Alabama reserve DB Brown suspended for Cotton Bowl

Past year proved the Big Ten was back and in a big way. For Michigan State to pull the upset – doesn’t it always seem as if the Spartans are trying to pull an upset? – it will be on Allen and his crew to win a fight in which they will be significantly outnumbered.

Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio and his team were front and center and answered any and all questions regarding the upcoming game. Last season, though, they let an early 21-6 lead slip away and lost to the Buckeyes in the Sugar Bowl.

Saban left for LSU after the 1999 season. We’re playing at 7:00 tomorrow night, and that’s the focus. The Spartans have won nine of their last 13 games as underdogs. If Henry is getting good yardage, and doing a good job of getting into the second level, then expect Lane Kiffin to keep feeding him the ball. Michigan State wants to rely a little more on their National Football League hopeful QB Connor Cook while the Tide lean heavily on the Heisman Trophy victor Derrick Henry.

Maybe that’s why Dantonio can sit back and offer that half smile.

The Michigan State coach didn’t mind deferring to his counterpart from Alabama.

“They’re going to try to run it straight at us, and we’re going to try to stop them”.

“You have to have the mindset of it’s gonna be a 15-round fight and at any time, any punch could knock you out so you can’t relax, ever”, Michigan State co-defensive coordinator Mike Tressel said. In those game, they allowed 18, 123, 81, and 86 yards respectively.

Clemson’s scout-team quarterback is 45 years old and makes almost $1 million a year. Cook will need to make a lot of quick decisions, but his receivers will have to win on one-one-one coverage.

But here was perhaps the big key: The Sooners got some fast food out of the deal, because the staff couldn’t find anything else for them to eat during that delay that dragged on for hours. Cook will need to continue to complete passes in tight windows, as the Tide’s talented secondary will play its share of press coverage.

Jake Hartbarger averages 42.1 yards a punt, 49th in the country, while Football Outsiders ranks the Spartans 108th in punting efficiency. “Some of the recent hires – Urban Meyer, Jim Harbaugh, James Franklin – they are helping to turn the tide in the right direction”. Said Dantonio, “We have never played that card”.

Michigan State has won at least 11 games in five of the last six seasons. “You can’t ever get bored at stopping the inside zone because that inside zone could pop big. So I’m more concerned about the people on the sideline and how they’re viewing it”. Ultimately, the Spartans offense will not be able to get enough done against Alabama’s defense.

If Michigan State can get past Alabama, there certainly won’t be any disappointment. He gets stronger as the game goes on, and the team feeds off of his energy. But Alabama only produces about 10 such players on a yearly basis, so Alabama must go out of state to fill its talent coffers, doing well in Louisiana, Georgia and Florida. The Crimson Tide rolls an 11-man rotation of potential National Football League prospects at opposing offences.