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• Michigan State - 5,6,6,6,8,7,9,9,11 I've been saying for weeks that I thought MSU was overrated.  I have no confidence in them due to their slew of close wins over bad teams.  That said, at this point they look like they might be the B1G's second best team

Slew?

• MINNESOTA (7) - how many running backs does this team have

5th and 6th guys on the depth chart to start the year are a redshirt and a true freshman.  Both pretty highly recruited however.  Definitely shows.  When Bryce Williams went down, the Gophers actually brought in Derik LeCaptain, a walk-on linebacker who played running back in high school.  Shed multiple tackles on the way to a 24 yard touchdown run near the end of the game (7:52 in video below)

Really....the superstar here is the offensive line.  It was supposed to be a strength with how much returning experience we have.  So far so good.  Worth noting that the LeCaptain run had our second team o-line in.  Likely to be the starting group next year.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk74z00BYtM&t=471s

ok, two = slew

From my perspective, "close" is a relative term.

Back in week one when NU was the defending B1G-W Champ and MSU was picked to finish last in the B1G-E, I considered MSU's 17 point win over NU to be quite impressive.

Today, not so much. MSU is a nationally top-5 team and NU is terrible. Additionally, not only Michigan but also UNL and MN have bigger wins over the Wildcats.

The 17 point win over WKY is similarly good but nothing to write home about for an AP top-5 team.

The 18 point win over RU falls in the same category. It is good but hardly impressive for a top-5 team. Rutgers lost to Northwestern by two TD's and got annihilated by tOSU by 39 points in a game that was only that close because tOSU essentially took the second half off. MSU led Rutgers 21-13 at halftime, a week earlier the Scarlett Knights were down 45-6 to the Buckeyes at halftime.

All these wins look good and the fact that they are ALL wins is obviously superb but as a CFP/top-5 resume this feels shaky to me. If this was Ohio State's resume Buckeye fans would be up in arms. When you are top-5 and in consideration for #1 in these rankings, that is the standard you are held to.

They were up 45-16 in the 4th quarter on WKU before pulling guys

From 12 minutes in the 3rd quarter on against Northwestern I don't believe their win percentage dropped below 80%

The win chance against Rutgers was above 95% for the last 20 game minutes

I guess you could say in the end, none were blowouts, but none were close either.  And anything above a certain point is just window dressing.  Yes, Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, etc... recruit at a different level.  Their A game is ALWAYS going to be better, but MSU is still #10 in the nation in Game Control, and #2 in Strength of Record, which (IMO) is entirely how the CFP should be determined.

old men, Osborne and Switzer laugh out loud

Maybe not, but Minnesota is a running team and has put some lumber on the tomato cans. As noted above, the OL, after taking a while to get going, is driving the Gopher bus right now. 

No one is comparing MSU to those Nebraska teams.

no one but little ol me!