Initial game story with some quotes
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That's More Like It; Spartans cruise, 51-17
Jim Comparoni • SpartanMag
@JimComparoni
EAST LANSING - So that’s what this offense is supposed to look like.
And with it, Michigan State suddenly looks like a bona fide Top 20 team.
The Spartan offense ripped through Western Michigan, and the defense did a decent job most of the night, as the No. 19-ranked Spartans improved to 2-0 with a 51-17 victory on Friday night at Spartan Stadium.
“We did what we intended to do in terms of playing hard, knowing what to do,” said head coach Mark Dantonio, who called for improvement in those areas on Tuesday.
Brian Lewerke completed 23 of 32 passes for 314 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
“I thought Lewerke played extremely well,” Dantonio said. “You can see what he can do when he is healthy and he is confident. He looked like a big-timer.”
Running back Elijah Collins had a coming-out party in the first start of his career. The redshirt-freshman gained 192 yards on 17 carries, including a long of 58 in the third quarter.
Senior wide receiver Darrell Stewart had a career high in receiving yardage by the end of the first quarter (104 yards) and finished with 185 yards on 10 catches, with one touchdown.
Michigan State scored touchdowns on its first three possessions in exploding out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter, and the Spartan offense played the entire night without a penalty, after being plagued by plagues last week.
“On the first play, I thought we had a big play and the second play, we had a big run and we were sort of off onto it,” Dantonio said. “That catapulted us.”
Tight end Matt Dotson opened the scoring with a 2-yard reception, wide open off a new RPO look. Then sophomore tailback La’Darius Jefferson bounced around left tackle for a 2-yard TD run out of an old triple stack I-formation.
Stewart made it 21-0 on a 42-yard deep post.
Jefferson also scored on a 1-yard TD in the second half.
MSU out-gained Western Michigan 582-352.
The Broncos found some success through the air. Senior quarterback Jon Wassink completed 23 of 37 passes for 252 yards but was intercepted twice. Western Michigan (1-1) scored 10 points in the last nine minutes.
“The thing I’m frustrated about is we need to close out the game better,” said defensive coordinator Mike Tressel. “We need all 30 guys that got on the field to play as well as the starters do.”
RB REVOLVING DOOR LANDS ON COLLINS
Collins (6-0, 205, Detroit Jesuit) immediately demonstrated that the starting job was in good hands. He gained 29 yards on his first carry, an outside zone to the right. Then he followed with an 11-yard gain on a power toss as MSU’s maligned offensive line bounced back from last week’s follies with a solid performance.
“Eli busted some runs to the second level and hit it," Dantonio said. "You could see his speed."
Blocking had a lot to do with it.
"We got on people," Dantonio said. "So our offensive line did a good job as well. It’s about guys getting on their guy and winning their individual battle and I thought we did that. They did a nice job in pass protection as well.”
Collins was productive for the rest of the night, displaying a quicker burst than MSU’s other running backs showed all of last week and last year. He also lowered his shoulder for tough yardage when necessary.
Collins bounced an inside zone run outside for a 24 yard gain late in the first half when Michigan State appeared to be willing to run out the clock at the end of the half. After that play, Lewerke threw to Collins (gain of 5), Stewart (5, 10 and 13) in a hurry-up drill to set up Matt Coghlin for a 38-yard field goal and a 31-7 lead at the half. Coghlin also hit field goals of 23 and 20 yards.
Junior Connor Heyward, who started last week and was a spot starter for most of last season, was limited to three running attempts, the last of which he fumbled. He didn’t return to the game after that miscue. He finished with 13 yards rushing and one reception for seven yards.
Walk-on running back Alante Thomas gave Michigan State a 51-10 lead on a 1-yard TD with 4:02 left, set up by a 23-yard run by freshman running back Anthony Williams.
Junior wide receiver Cody White added five catches for 63 yards.
“Very steady performance, big catches,” Dantonio said.
NOT ERROR-FREE
Michigan State soiled a splendid first quarter with a pair of mental errors in the second quarter by team captains. Defensive end Kenny Willekes lined up off-side during a third-and-short stoppage, which prolonged Western Michigan’s possession, eventually resulting in a TD and a 21-7 score.
On the ensuing drive, Lewerke forced a pass into coverage while being flushed by a blitz on second-and-12, throwing his first interception of the season on his first poor decision of the year. Lewerke appeared to be throwing to Dotson, although tight end Trenton Gillison was in the area on a shallow level but was knocked to the ground while the ball was in the air.
Western Michigan then drove to the Michigan State 12-yard line, threatening to cut the lead to a touchdown midway through the second quarter. But a Josh Butler pass break-up ended that threat.
Western Michigan kicker Thiago Kapps missed field goal attempts from 48 and 27 yards in the first half. The 27-yarder could have cut it to 21-10 with 8:12 left in the second quarter after the Lewerke interception.
Tyriq Thompson and Xavier Henderson had interceptions for the Spartans.
“Our defense played outstanding, I felt,” Dantonio said. Western had a good rhythm. Wassink is an outstanding quarterback. He got the ball out quick and made some good throws. We played through it. In the third quarter, we got off the field a lot.”
MSU’s second-string defense allowed a late touchdown in mop-up time, although it was Brandon Randle, a regular in the playing group, who allowed the score on a 15-yard wheel route with less than a minute remaining.
WHAT’S NEXT: Michigan State will play Arizona State (2-0) next Saturday at Spartan Stadium as the Spartans try to avenge last year’s loss at ASU.
Jim Comparoni • SpartanMag
@JimComparoni
EAST LANSING - So that’s what this offense is supposed to look like.
And with it, Michigan State suddenly looks like a bona fide Top 20 team.
The Spartan offense ripped through Western Michigan, and the defense did a decent job most of the night, as the No. 19-ranked Spartans improved to 2-0 with a 51-17 victory on Friday night at Spartan Stadium.
“We did what we intended to do in terms of playing hard, knowing what to do,” said head coach Mark Dantonio, who called for improvement in those areas on Tuesday.
Brian Lewerke completed 23 of 32 passes for 314 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
“I thought Lewerke played extremely well,” Dantonio said. “You can see what he can do when he is healthy and he is confident. He looked like a big-timer.”
Running back Elijah Collins had a coming-out party in the first start of his career. The redshirt-freshman gained 192 yards on 17 carries, including a long of 58 in the third quarter.
Senior wide receiver Darrell Stewart had a career high in receiving yardage by the end of the first quarter (104 yards) and finished with 185 yards on 10 catches, with one touchdown.
Michigan State scored touchdowns on its first three possessions in exploding out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter, and the Spartan offense played the entire night without a penalty, after being plagued by plagues last week.
“On the first play, I thought we had a big play and the second play, we had a big run and we were sort of off onto it,” Dantonio said. “That catapulted us.”
Tight end Matt Dotson opened the scoring with a 2-yard reception, wide open off a new RPO look. Then sophomore tailback La’Darius Jefferson bounced around left tackle for a 2-yard TD run out of an old triple stack I-formation.
Stewart made it 21-0 on a 42-yard deep post.
Jefferson also scored on a 1-yard TD in the second half.
MSU out-gained Western Michigan 582-352.
The Broncos found some success through the air. Senior quarterback Jon Wassink completed 23 of 37 passes for 252 yards but was intercepted twice. Western Michigan (1-1) scored 10 points in the last nine minutes.
“The thing I’m frustrated about is we need to close out the game better,” said defensive coordinator Mike Tressel. “We need all 30 guys that got on the field to play as well as the starters do.”
RB REVOLVING DOOR LANDS ON COLLINS
Collins (6-0, 205, Detroit Jesuit) immediately demonstrated that the starting job was in good hands. He gained 29 yards on his first carry, an outside zone to the right. Then he followed with an 11-yard gain on a power toss as MSU’s maligned offensive line bounced back from last week’s follies with a solid performance.
“Eli busted some runs to the second level and hit it," Dantonio said. "You could see his speed."
Blocking had a lot to do with it.
"We got on people," Dantonio said. "So our offensive line did a good job as well. It’s about guys getting on their guy and winning their individual battle and I thought we did that. They did a nice job in pass protection as well.”
Collins was productive for the rest of the night, displaying a quicker burst than MSU’s other running backs showed all of last week and last year. He also lowered his shoulder for tough yardage when necessary.
Collins bounced an inside zone run outside for a 24 yard gain late in the first half when Michigan State appeared to be willing to run out the clock at the end of the half. After that play, Lewerke threw to Collins (gain of 5), Stewart (5, 10 and 13) in a hurry-up drill to set up Matt Coghlin for a 38-yard field goal and a 31-7 lead at the half. Coghlin also hit field goals of 23 and 20 yards.
Junior Connor Heyward, who started last week and was a spot starter for most of last season, was limited to three running attempts, the last of which he fumbled. He didn’t return to the game after that miscue. He finished with 13 yards rushing and one reception for seven yards.
Walk-on running back Alante Thomas gave Michigan State a 51-10 lead on a 1-yard TD with 4:02 left, set up by a 23-yard run by freshman running back Anthony Williams.
Junior wide receiver Cody White added five catches for 63 yards.
“Very steady performance, big catches,” Dantonio said.
NOT ERROR-FREE
Michigan State soiled a splendid first quarter with a pair of mental errors in the second quarter by team captains. Defensive end Kenny Willekes lined up off-side during a third-and-short stoppage, which prolonged Western Michigan’s possession, eventually resulting in a TD and a 21-7 score.
On the ensuing drive, Lewerke forced a pass into coverage while being flushed by a blitz on second-and-12, throwing his first interception of the season on his first poor decision of the year. Lewerke appeared to be throwing to Dotson, although tight end Trenton Gillison was in the area on a shallow level but was knocked to the ground while the ball was in the air.
Western Michigan then drove to the Michigan State 12-yard line, threatening to cut the lead to a touchdown midway through the second quarter. But a Josh Butler pass break-up ended that threat.
Western Michigan kicker Thiago Kapps missed field goal attempts from 48 and 27 yards in the first half. The 27-yarder could have cut it to 21-10 with 8:12 left in the second quarter after the Lewerke interception.
Tyriq Thompson and Xavier Henderson had interceptions for the Spartans.
“Our defense played outstanding, I felt,” Dantonio said. Western had a good rhythm. Wassink is an outstanding quarterback. He got the ball out quick and made some good throws. We played through it. In the third quarter, we got off the field a lot.”
MSU’s second-string defense allowed a late touchdown in mop-up time, although it was Brandon Randle, a regular in the playing group, who allowed the score on a 15-yard wheel route with less than a minute remaining.
WHAT’S NEXT: Michigan State will play Arizona State (2-0) next Saturday at Spartan Stadium as the Spartans try to avenge last year’s loss at ASU.
The 3-2-1 for Tulsa Week
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The 3-2-1 for Tulsa Week
Jim Comparoni • SpartanMag
EAST LANSING - Three things we learned during Mark Dantonio’sfirst regular season press conference of the year, two questions and one prediction.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
1. A.J. Arcuri is the starting left tackle.
The flip side of this news is that three-and-a-half-year starter Cole Chewins is out indefinitely with a back issue.
First on Chewins: Dantonio said at the outset of camp that the senior lineman would be sidelined for portions of August as coaches and trainers sought to manage a health situation. Dantonio revealed for the first time on Tuesday that it’s been a back ailment.
“He struggled with his back throughout the preseason so he is on a day-to-day basis,” Dantonio said of Chewins. “We do anticipate that he will be able to play at some point but he has had some time off here of late. He won’t play this week.”
Brian Lewerke said Chewins played in the first scrimmage on Aug. 9. It’s unclear whether Chewins played in the second scrimmage a week later.
As for Arcuri, The 6-foot-7, 306-pound junior from Powell, Ohio has seen only 22 career snaps as an offensive lineman, all coming last year. He has overcome lower body injuries early in his career to make a recent rapid rise up the depth chart.
Is Arcuri a reach? A potential weakness? I don’t think so.
I was surprised by how solid, athletic, fluid and functional Arcuri looked as a starting left tackle in the Green-White Game in April as Chewins was given the day off. Arcuri worked against walk-on defensive ends most of the day, and swallowed them up with consistency. He also neutralized edge linebacker Noah Harveyon blitzes. He repped one snap against starting defensive end Jacub Panasiuk, and stalemated him.
“He’s been athletic,” Dantonio said of Arcuri. “He has adapted well to the left tackle position. He’s a big, strong guy. He has learned that position. I think he could play across the board with possibly the exception of center.”
I mentioned Arcuri during the off-season as an unproven player who was set to make a rise into the playing group. I’m not surprised that he is getting the starting call over Chewins for this game. The only question was Chewins’ availability.
Arcuri has looked good in practices and scrimmages. Now he needs to prove himself against an actual opponents in front of paying customers.
If Chewins had been available, there is no guarantee Chewins would have been the starting left tackle. Chewins spent some time repping at right tackle in the spring, an indication that the coaches were trying to create flexibility and depth along the line, and also an indication that they felt good about Arcuri. If Arcuri performs well on the left side, it’s possible that Chewins could slide to right tackle if and when he returns.
Chewins (6-8, 303, Sr., Clarkston) has 25 career starts at left tackle but was held out of the season opener last year with an undisclosed injury, snapping a streak of 16 straight starts. Chewins was serviceable for the remainder of the season, playing 663 snaps, fourth most on the team. But he failed to improve upon the standard he set as a sophomore, possibly due to lingering health issues.
Chewins was one of several offensive lineman who added more than 10 pounds of weight during the off-season in order to eclipse the 300-pound mark.
What It Means: Michigan State should be okay without Chewins for the short term. But at some point soon, Michigan State needs Chewins’ edge ability and experience on a unit that struggled last year due to injuries and is seeking to regain a physical identity.
2. Tyler Higby is the starting left guard.
This is the biggest surprise of preseason camp. Dantonio told us at Big Ten Media Days in July that Higby missed the summer after undergoing a procedure and would likely be out until late August.
(continued below)
Jim Comparoni • SpartanMag
EAST LANSING - Three things we learned during Mark Dantonio’sfirst regular season press conference of the year, two questions and one prediction.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
1. A.J. Arcuri is the starting left tackle.
The flip side of this news is that three-and-a-half-year starter Cole Chewins is out indefinitely with a back issue.
First on Chewins: Dantonio said at the outset of camp that the senior lineman would be sidelined for portions of August as coaches and trainers sought to manage a health situation. Dantonio revealed for the first time on Tuesday that it’s been a back ailment.
“He struggled with his back throughout the preseason so he is on a day-to-day basis,” Dantonio said of Chewins. “We do anticipate that he will be able to play at some point but he has had some time off here of late. He won’t play this week.”
Brian Lewerke said Chewins played in the first scrimmage on Aug. 9. It’s unclear whether Chewins played in the second scrimmage a week later.
As for Arcuri, The 6-foot-7, 306-pound junior from Powell, Ohio has seen only 22 career snaps as an offensive lineman, all coming last year. He has overcome lower body injuries early in his career to make a recent rapid rise up the depth chart.
Is Arcuri a reach? A potential weakness? I don’t think so.
I was surprised by how solid, athletic, fluid and functional Arcuri looked as a starting left tackle in the Green-White Game in April as Chewins was given the day off. Arcuri worked against walk-on defensive ends most of the day, and swallowed them up with consistency. He also neutralized edge linebacker Noah Harveyon blitzes. He repped one snap against starting defensive end Jacub Panasiuk, and stalemated him.
“He’s been athletic,” Dantonio said of Arcuri. “He has adapted well to the left tackle position. He’s a big, strong guy. He has learned that position. I think he could play across the board with possibly the exception of center.”
I mentioned Arcuri during the off-season as an unproven player who was set to make a rise into the playing group. I’m not surprised that he is getting the starting call over Chewins for this game. The only question was Chewins’ availability.
Arcuri has looked good in practices and scrimmages. Now he needs to prove himself against an actual opponents in front of paying customers.
If Chewins had been available, there is no guarantee Chewins would have been the starting left tackle. Chewins spent some time repping at right tackle in the spring, an indication that the coaches were trying to create flexibility and depth along the line, and also an indication that they felt good about Arcuri. If Arcuri performs well on the left side, it’s possible that Chewins could slide to right tackle if and when he returns.
Chewins (6-8, 303, Sr., Clarkston) has 25 career starts at left tackle but was held out of the season opener last year with an undisclosed injury, snapping a streak of 16 straight starts. Chewins was serviceable for the remainder of the season, playing 663 snaps, fourth most on the team. But he failed to improve upon the standard he set as a sophomore, possibly due to lingering health issues.
Chewins was one of several offensive lineman who added more than 10 pounds of weight during the off-season in order to eclipse the 300-pound mark.
What It Means: Michigan State should be okay without Chewins for the short term. But at some point soon, Michigan State needs Chewins’ edge ability and experience on a unit that struggled last year due to injuries and is seeking to regain a physical identity.
2. Tyler Higby is the starting left guard.
This is the biggest surprise of preseason camp. Dantonio told us at Big Ten Media Days in July that Higby missed the summer after undergoing a procedure and would likely be out until late August.
(continued below)
Salem: Play fast and know the math (continued)
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(Continued from the front of SpartanMag.com. For part one, click here: https://michiganstate.rivals.com/news/salem-play-fast-and-know-the-math)
If anyone thinks it’s awkward for Salem to give orders to former bosses, they weren’t around here when Nick Saban was giving orders to his former boss at the Naval Academy, Gary Tranquill. It’s part of coaching.
Salem was a graduate assistant back then at Michigan State, by the way.
“You grow up as a kid, the son of a coach, and you see your brother go through it and my dad,” Salem said of changing jobs and roles. “You can’t control what happens in the coaching profession in terms of when and where.
“I was Coach Bollman’s G.A. in 1995 and have worked with everybody in the room so there are friendships and relationships there. I will say that I don’t know if this can be done at many places but it can be done here - partially because there are not the egos in the room. We know that we have to do it together. We know that we have to rely on each other. The moves have kind of spurred all of us, coaching different positions, and really to narrow down our focus on what we need to accomplish on offense.”
The rebuild is heading into its eighth month.
“The situation came up in January,” Salem said of the coaching changes and his new assignment, “so we were able to thoughtfully go through it together. We researched through the whole off-season: What are things that schematically fit the people that we have? Everything from formationally to offensive structure and plays. And obviously we have to teach that, and move forward every single day.”
Translation: Salem isn’t arrogant to think that his X’s and O’s will work regardless of who are the Jimmies and Joes.
“We adjust to each other, and things that we have done football-wise,” Salem said. “There is a little bit of freedom but the biggest thing comes down to execution and getting kids to play fast.”
A little bit of freedom to put his own tweaks and tangents into the offense. That freedom will be in place for Salem - as was the case when Treadwell had the keys to the offense, and when Dan Roushar took over, and then when Warner and Bollman co-coordinated the offense. The Spartan offense was a little bit different under each coordinator, if you looked closely.
The differences will be more stark this time. But they’ve been stark before.
There were times when Warner went to the air much more than his predecessors, or operated out of the shot gun more than Dantonio’s had in the past. Too air-friendly? That description might seem strange to the rank and file Warner basher, but the Spartans operated out of the shot gun for more than 60 percent of the snaps during the first half of Warner’s first game on the job in 2013. By the 14th game of that season, the Spartans were fortunate to have that element of the offense in place, because they had to resort to it against a great Stanford defensive front that wouldn’t give up an inch on the ground. That flexibility in the offense was a major factor in the Spartans winning the 100th Rose Bowl Game.
There were other times when Michigan State lost games after going to the air more than Dantonio preferred. On more than one occasion, Dantonio shared with media and the public that the Spartan offense needed “to get back to who we are.” That meant more ground-and-pound, less finesse.
Now, with changes coming in the Salem era, will the offense deviate from what Dantonio used to describe as “who we are”?
“You still have to run the ball,” Salem said. “If you can’t run the ball, you can’t win. Whether it’s different formations or different tempo, that’s still a fact of football. So we’re working in that nature and trying to find other different wrinkles that fit our system and fit our people.”
MOVE TOWARD THE MAINSTREAM
Aside from injuries, the biggest hiccup for Michigan State’s offense in recent years has been the inability to road-grade defenders out of the box with a dominant, run-blocking offensive line. But in today’s game, the best means of running the ball sometimes entails the use of formations to get defenders out of the box, rather than trying to smash through them. The margin of error is so slim when trying to win seven or eight individual blocking battles inside the box in hopes of wringing out three or four yards.
The most forgiving way to move the ball is with spread formations, and last-second choices sewn in for the quarterback. Mix in some fast tempo, and it’s become harder, within today’s rules, for a defense to stop an offense like than than the old conventional offenses.
“You’re fortunate to have a head coach from the defensive side of the ball,” Salem said. “He understands what’s hard to do defend. He says, ‘Hey, this gives us trouble.’ Well, then we should probably do that. And we will do that. So we have moved out of the box.”
The move toward the mainstream began last December when Warner was still in charge. Michigan State’s no-huddle offense in the Redbox Bowl produced only six points, but the look and feel was different. Michigan State began using a pistol formation for the first time. Michigan State went no-huddle, although not necessarily uptempo. Look for Michigan State to do some of both under Salem.
“We will be in and out of tempos and things like that but it is something that I think has been a good change for us since spring,” Salem said. “The one thing with tempo is it simplifies both sides. It has to be simpler, which is a positive. You can only do so much in no-huddle. You can’t do it all. It forces what you have to do offensively but it also simplifies them a little bit defensively just because of time.”
Many football idiots believe the use of spread formations and fast tempo means pass, pass, pass. That’s the simpleton’s definition of exciting, unpredictable football.
Oklahoma and Clemson run the shiniest, most exciting offenses in the game, right? Even the simpletons would agree.
Oklahoma ranked No. 1 in the nation in total offense last year and Clemson ranked No. 3.
Simpletons might be surprised that Oklahoma’s pass-to-run ratio was 401-to-527. The Sooners ran the ball far more than they threw it.
Michigan State had a 497-465 pass-to-run ratio last year. Read: The Spartans passed the ball more than they threw it.
Clemson was 508-568, with an edge toward the run.
Clemson ranked No. 3 in the nation in rushing, among major conference teams. Oklahoma ranked No. 4.
Spread-to-run is one way to describe it. If the defense backs too many players out of the box in order to cover the receivers with two high safeties, then the check-with-me and/or the RPO calls for the QB to keep it or hand it off rather than throw it. Michigan State has had some of those elements in the offense in the past, but there will be more this year.
The interior blocking of many Clemson running plays was similar to Michigan State last year. The X’s and O’s on the chalkboard were often similar. They just had different types of healthy athletes.
“If you teach big-picture football, something like ‘power’ is ‘power,’” Salem said.
“Power” is a running play in which the backside guard pulls and becomes a lead blocker on the front side. Michigan State has run “power” a lot, over the years, in the Dantonio era. Wisconsin majors in it, with multiple pullers including H-backs and fullbacks.
Most spread teams stick to simple zone blocking. But Clemson and Auburn have been among those who include heavy doses of ‘power’ to go with all those shifts, motions and threats of RPO (run pass options).
“Power is power whether you have a guy in motion, or is it to a tight end side, or not?” Salem said. “Is it one-back, two-back? It’s still power. It’s a kickout (block), a double-team and a puller. It’s still power. It doesn’t really change (based on the formation). It’s just how you go about it.
“But can you mathematically, numbers-wise, get yourself in a better position so you don’t have to block as many guys?”
Now we’re getting conceptual. And that’s where Salem’s clinic goes quiet, for now - until the opener against Tulsa.
The offense we see that night, and in the games that follow, will represent a career’s worth of wiring within Salem’s football DNA, along with his knowledge of the strength and weaknesses of Michigan State’s personnel.
“There’s always ideas and thoughts from where you’ve been as a coach,” Salem said. “You sort of coach to your personality and things that have been attractive to you. You learn so much football in the last nine years because we have done so much different, offensively. The game is evolving, too. Every year, you just learn more as a coach.
“You’re able to sit and observe, and you just put that in your playbook, and your ideas of what you’ve done or things you’ve seen other people do and that was part of the research in the off-season, watching all these other teams, teams that we have played, or teams we knew, or coaches that I know, and you’re just trying to connect all the dots so that it makes sense to your guys. But you still have to be able to do the things your players can do and then guys obviously have to make the plays.”
That part is timeless, too.
“My dad used to say, ‘The team that makes the least mistakes is going to win,’” Salem said. “That’s what you’re trying to do - eliminate negative plays. You’re seeing 85 different fronts; this game is complicated. So you try to teach and train for those situations. Know who to block.”
With knowledge comes speed and power.
“The faster guys can play, the better,” Salem said.
Pat Narduzzi used to say the same thing. Mike Tressel says it now.
They’re not talking footspeed. They’re talking about brain-processing speed, leading to fast feet. That involves teaching and learning. That involves preseason camp.
“Part of that is this process we go through for four weeks - from meetings, to getting the kid on the board to draw it, to watch it on video, to rep it in practice,” Salem said. “I always say a guy has to mess something up to figure it out. So you have to fight through that process, and they need to be willing to ask questions, and we need to figure out where are they at and what do they really know.”
And there’s no anxiety for Salem in that process - for now.
If anyone thinks it’s awkward for Salem to give orders to former bosses, they weren’t around here when Nick Saban was giving orders to his former boss at the Naval Academy, Gary Tranquill. It’s part of coaching.
Salem was a graduate assistant back then at Michigan State, by the way.
“You grow up as a kid, the son of a coach, and you see your brother go through it and my dad,” Salem said of changing jobs and roles. “You can’t control what happens in the coaching profession in terms of when and where.
“I was Coach Bollman’s G.A. in 1995 and have worked with everybody in the room so there are friendships and relationships there. I will say that I don’t know if this can be done at many places but it can be done here - partially because there are not the egos in the room. We know that we have to do it together. We know that we have to rely on each other. The moves have kind of spurred all of us, coaching different positions, and really to narrow down our focus on what we need to accomplish on offense.”
The rebuild is heading into its eighth month.
“The situation came up in January,” Salem said of the coaching changes and his new assignment, “so we were able to thoughtfully go through it together. We researched through the whole off-season: What are things that schematically fit the people that we have? Everything from formationally to offensive structure and plays. And obviously we have to teach that, and move forward every single day.”
Translation: Salem isn’t arrogant to think that his X’s and O’s will work regardless of who are the Jimmies and Joes.
“We adjust to each other, and things that we have done football-wise,” Salem said. “There is a little bit of freedom but the biggest thing comes down to execution and getting kids to play fast.”
A little bit of freedom to put his own tweaks and tangents into the offense. That freedom will be in place for Salem - as was the case when Treadwell had the keys to the offense, and when Dan Roushar took over, and then when Warner and Bollman co-coordinated the offense. The Spartan offense was a little bit different under each coordinator, if you looked closely.
The differences will be more stark this time. But they’ve been stark before.
There were times when Warner went to the air much more than his predecessors, or operated out of the shot gun more than Dantonio’s had in the past. Too air-friendly? That description might seem strange to the rank and file Warner basher, but the Spartans operated out of the shot gun for more than 60 percent of the snaps during the first half of Warner’s first game on the job in 2013. By the 14th game of that season, the Spartans were fortunate to have that element of the offense in place, because they had to resort to it against a great Stanford defensive front that wouldn’t give up an inch on the ground. That flexibility in the offense was a major factor in the Spartans winning the 100th Rose Bowl Game.
There were other times when Michigan State lost games after going to the air more than Dantonio preferred. On more than one occasion, Dantonio shared with media and the public that the Spartan offense needed “to get back to who we are.” That meant more ground-and-pound, less finesse.
Now, with changes coming in the Salem era, will the offense deviate from what Dantonio used to describe as “who we are”?
“You still have to run the ball,” Salem said. “If you can’t run the ball, you can’t win. Whether it’s different formations or different tempo, that’s still a fact of football. So we’re working in that nature and trying to find other different wrinkles that fit our system and fit our people.”
MOVE TOWARD THE MAINSTREAM
Aside from injuries, the biggest hiccup for Michigan State’s offense in recent years has been the inability to road-grade defenders out of the box with a dominant, run-blocking offensive line. But in today’s game, the best means of running the ball sometimes entails the use of formations to get defenders out of the box, rather than trying to smash through them. The margin of error is so slim when trying to win seven or eight individual blocking battles inside the box in hopes of wringing out three or four yards.
The most forgiving way to move the ball is with spread formations, and last-second choices sewn in for the quarterback. Mix in some fast tempo, and it’s become harder, within today’s rules, for a defense to stop an offense like than than the old conventional offenses.
“You’re fortunate to have a head coach from the defensive side of the ball,” Salem said. “He understands what’s hard to do defend. He says, ‘Hey, this gives us trouble.’ Well, then we should probably do that. And we will do that. So we have moved out of the box.”
The move toward the mainstream began last December when Warner was still in charge. Michigan State’s no-huddle offense in the Redbox Bowl produced only six points, but the look and feel was different. Michigan State began using a pistol formation for the first time. Michigan State went no-huddle, although not necessarily uptempo. Look for Michigan State to do some of both under Salem.
“We will be in and out of tempos and things like that but it is something that I think has been a good change for us since spring,” Salem said. “The one thing with tempo is it simplifies both sides. It has to be simpler, which is a positive. You can only do so much in no-huddle. You can’t do it all. It forces what you have to do offensively but it also simplifies them a little bit defensively just because of time.”
Many football idiots believe the use of spread formations and fast tempo means pass, pass, pass. That’s the simpleton’s definition of exciting, unpredictable football.
Oklahoma and Clemson run the shiniest, most exciting offenses in the game, right? Even the simpletons would agree.
Oklahoma ranked No. 1 in the nation in total offense last year and Clemson ranked No. 3.
Simpletons might be surprised that Oklahoma’s pass-to-run ratio was 401-to-527. The Sooners ran the ball far more than they threw it.
Michigan State had a 497-465 pass-to-run ratio last year. Read: The Spartans passed the ball more than they threw it.
Clemson was 508-568, with an edge toward the run.
Clemson ranked No. 3 in the nation in rushing, among major conference teams. Oklahoma ranked No. 4.
Spread-to-run is one way to describe it. If the defense backs too many players out of the box in order to cover the receivers with two high safeties, then the check-with-me and/or the RPO calls for the QB to keep it or hand it off rather than throw it. Michigan State has had some of those elements in the offense in the past, but there will be more this year.
The interior blocking of many Clemson running plays was similar to Michigan State last year. The X’s and O’s on the chalkboard were often similar. They just had different types of healthy athletes.
“If you teach big-picture football, something like ‘power’ is ‘power,’” Salem said.
“Power” is a running play in which the backside guard pulls and becomes a lead blocker on the front side. Michigan State has run “power” a lot, over the years, in the Dantonio era. Wisconsin majors in it, with multiple pullers including H-backs and fullbacks.
Most spread teams stick to simple zone blocking. But Clemson and Auburn have been among those who include heavy doses of ‘power’ to go with all those shifts, motions and threats of RPO (run pass options).
“Power is power whether you have a guy in motion, or is it to a tight end side, or not?” Salem said. “Is it one-back, two-back? It’s still power. It’s a kickout (block), a double-team and a puller. It’s still power. It doesn’t really change (based on the formation). It’s just how you go about it.
“But can you mathematically, numbers-wise, get yourself in a better position so you don’t have to block as many guys?”
Now we’re getting conceptual. And that’s where Salem’s clinic goes quiet, for now - until the opener against Tulsa.
The offense we see that night, and in the games that follow, will represent a career’s worth of wiring within Salem’s football DNA, along with his knowledge of the strength and weaknesses of Michigan State’s personnel.
“There’s always ideas and thoughts from where you’ve been as a coach,” Salem said. “You sort of coach to your personality and things that have been attractive to you. You learn so much football in the last nine years because we have done so much different, offensively. The game is evolving, too. Every year, you just learn more as a coach.
“You’re able to sit and observe, and you just put that in your playbook, and your ideas of what you’ve done or things you’ve seen other people do and that was part of the research in the off-season, watching all these other teams, teams that we have played, or teams we knew, or coaches that I know, and you’re just trying to connect all the dots so that it makes sense to your guys. But you still have to be able to do the things your players can do and then guys obviously have to make the plays.”
That part is timeless, too.
“My dad used to say, ‘The team that makes the least mistakes is going to win,’” Salem said. “That’s what you’re trying to do - eliminate negative plays. You’re seeing 85 different fronts; this game is complicated. So you try to teach and train for those situations. Know who to block.”
With knowledge comes speed and power.
“The faster guys can play, the better,” Salem said.
Pat Narduzzi used to say the same thing. Mike Tressel says it now.
They’re not talking footspeed. They’re talking about brain-processing speed, leading to fast feet. That involves teaching and learning. That involves preseason camp.
“Part of that is this process we go through for four weeks - from meetings, to getting the kid on the board to draw it, to watch it on video, to rep it in practice,” Salem said. “I always say a guy has to mess something up to figure it out. So you have to fight through that process, and they need to be willing to ask questions, and we need to figure out where are they at and what do they really know.”
And there’s no anxiety for Salem in that process - for now.