wait for redemption.

--Beau