MSU Warriors vs. Donnie's Dragons Date: 6/11/2006 MSU Warriors vs. Donnie's Dragons at War Memorial Stadium Start Time: 1:00 PM EST Game Day Weather Game Weather: Warm and Sunny, Temp: 80° F Played Outdoor on Grass: Grass Temp: 80° F, Humidity: 50% Officials Referee: Bill Leavy (127) Line Judge: Mark Perlman (9) Field Judge: Steve Zimmer (33) Umpire: Garth DeFelice (53) Side Judge: Tom Hill (97) Replay Official: Bob Boylston () Head Linesman: Mark Hittner (28) Back Judge: Bob Waggoner (25) Video Operator: David Coleman () Lineups MSU Warriors MSUJet85 1. Joe Montana, QB 20. Joe Greene, DT 21. Marcus Allen, RB 40. Jim Parker, T 41. Marion Motley, RB 60. Willie Lanier, LB 61. Steve Largent, WR 80. Herb Adderley, CB 81. Warren Sapp, DT 100. Don Maynard, WR 101. Mike Ditka, TE 120. Gerry Philbin, DE 121. Rayfield Wright, T 140. Jim Langer, C 141. Junior Seau, LB 160. Cliff Harris, S 161. Robert Brazile, LB 180. Steve Wisniewski, G 181. Chris Doleman, DE 200. Carnell Lake, S 201. LeRoy Butler, S 220. George Musso, G 221. Louis Wright, CB 240. Lou Groza, K 241. Matt Turk, P 10. Jim Thorpe, RB 31. Fran Tarkenton, QB 32. Chad Johnson, WR Donnie's Dragons DonnieIsTheKing 10. John Elway, QB 11. Walter Payton, RB 30. Gino Marchetti, DE 31. Merlin Olsen, DT 50. Jonathan Ogden, T 51. Bill George, LB 70. Jim Taylor, RB 71. Mike Haynes, CB 90. Doug Atkins, DE 91. Will Shields, G 110. Willie Roaf, T 111. Tim Brown, WR 130. Mel Hein, C 131. Willie Wood, S 150. John Randle, DT 151. Jack Christiansen, S 170. Cornelius Bennett, LB 171. Ozzie Newsome, TE 190. Elroy Hirsch, WR 191. Gary Anderson, K 211. Sam Madison, CB 212. Ruben Brown, G 231. Jessie Armstead, LB 232. Darren Bennett, P 1. Franco Harris, RB 19. Rod Smith, WR 20. Sam Adams, DT 39. Warren Moon, QB MSU Warriors vs. Donnie's Dragons Joe Montana.............QB...........John Elway Marcus Allen............RB...........Walter Payton Marion Motley...........FB...........Jim Taylor Steve Largent..........WR...........Tim Brown Mike Ditka...............TE...........Ozzie Newsome Jim Parker...............LT...........Jonathan Ogden Steve Wisniewski......LG...........Ruben Brown Jim Langer...............C............Mel Hein George Musso..........RG...........Will Shields Rayfield Wright.........RT...........Willie Roaf Don Maynard...........WR..........Elroy Hirsch Gerry Philbin.............DE...........Gino Marchetti Joe Greene...............DT...........John Randle Warren Sapp.............DT...........Merlin Olsen Chris Doleman...........DE...........Doug Atkins Junior Seau..............OLB...........Cornelius Bennett Willie Lanier..............MLB..........Bill George Robert Brazile...........OLB..........Jesse Armstead Herb Adderley............CB...........Mike Haynes LeRoy Butler..............SS..........Jack Christiansen Cliff Harris.................FS..........Willie Wood Louis Wright..............CB...........Sam Madison Lou Groza.................K..........Gary Anderson Matt Turk.................P...........Darren Bennett Substitutions Jim Thorpe...............RB............Franco Harris Chad Johnson...........WR.........Rod Smith Carnell Lake............FS/DT.......Sam Adams Fran Tarkenton..........QB...........Warren Moon
An interesting matchup in the MSUJet85 vs. DonnieIsTheKing game will be OL Jim Parker vs. DE Doug Atkins. I played against some mean ones, but I never met anyone meaner than Atkins. After my first meeting with him, I really wanted to quit pro football. He just beat the hell out of me. He rammed me back there so hard the only thing I could do was wave to Johnny (Unitas) as I went by. It was awful. Finally, my coaches convinced me that not every pro player was like Atkins. -Jim Parker Another good matchup will be the best QB matchup of week 1, Joe Montana vs. John Elway. Will the best QB in NFL history (Montana) have enough time to get a pass off with an excellent pass rush of Gino Marchetti, Merlin Olsen, John Randle, and Doug Atkins (with occasional spells by Sam Adams on running downs) coming at him? If he does will he be able to find holes in an excellent cover secondary and arguably the best cover OLB in NFL history, Jesse Armstead? Will a strong running game of Walter Payton, Jim Taylor, and Franco Harris be able to spring free with Warren Sapp and Mean Joe Green weakening a strong offensive line? Will Donnie's below average run defending unit be able to slow down Marcus Allen and Marion Motley? Can MSU's entire team survive hell? War Memorial Stadium is known as having crowds that are unfriendly to the opposing players and in this season opening game they should be riled up. It will all be decided on the field. Dragons Team Breakdown Warriors Team Breakdown
^I'll be voting tonight for this game and two others. I only voted on two so far. I'm putting some significant thought into my votes. I would like to see comments from the people who voted aside from the ten of us who have teams.
In breaking down this game, there are a bunch of close matchups. I think this game would go down to the wire. I haven't decided on this one, yet.
I went with Donnie. I think that MSU's defensive backfield would struggle against Hirsch and Tim Brown, two completely different receivers. The wild card in this is Jim Taylor and his ability to take the ball out of the fullback slot. If he were to do that well, then Donnie shoudn't have a problem.
A couple questions here to hopefully spark more voter commentary- Will the Warriors (MSU) be running a West Coast Offense with Joe Montana at QB and if so, will it be effective against the Dragons (Donnie) defense? If Marion Motley gets to the second level will he run over Jessie Armstead? How well will the Dragons interior line (Brown, Hein, Shields) play against Greene and Sapp?
It's a major pain in the ass to put every player at a position, line them up and compare them when all I can see is the draft results. Can't compare the starting lineups at all.
MSU Warriors vs. Donnie's Dragons Joe Montana.............QB...........John Elway Marcus Allen............RB...........Walter Payton Marion Motley...........FB...........Jim Taylor Steve Largent..........WR...........Tim Brown Mike Ditka...............TE...........Ozzie Newsome Jim Parker...............LT...........Jonathan Ogden Steve Wisniewski......LG...........Ruben Brown Jim Langer...............C............Mel Hein George Musso..........RG...........Will Shields Rayfield Wright.........RT...........Willie Roaf Don Maynard...........WR..........Elroy Hirsch Gerry Philbin.............DE...........Gino Marchetti Joe Greene...............DT...........John Randle Warren Sapp.............DT...........Merlin Olsen Chris Doleman...........DE...........Doug Atkins Junior Seau..............OLB...........Cornelius Bennett Willie Lanier..............MLB..........Bill George Robert Brazile...........OLB..........Jesse Armstead Herb Adderley............CB...........Mike Haynes LeRoy Butler..............SS..........Jack Christiansen Cliff Harris.................FS..........Willie Wood Louis Wright..............CB...........Sam Madison Lou Groza.................K..........Gary Anderson Matt Turk.................P...........Darren Bennett Substitutions Jim Thorpe...............RB............Franco Harris Chad Johnson...........WR.........Rod Smith Carnell Lake............FS/DT.......Sam Adams Fran Tarkenton..........QB...........Warren Moon
Thanks a lot MSU. I'm not a big fan of the secondary and linebackers of Donnie, compared to MSU's, and I think that MSU has a solid team all around. It's a very tight game here, very evenly matched. I think the use of Thorpe off the bench is the x-factor.
Joe Montana.............QB...........John Elway (Montana) Marcus Allen............RB...........Walter Payton (Payton) Marion Motley...........FB...........Jim Taylor (Tie) Steve Largent..........WR...........Tim Brown (Largent) Mike Ditka...............TE...........Ozzie Newsome (Ditka) Jim Parker...............LT...........Jonathan Ogden (Parker, but Atkins does "own" him) Steve Wisniewski......LG...........Ruben Brown (Wisniewski) Jim Langer...............C............Mel Hein (Hein) George Musso..........RG...........Will Shields (Shields) Rayfield Wright.........RT...........Willie Roaf (Tie) Don Maynard...........WR..........Elroy Hirsch (Hirsch) Gerry Philbin.............DE...........Gino Marchetti (Marchetti) Joe Greene...............DT...........John Randle (Greene) Warren Sapp.............DT...........Merlin Olsen (Olsen) Chris Doleman...........DE...........Doug Atkins (Atkins) Junior Seau..............OLB...........Cornelius Bennett (Seau) Willie Lanier..............MLB..........Bill George (Tie) Robert Brazile...........OLB..........Jesse Armstead (Brazile) Herb Adderley............CB...........Mike Haynes (Haynes) LeRoy Butler..............SS..........Jack Christiansen (Butler) Cliff Harris.................FS..........Willie Wood (Wood) Louis Wright..............CB...........Sam Madison (Wright) Lou Groza.................K..........Gary Anderson (Anderson) Matt Turk.................P...........Darren Bennett (Bennett) Substitutions Jim Thorpe...............RB............Franco Harris (Hmm... a very tough one that I'm going to tie) Chad Johnson...........WR.........Rod Smith (Depends on how one grades... I'd take Smith because Johnson has low numbers and if he has a career ending injury tomorrow this would be a terrible pick. A lot of upside but nothing is guaranteed) Carnell Lake............FS/DT.......Sam Adams (N/A) Fran Tarkenton..........QB...........Warren Moon (Tarkenton) Without special teams, he wins 9-8 but with it I win 10-9. With backups it's tied 12-12. This is a very close matchup IMO and it could go either way... as MSU is up by only 2. Let's get some votes!
I have to go with Donnie's Dragons....It is damn close but he has a good mix of old and new....BTW Marcus Allen is not a great RB (not in my top 10) and Jim Thorpe should be starting over him
I tie it back up with about a day and a half to go. Great race... let's get a final few votes in. Remember to vote in the other 4 games too! All very tight races...
