but we've had passing attacks without the running game to match too. Dave Marler, Tony Shell come to mind. Just not often enough to have remembered unless you are over 40 like myself.
What seems to have eluded us is having the dominant defense at the same TIME as the decent offense, whether it be passing or running. Of course our only claim to fame in recent memory was the 1998 team that had a pretty good balance. Just not much passing to complete the trifecta.
I'll say this. If the defense improves like it should, and the passing game is simply diverse enough to offset the loss of a great rb, you might get to see the best all around MSU team ANYONE ever remembers.
I'd still say that's 2 years away.