http://statenews.com With a 5-1 record, the Spartans have reached the midpoint of the regular season in good shape for a Big Ten championship run. From stellar running-back play to a surprisingly stout defense, the team has earned high marks through six games. Here’s a position-by-position breakdown of the MSU football team halfway through the season. en-us Gryphon 2.2.3b-tsn (woodward)/Foundry5 Tue, 14 Oct 2008 02:43:12 -0400 webmaster@statenews.com http://statenews.com/index.php/comment/view/24675 The D gets an overall B+ grade? We’ve been surviving on turnovers — which sometimes are caused by great D but are often pure gifts. We’ve given up a ton of yards in the last 3 games and luckily gotten some key turnovers to win. ND 16 rushing, 242, 3 turnovers IN 189 rushing, 284 passing, 3 turnovers IA 151 rushing, 158 passing, 3 turnovers NW 176 rushing, 283 passing, 3 turnovers D-line Maybe an Incomplete grade — hard to grade since they rarely show up. They’ve been getting blown off the ball for the most part. Linebackers Also hard to grade given the bad line play. There have been some great plays here and there, but look at the run yardage. They do great when run blitzing and when in pass coverage, but when lined up in a straight 7 man front it’s been ugly. Gordon has been consistent? Maybe consistently the slowest LB to react, taking confusing paths to the ball, and getting beat in every foot race. He has potential, but it’s more potential than actual to this point. Secondary Agree with you — couple great games, couple horrible games. Still an overall improvement from last year. Tue, 14 Oct 2008 02:43:12 -0400 http://statenews.com/index.php/comment/view/24675