Not only will injuries to senior receiver R.J. Shelton and junior linebacker Jon Reschke be given the opportunity to heal, but the Spartans will also have an opportunity to study up on Notre Dame. With a team stocked with young talent and a new quarterback, every chance to gain an edge is openly accepted.
Studying up on the opponent, as well as in the classroom, is another advantage. MSU classes are just getting started and the players are beginning to become grounded in their academic responsibilities.
Throw in some early season recruiting and it seems the time off following Furman looks promising for the Spartans, at least for now. What appears to be a blessing, however, can wind up being a curse — and with a daunting schedule of respected and elite Big Ten programs, that might just be what this bye week evolves into.
MSU will have to play 11 straight football games, traveling from the comfort of Spartan Stadium to the state of Indiana twice, Illinois, Maryland and Pennsylvania. They will ultimately face off against three current top 10 teams and another that started the season that way. Make it 12 straight games if they get through that and find themselves playing for another Big Ten crown.
If last season was any indication, the wear and tear of a football season affects everyone, especially the Spartans. They were plagued with injuries to the offensive line and secondary, but a mid-season bye before a road challenge against the then-No. 3 ranked Buckeyes gave time for players to gain their strength and allowed for current starting quarterback Tyler O’Connor a chance to shine in place of a then-injured and now graduated Connor Cook.
It gave time for younger players to develop and grow in their newly-found roles and exert confidence from the two weeks of practice they just had. A bye this early takes that away.
It allowed the coaching staff to take a deep breath, study their own team and improve on anything that still needed fine-tuning. With only one game against an FCS team to look at, the early bye takes that away, too.
It allows all players to take a moment and step back, looking at what they’ve accomplished so far in the year and dig deep to accomplish what they set out to do. You guessed it, a week two bye takes that one away as well.
MSU football will have to dig deep for the remainder of the season, and a tough two games against a Notre Dame team that can’t afford another loss and a Wisconsin team that proved doubters wrong in week one against LSU will put the Spartans to the test right from the get-go.
