Arizona too fast; MSU a new challenge

The offense was regarded as the strength of the football team prior to Saturday’s season opener.

While that still may be the case, the defense took a step toward refuting that notion against Arizona. The Chippewas’ 19-6 loss to the Wildcats displayed a much-improved defense compared to last season. Unfortunately, the offense looked inept for much of the game.

Arizona’s secondary smothered the CMU wide receivers. The UA front four was able to get enough pressure in the face of senior quarterback Dan LeFevour to fluster the passing game without bringing extra men on blitzes.

The Chippewas managed only 108 yards through the air, LeFevour’s lowest passing total of his career in games he started (excluding games he left because of injury — Temple in 2008 and Eastern Michigan in 2006).

The Arizona linebackers held the running game — which includes the legs of LeFevour — completely in check. On 20 carries, CMU gained 74 yards rushing as a team, just 3.7 yards per carry.

There are things CMU could have done differently. In every game, there are plays every team wishes it would have executed better.

Second guessing is natural for every coach, and every fan or journalist trying to play Monday morning quarterback.

But if there is one thing that is blatantly obvious to the naked eye, it is the speed the Arizona defense brought to the table. Check that, the speed of the entire Pacific 10 conference.

Central Michigan should be able to move the ball against any defense in the Mid-American Conference. But the difference in speed from the MAC to the PAC 10 is apparent.

Coach Butch Jones said he saw speed he has yet to encounter.

“That’s probably the fastest defense we’ve played since we’ve been here,” he said.

He was not exaggerating. Junior wide receiver Antonio Brown managed 31 yards rushing on three attempts, and LeFevour added 30 yards on the ground, but no CMU running back had more than 15 yards on the day. Brown and fellow star wide receiver senior Bryan Anderson were largely ineffective, with just 38 combined receiving yards. Junior Kito Poblah led the team in that category with 47 yards, a by-product of the attention and tight coverage given to the other two.

Moving ahead

Michigan State possesses an entirely new challenge, but one just as daunting. As showcased in the Michigan-Western Michigan game to open the season Saturday, the Big Ten has speed of its own. Western Michigan, a team likely to contend in the MAC, was completely outmatched by a Michigan team many think will stay near the middle of the pack in its conference. By the end of the first half, Michigan was ahead 31-0, en route to a 31-7 final.

MSU’s defense, led by All-Big Ten linebacker Greg Jones, may not have the speed Arizona possessed, but it has its own hurdles CMU has to get over.

For starters, Greg Jones is better than any linebacker Arizona can put on the field. Roaming the middle of the field, he also is used when blitzing, as evident by his 14.5 tackles for loss last season.

Offensive tackle Jake Olson, who played extremely well in his debut against Arizona stand-out defensive end Brooks Reed, will have another challenge. As a junior last year, defensive end Trevor Anderson recorded eight sacks, and he will likely be lined up against Olson as the right end.

And while the MSU secondary may not compete with Arizona’s top two corners — Devin Ross and Mike Turner — it does have a wealth of depth in the defensive backfield, led by junior cornerback Chris L. Rucker.

Regardless of whether MSU can keep up with Arizona in a 40-yard dash, CMU will have trouble putting points up against the Spartans. Butch Jones said he was impressed by the size of the Michigan State team.

But the passing game has to click, because the Chippewas will have trouble running against (Greg) Jones and the MSU front seven.
For the passing game to have success, the offensive line has to stop the rush of the front four, or seven defenders will be able to drop back and clamp down on Brown, Anderson and Poblah.

Arizona was able to put enough pressure on the new offensive tackles and LeFevour. Butch Jones said he was happy with the effort from his offensive line — particularly Olson’s work against Brooks Reed — but clearly there was a large task at hand last week, and another one awaits against MSU.

If MSU is forced to bring more defenders in the box, it will open the field for CMU’s playmakers. And the more success the Chippewas have through the air, the bigger the holes will be in the running game.

Stop the rush, and CMU may be able to put up points against a sturdy MSU defense.