Can MSU 'move forward as a program' against Ohio State?
Paul Konyndyk | Associate Editor


Mark Dantonio views Michigan State's home finale against Ohio State as an opportunity to move the program forward amidst at disappointing '16 season.

Michigan State hasn’t been a three-touchdown underdog in a game against Ohio State since 1998, which also happens to be the last time a sub .500 Spartan ballclub beat the Buckeyes in a game with national implications.

“We've always gone into a game planning to win,” Mark Dantonio said during his weekly press conference on Tuesday, “and we need to understand the things we need to do to win a football game and we're going to play, in this conference, you are usually going to compete at the highest level pretty much week in and week out."

Dantonio served as defensive backs coach under Nick Saban in ’98 when Michigan State shocked the No. 1 ranked Buckeyes in Columbus.

“(We) didn't play a bowl game here and we went down and played the No. 1 team at Ohio Stadium, at Ohio State, and won,” Dantonio said. “Didn't go to a bowl game that year. Everybody seems to remember it, so, I guess that's something. But, I think the biggest thing is, is playing the next game and always getting ready for your next challenge, and that's this one, and it's a big challenge that we have standing in front of us.”

More recently, Michigan State has won two of the four meetings with the Buckeyes during Urban Meyer’s tenure as head coach.

“We’ve got 28 players from Ohio on our football team as well as quite a number of coaches with an Ohio background, so a little bit of extra motivation on this end,” Dantonio said. “We've played them well the last couple years, the last four years, 2-2 against them.”




Tailback LJ Scott (right) is one of 28 Ohioans on Michigan State's 2016 roster.
Robert Hendricks
It remains to be seen whether this Michigan State team possesses the mental toughness, grit, and playmaking ability on both sides of the ball displayed by the Spartans in recent wins over the Buckeyes.

“Players made plays in the game,” Dantonio said. “In both respects, the ‘13 game and ‘15 game, our guys came ready to play. They were focused. Other team was focused -- Buckeyes were focused, too. I thought we played well. We made plays on the field, big plays in the game. Last year, (Aaron) Burbridge making a big catch a couple times, big runs, defensively played very well. They are a tough team, very tough, difficult team to prepare for offensively and defensively. They bring a lot to the table, but, you know, if you're playing well -- if you're going to win this conference, you got to play well against the good teams in this conference, and traditionally they've been very, very good.”

During a season filled with disappointment, however, a win over Ohio State would help move the program forward and build momentum for the future.

“We've led in every football game, and every football game, I think has been pretty competitive,” Dantonio said. “We are where we are, but this is a way to move forward, you know, as a program. So, you know, you got to just -- you got to get yourself ready to play at highest level.”

Senior Send-off


Michigan State seniors like Demetrious Cox are hoping for a memorable final game at Spartan Stadium.

Saturday’s game will be the last played in Spartan Stadium by members of Michigan State’s senior class. Dantonio is grateful for the contribution his program has received over the years from RJ Shelton, Riley Bullough, Tyler O’Connor, and other seniors.

“They've done a great job,” Dantonio said. “The guys who have been with us, they all have two Big Ten championship rings, they all have a Cotton Bowl ring. They've all been to the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, then a Rose Bowl and two Cotton Bowls, and one playoffs, so they've had distinguished careers.

“When you get to this year, high expectations, a lot of things enter into where we're at. We won't go into that. But obviously didn't end the way they wanted it to end, but their attitude and their passion for the game and their commitment, really has allowed us to move forward every single game. Every single practice, whether you practicing last year, getting ready to be 10-1, really -- after this week, we were 10-1 last year -- or this week, the practice is really, if you walk out on the practice field, they're no different. The mentality, the effort, the -- the intangible things, there's no difference, and that's senior leadership, and that's just senior interaction with our young players. So they've done a great job. I know it's been a disappointing year. I know it's -- in a lot of ways, you can look back and say we should have won this game, that game, this game, that game, but we are just sort of where we're at. We have to deal with that and hopefully this period of time in their life helps strengthen them for later disappointments in their life where they have challenges in their life and have to be able to go through them in order to come out the back end.”

McDowell's status uncertain
Junior defensive tackle Malik McDowell was not listed on Tuesday’s depth chart. McDowell, who did not play against Rutgers last weekend, has been out since suffering an ankle injury during the second half of Michigan State’s road loss to Illinois.

“Right now, he's probably out, but we'll see,” Dantonio said. “I don't want to list him as number two, so that's why we listed him as such. So, he'll either start for us or be able to play. We'll see as the week goes.”

Sixth-year senior Brandon Clemons has played more on the defensive line than offensive line as a two-way player this season. Against the Buckeyes, however, the versatile senior will start at right guard, as Michigan State shuffles it’s front five following an injury to Tyler Higby last weekend.

“He played right guard last year against the Buckeyes as well, so, he's played in games,” Dantonio said. “I mean, he's been a guy that played in a lot of football games for us, and he’s started in games for us offensively and defensively. So you think a guy like that has been extremely valuable and really has been totally unselfish in the way he's gone about his business.”

He played the very last series of the game, and got into a mild dust-up along the Rutgers sideline on the last play of the game.

But he's still in the program, which is positive.

I expected more (anything?) from him this year. He wasn't far behind Tyson Smith and Darian Hicks coming out of the spring. I'm not sure where he went, but he has played close to zero this year.

When the coaches moved Corley and Layne to CB, they said an injury problem was part of the reason. We can assume they were talking about Hicks, and Copeland, and Tyson Smith. Might Gaines have been hurt, too, behind the scenes? We don't know right now. Will try to find out.

Dantonio explains game decisions
Jim Comparoni | Editor



EAST LANSING - The public and pundits might have thought it was a foregone conclusion that Michigan State would get drilled by Michigan, Saturday at Spartan Stadium, but Michigan State players and coaches had other ideas.

And when the final seconds counted down on a 32-23 loss to Michigan, the Spartans didn’t feel any better about proving that they could hang with the No. 2-ranked team in the nation as a 24-point underdog, and that the Spartans might have been a couple of bounces or decisions away from having a chance to pull out one of the biggest upsets of the college football season.

The loss stung the Spartans as if Michigan State was the team expected to win by three touchdowns. Michigan State loses possession of the Paul Bunyan trophy.

“It doesn’t feel good especially this being my last time,” said senior linebacker Riley Bullough. “But I have faith in the guys next year to bring it back to E.L. next year and keep it here.”

Michigan State falls to 2-6. The Spartans must win their last four games in order to qualify for automatic bowl eligibility. There could still be a chance to earn a bowl bid with a 5-7 record, if there is a shortage of bowl-eligible teams.

Michigan State rushed for 217 yards against the nation’s top-ranked defense, and led 7-0 after a muscular opening drive. In the second half, Michigan State came back from a 30-10 deficit to cut the score to 30-23 after freshman quarterback Brian Lewerkeconnected with Monty Madaris for a 20-yard TD pass with 7:30 remaining, and Tyler O’Connor found Donnie Corley for a 5-yard strike with :01 second left in regulation.

A failed two-point conversion on an option pitch resulted in a scoop-and-score return for Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers, creating the final margin of victory.

“I’m going to keep scratching for every inch and every point that we can possibly get,” said head coach Mark Dantonio. “So when there’s :01 second on the clock, we’re going to go for two, even if it’s a mental gain to kick the thing and lose by six points. At that point in time, we’re probably losing the game. I don’t see any foreseeable way that we can scoop up the ball because it’s not legal to scoop up a ball and score on an on-side kick. So we went for two. It’s unfortunate it ended in a big celebration for them. But it happened.”

Michigan State’s defense was faulty again, allowing the Wolverines to roll up 27 points in the first half without having to punt.

“With the success that we’ve had around here, this is not an easy pill to swallow,” said Spartan co-defensive coordinator Harlon Barnett. “We’re always expecting to win. I’m always expecting to win.”

The Spartans’ chances of victory took a severe blow when Michigan stopped Michigan State on fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line with 6:47 left in the third quarter. MSU trailed 27-10 at the time and desperately needed to cut the lead to 10 points.

Michigan State tried four run plays from inside the 3-yard line following a pass interference on third down from the 9-yard line.

The Spartans couldn’t budge the Wolverine defensive front on any of the four runs.

The Spartans were also stopped on fourth-and-one in the first quarter, on the Spartans’ second possession of the game, at the Michigan 38-yard line with the score tied 7-7.

“Fourth-and-one, when we go for it, you’ve got to get one yard,” Dantonio said. “I don’t care what we draw up; I don’t care what they draw up, you’ve got to be able to get one yard.

“Later on in the third quarter, when we’re first-and-goal at the 2, you’ve got to go for the touchdown and try to cut it to 10.

“Not to sell our football team short, but we have to be able to process it and win in those situations, win the inches.”

The Spartans not only ran it four straight times with L.J. Scott from inside the 3-yard line, with none of the plays coming close to creasing the end zone. The first play, on first-and-goal from the 2-yard line, lost a yard. The second nudged the ball back to the 2. They couldn’t get any closer and Scott was stopped on a sweep to the outside on fourth down.

Michigan State lined up its jumbo package for each of those plays, with tight ends, a fullback and no wide receivers. That package had worked well earlier in the game in helping the Spartans rush for 114 yards in the first half.

“We have it first-and-goal on the 2-yard line, hey we’re running the ball,” Dantonio said. “We ran the ball for two hundred and some yards (217). L.J. (Scott) has 139 yards. It’s first-and-goal at the 2. My take is that we’ve got to get the inches. Obviously I was wrong but I’m saying, ‘Direct runs. Direct downhill runs.’”

That’s what Dantonio was telling co-offensive coordinator and play caller Dave Warnerduring the series and prior to it, and the head coach stood behind that decision after the game.

“Ever since 2007 when Jehuu Caulcrick had 22 touchdowns, that’s what we do," Dantonio said. "Now, you want to slick ‘em a little bit? We can do that as well. But that was my decision and I’ll take the heat for it.”

Michigan’s Amara Darboh caught eight passes for a career-high 165 yards, and De'Veon Smith ran for two touchdowns.

The Wolverines (8-0, 5-0) beat the Spartans for only the second time in the last nine meetings. Michigan avenged last year's loss to Michigan State, in which the Spartans scored the winning touchdown on the final play when the Wolverines botched a punt.

Michigan State went on to a Big Ten title and a national semifinal appearance after that dramatic victory.

Wilton Speight threw for 244 yards for Michigan.

Three Spartan quarterbacks saw action. Starter Tyler O’Connor was 7 of 14 for 84 yards with 1 TD and an interception late in the first half, which set up Wolverine field goal prior to halftime.

Lewerke was 6-of-10 for 100 yards with 1 TD. He was sacked on a failed fourth-and-five situation at the Michigan 13-yard line with 1:46 remaining. Lewerke had to be helped off the field after that play, favoring a knee or ankle. He didn’t return for the final series. Michigan State did not provide an update on Lewerke’s health.

Damion Terry had one series, early in the fourth quarter, and drove the Spartans to the Michigan 8-yard line. However, a fumbled option pitch moved the ball to the 17-yard line. Terry went down with an unknown injury when he was hit while throwing an incompletion on third down. Then Michael Geiger, who hit a 52-yard field goal in the first half, missed from 34 yards.

“Too many missed opportunities when you get right down to it,” Dantonio said.

https://michiganstate.rivals.com/news/dantonio-yeah-we-can-win-

Dantonio: 'Yeah, we can win'
Jim Comparoni | Editor



EAST LANSING - Mark Dantonio has met the Michigan challenge head-on during his 10 years at Michigan State.

He has to feel good about the chapters his teams have carved into the annals of this rivalry. His 10th meeting with the Michigan, coming up at noon on Saturday, figures to be the toughest challenge the Wolverines have mounted against him. Once again, Dantonio is respecting the task, but not discounting his team’s chances of surprising the No. 2-ranked Wolverines on Saturday.

“Ever since I've come here, I've never shied away from this football game,” said Dantonio, whose team has sunk to a 2-5 record and is in the midst of the longest losing streak the program has had since 1991. “I've never said this is not an important game. I've never said, ‘Hey, we'll get to it when we get to it.’ I've always maintained our focus needs to be on that game a little bit more than usual, and that's never going to change.”

Dantonio is 7-2 against the Wolverines, with wins in seven of the last eight. His team lost via a last-second field goal in 2012. In his first game against Michigan as head coach, his Spartans let a 24-14 lead get away in the final seven minutes.

In other games, the Spartans defeated Michigan en route to Big Ten championships in 2010, 2013 and 2015, and a Big Ten divisional title in 2011.

He's quite close to being 9-0 against the Wolverines. His teams often play their best game of the year, to that point in the season, when they take the field against Michigan.

“The reality of it is when we've won, you feel good about it, great about it,” Dantonio said. “When you've lost, I don't care if you lose by two points, you don't feel as good. When you've been up by 10 with seven minutes to go and you lose, you don't feel very good. That's just the nature of it, and you put a lot of preparation into it, just like you do into every football game. This one maybe just is a little bit more because it's in state and it's a rivalry game and because it means so much more maybe to not just our fans but maybe to the players who have played in it in the past and the overall general feeling that we have for each other, that sense of love.”

Dantonio drew laughter from media with that last comment about love. That’s a word that isn’t usually used in describing this hateful rivalry.

Dantonio has said in the past that he bears a “black mark on his soul” for Michigan, dating back to his days as an assistant at MSU from 1995 to 2000, and as defensive coordinator at Ohio State. But Dantonio seemed to express some genuine respect for the way Michigan has built its current juggernaut.

The Wolverines are 7-0, ranked No. 2 in the nation, behind only No. 1 Alabama, the defending national champion.

Alabama pounded Michigan State 38-0 in the College Football Playoff semifinal last year in Dallas.

Alabama is regarded as the gold standard of college football, especially on defense. But Michigan’s defense ranks ahead of the Crimson Tide’s at this point in the season.

Of course, Alabama and Michigan haven’t played the same opponents, but the Wolverines rank ahead of the Tide in scoring defense and total defense. In fact, Michigan ranks ahead of everyone in those categories, at No. 1.

Alabama ranks No. 7 in the nation in scoring defense and No. 4 in total defense, with a pair of showdown victories over Top 10 opponents Tennessee and Texas A&M.

When asked to compare Michigan’s defense to Alabama’s, Dantonio said:

“I don't think that they're like Alabama, structurally. Their success level is like Alabama's right now, so you have to look to see what you can do, and operate within your system because you can't change a whole system and say, ‘Hey, we're going to call all these new plays.’ That doesn't exist.

“You have to use what you have and look to take advantage of some of the things that they do, and then your players have to beat their players, whether it's in coverage or whether it's running the football or yards after contact or whatever the case.”

Alabama ranks No. 1 in the nation in rush defense. Michigan ranks No. 4 in that category.

“They (Michigan) have been tough to run the ball on, and they were rough to run the ball on last year,” Dantonio said.

Last year, the Spartans were unbeaten and ranked No. 7 in the country when they defeated Michigan, 27-23. But Michigan went into that game as a 7-point underdog, having looked unimpressive in their string of victories.

MSU rose up and registered its best defensive game of the year, to that point, in beating Michigan. The Spartans out-gained Michigan 328-168 and held the Wolverines to 10 first downs.

Neither team had success running the ball last year. Michigan netted 62 yards rushing and Michigan State netted 58.

The Spartans were without All-America center Jack Allen for that game, and first-round draft choice Jack Conklin was just coming back from an injury.

This year, the Spartan offensive line and ground game have been wildly inconsistent, but Michigan State is coming off one of its best performances of the year in that area. One week after attempting only 11 tailback runs against Northwestern while playing behind the softest-looking Spartan o-line of the Dantonio era, Michigan State’s blockers came back strong to pave the way for 270 yards rushing against the Terrapins.

Left tackle Kodi Kieler turned in an excellent game against the Terps on zones and gap plays run to his side of the line. Right guard Brian Allen also turned in one of his better games as a pull guard, finding his targets with quickness and finishing with power.

Redshirt freshman left guard Tyler Higby was effective in double-team blocks, and true freshman right tackle Thiyo Lukusa came off the bench for the second straight week to provide solid work at right tackle.



Kodi Kieler played his best game of the season at left tackle last week.

The Spartans need to build off of last week’s progress in preparing to face one of college football’s best defensive lines, which is backed up by quick, attacking linebackers and a myriad of pressures and blitzes.

They will be playing against a determined Michigan program that is 2-14 in rivalry games over the last eight years, with head coach Jim Harbaugh 0-2 against Michigan State or Ohio State.

Turning back the Wolverines will begin with some age-old fundamentals.

“We need to be able to run the football with some effectiveness,” Dantonio said. “They've been difficult to score against -- they've got a good defense. They've got a good football team. The challenge is there, there's no question about that.”

In the past, Dantonio has challenged his players to keep their emotions and rage for this game under control all week, until game time. He has advised his players to “keep the lion in the cage,” and then let it out when they get to the field.

Dantonio was asked on Tuesday if the Spartans have that type of caged rage that is capable of taking the team to a higher level of play in this game, but without the penalties that went a long way to costing the Spartans victories at Indiana and Maryland.

“That's something everybody has got to answer for themselves,” Dantonio said. “We speak about those things, just sort of give it a symbol for it.

“But the bottom line is how we play at game time and then how we play on the first play and then how we're playing on the last play, and it's tough. It's not easy. This is a man's game. Playing inside, your defensive tackles, your offensive tackles, your linebackers, it's a physical game. So you've got to be able to maintain that physicality in this type of football game especially because that's who they are, that's who we've tried to be, and so when two people meet like that, it becomes a very physical football game.

“I think it was a very physical football game last year.”

What about this year?

“We have an opportunity to be successful or to play our very best, and that's all we can ask,” Dantonio said. “I don't think our seniors have lost yet (to Michigan), the guys that are four-year seniors. They've won three straight, so I'm sure in the back of their mind, that's something that they look forward to to try and accomplish. But again, sitting and talking about it, it's sort of meaningless; you've got to do it, and this is the challenge.

“Can we win? Yeah, we can win. I firmly believe that. I know none of you do, but that's why I'm coaching.”

I have some other thoughts and opinions about this game and this team and program and where it's at, but that'll come later.

Right now, after a night game, this is all I had time for tonight:

(Some of it might be painful minutia, but I think there is some closure and clarity in categorizing some of the situations at hand):

https://michiganstate.rivals.com/news/the-3-2-1-on-the-debacle-at-maryland

The 3-2-1: Maryland Week
Jim Comparoni | Editor



EAST LANSING - Three things we learned during press interviews on Tuesday, two questions and one prediction:

THREE THINGS WE LEARNED:

1. As was the case last week, Mark Dantonio is not going to reveal who the starting quarterback will be for Saturday’s game at Maryland, until just prior to kickoff. But Dantonio liked what he saw in both QBs against Northwestern.

First-time starter Brian Lewerke and former starter Tyler O’Connor each had good moments during Michigan State’s loss to Northwestern on Saturday.

Lewerke completed 12-of-19 passes for 99 yards with 1 TD. He also rushed seven times for 30 yards and was sacked once.

O’Connor had a career-high 281 yards on less than two quarters of work.

“I was impressed with Tyler O’Connor coming back the way he did and maintaining not just his attitude but his composure in that type of situation,” Dantonio said. “That was very positive.”

Lewerke began the game hot, hitting RJ Shelton with a nice touch pass for 33 yards on third down vs. press man-to-man on the first drive. He ended the second drive with a well-timed touch pass to tight end Josiah Price for a 15-yard TD.

“I thought Brian Lewerke gave us a spark,” Dantonio said. “I thought he showed some of the things he could do. I also thought as the game progressed, the game got a little fast for him.

“I thought that did some good things. He did some other things in terms of his progressions and in terms of who he’s reading he’s got to square away. His progression of where he was going with the ball and getting the ball out stalled a little bit and that created some uncomfortable moments for him.”

Dantonio liked Lewerke’s poise.

“I don’t think the moment was too big for him,” Dantonio said during an interview with WXYZ (Detroit) Channel 7's Justin Rose: “I don’t think he panicked in the game at all. I don’t think he was intimidated by the environment or the situation, and that was a big positive.

“I thought he brought excitement to our football team and I think he has a skill set that will allow him to flourish in the future. When that future is: Is it a year? Now? Two years? That’s up to him.”

As for the game at Maryland, Dantonio said of Lewerke: “I would expect Lewerke to play. Does he start or not? He’s in contention.”


2. Dennis Finley has moved from third-string offensive tackle to second-string left guard.

Why & What It Means: Finley is at guard now because Michigan State suddenly has a shortage at the position. David Beedle is out for the Maryland game after sustaining a lower body injury against Northwestern. Beedle was the second-string left guard for that game. There is no word on how long he will be out.

Brandon Clemons, formerly a starting right guard for the Spartans, is listed solely as a defensive tackle, now. He started at DT against Northwestern and has become an important part of the defensive rotation.

Without Beedle and Clemons, and with Kodi Kieler having moved from center to left tackle permanently, the Spartans have three fewer interior offensive linemen than they had at the outset of the season.

Finley fell behind Miguel Machado and true freshman Thiyo Lukusa at right tackle. Finley is trying to come back from a broken leg, which he sustained in October of 2015 against Purdue.

Offensive line coach Mark Staten said two weeks ago that Finley still wasn’t ready to work into the playing group at right tackle, with mental and physical hurdles still need to be cleared.

Now, with Beedle out and Clemons playing defense, the Spartans need Finley at guard. Ready or not.



Finley, left, and Lukusa in practice.

“Dennis, I think he's to that point,” Dantonio said on Tuesday. “I think he's ready to go. He needs to get confident again, in terms of being able to play at game time, at this level at game time. But he's played before. He's got the experience. We got to get him going.”

My Take: Is Finley ready to respond? Well, he didn’t look bad in the Green-White Game, and that’s the only time any of us muggles have seen him since last October.

He lost weight while rehabbing the leg. In addition to the mental and physical hurdles, will he be strong enough to play guard? He has rarely practiced at that position in the past.

Although he is listed as the second-string left guard, I doubt we’ll see him this week, unless there’s an emergency. As for the dwindling number of available offensive linemen overall, that’s a potential emergency in itself.

Kieler played last week at left tackle despite missing practice on Tuesday and Wednesday. He missed the second half of the BYU game with an upper body injury.

The Spartans played the first four games of the season with four players rotating at the guard/center/guard positions: Kieler, Benny McGowan, Clemons and Brian Allen.

Now, it’s Allen, McGowan and redshirt freshman Tyler Higby inside - and they will now likely have to play every snap, rather than Staten’s preferred rotation.

3. Dantonio likes the early indications of how his players are trying to bounce back from this four-game losing streak.

“Thus far I would say, hey, we're hanging,” Dantonio said. “You got to be a rock to play this game. We've won a ton of games. You have to be a rock in the first place.”

The coaches have been watching.

“We monitor everything, how meetings are, what is the attitude in meetings, what is the attitude in the weight room, in the training room,” Dantonio said. “At every turn it's been a positive thing.

“People have to handle problems. So that's our mindset. That's what we have to do, and that's what we will do.”

TWO QUESTIONS:
1. Did Tyler O’Connor experience a break-through with his performance against Northwestern.

Not only did O’Connor make some good, accurate throws, he seemed to play with a quicker mental RPM. He seemed to go through reads quicker and more decisively than in the past.

MSU needed a spark from O’Connor, and he gave it to them. Despite the terrible loss, O’Connor managed to crack a grin when speaking with teammates in the final seconds of the game. He looks loose and confident for his next outing.

It will be intriguing to see whether the coaches go with the experienced O’Connor to start the road game at Maryland rather than the freshman. However, Dantonio was impressed with Lewerke’s poise, so maybe he thinks he’ll handle things at Maryland without blinking. Meanwhile, O’Connor might be BETTER when coming off the bench with something to prove and little to lose. Maybe that’s the breakthrough.

In terms of making smart reads and pulling the trigger, O’Connor looks more equipped and ready in those categories than he was in his first four starts. O’Connor wasn’t bad against BYU. The offense stalled behind a poor run game against the Cougars.




Kodi Kieler, Brian Allen and Tyler O'Connor.

That makes two straight games for O’Connor with no major mistakes. He wasn’t bad in the loss at Indiana, leading a game-tying drive in the final minutes of regulation - however he made a couple of costly errors in overtime.

His interception against Northwestern wasn’t a bad one. He heaved it deep on third-and-10 on a play that served as a 50-yard arm punt to the Northwestern 10-yard line. MSU trailed 40-31 at the time, and the time was right to take a deep risk.

O’Connor can prepare for this game against Maryland knowing that the team still needs sharpness out of him, and that there are still things to strive for in 2016.

2. Can the offensive line turn things around?

This area has become the biggest surprise of the season. Coaches expected to be able to pound out a consistent run game against most, if not all, opponents this year. Their terrific ground performance against Notre Dame appears to be an aberration at this point.

MSU rushed for a healthy 175 yards against Indiana, but went away from the run game inadvertently in overtime against the Hoosiers (when O’Connor failed to make the correct read and hand it off on second-and-seven).

Against BYU, Spartan tailbacks rushed for 70 yards on 19 carries (3.68 per).

Against Northwestern, Spartan tailbacks had only 36 yards on 11 rushing attempts (3.2 per carry), believed to be the fewest number of tailback rushing attempts by a Michigan State team in the Dantonio era.

When asked on Sunday night if he expected more from the offensive line at this point in the season, Dantonio said:

“I think six games in you expect more from our entire football team. I don’t know that it’s one particular group of people, and I include coaches in that as well.

“But Kieler was banged up, we’re banged up. We’re banged up as a football team a little bit. Kodi Kieler really didn’t practice much all week. He practiced some on Thursday, so you’ve got to be able to practice and get yourself ready to go in that capacity.

“Moving some different guys around a little bit, playing with a redshirt guard (Higby), and he’s going to be a very good player but the bottom line is they (Northwestern) played square in their gap and maintained their gap integrity, we did not (on defense). This is the second week that we did not.

“Our inability to run the football with any consistency, you get in situations where you have to throw the football. And with a redshirt freshman quarterback, in the second half, we had to throw the ball too much.”

So is there hope they can turn it around?

My Take: They have it in them. But that “it” is wearing down, due to bumps and injuries that have taken place, and the need of a bye week that’s not forthcoming.

Not only does Michigan State have guys playing hurt on the o-line, they are also having to play without being able to rotate many (or any) fresh guys onto the field. And with Michigan and Ohio State coming up in the next few weeks, the bumps and bruises are only going to get worse.

I don’t think the offensive line is inherently bad. But they have lost tread on their tires, and there are no pit stops in sight.

MSU’s decision to go with more shot gun formation vs Northwestern than at any time in the Dantonio era, along with the fewest tailback runs of the Dantonio era, might have been done out of the hopes of preserving their dwindling o-line corps.

Come to think of it, maybe they will force Finley onto the field to help out with the rotation, and see if he can hang. They need some gamers to step up. Higby and Lukusa have been positives. They need more.

Cole Chewins saw some brief time against BYU after Kieler went down, and Chewins made an error or two. But the coaches like his potential. And he was seen, again, taking extra reps after practice on Tuesday, working by himself on his pass set, among other things.

Brian Allen’s Take: “Pass protection, for the most part, I actually thought we were pretty good (against Northwestern). Run blocking wasn’t good. We weren’t moving the ball. We only had 11 carries for like 58 yards or something. It’s hard to call run plays when you’re not doing your job and that’s the offensive line’s job. We just have to run the ball better.”

How?

“Staying lower, playing lower, using your hands better. Northwestern, their interior guys are bigger guys and we knew they were going to be hard to move and you had to use your hands well. You just have to be able to get it done.

“We just have to be able to run the ball better. That’s completely on us. Guys are beat up. Can’t feel sorry for yourself, losing four games in a row. You have to get pissed off or something.

“Just have to figure out a way, and just have an attitude. Maybe that’s part of the problem; you just have to kind of be a dick in there and if you’re not doing that, you’re not going to be able to do your job.”

ONE PREDICTION
1. Josh King is going to have a positive second half of the season.

King became the first defensive end off the bench last weekend, ahead of former starter Evan Jones. Malik McDowell is a new starter at d-end, with Demetrius Cooper at the other end.

King has some snap to him, and he’s being leaned on to play more. I think some good things are ahead for him in the near future, as he learns more about the craft.

Dantonio with some thoughts on King: “The problem right now is sometimes our players aren't playing fast. I watched Josh King, who is going to be a phenomenal player. He's just young. He comes off the edge in the game on Saturday and before he gets hit on a wham block, a block coming back from the tight end, he fixes his helmet in the middle of a play. Well, you can't do that.

“That's just a very small thing. But you have to be able to know what you're doing, play fast, and execute whatever it is, whether it's playing the deep ball, running a route, throwing a route, pass protection. Whatever it is, you've got to be able to do those things at a rapid rate and aggressively. We have to make sure the players have a foundation behind them so our players can know what to do and play fast.

“That's what we need to concentrate on and be fundamentally sound. That's what wins football games, fundamentals.

“Josh will grow. He’ll be a great football player, he’s just got to get better.”

Interesting quotes in here about dantonio's thoughts about staying the course within the scheme:



Dantonio concerned about bowl streak
Paul Konyndyk | Associate Editor


Michigan State continues to search for answers amidst a shocking four-game losing streak.

Michigan State (2-4, 0-3) travels to Maryland (4-2, 1-3) looking to halt a four-game losing skid, which has put the Spartans nine-year streak of bowl appearances underMark Dantonio in serious jeopardy for the first time since the 2012 season.

“It's something we've done every year,” said Dantonio of his team’s bowl appearance streak. “We've sort of taken it for granted. I don't think you can obviously take things for granted right now. We're a 2-4 football team. Again, we got to find the inches. We've been able to do that.”

Finding those inches has been difficult this season.

“I was walking through obviously the football facility yesterday,” Dantonio said. “Walked down the hallway where all of our bowl jerseys are hanging that have been won that we've been involved with the last nine years, all the NFL players that have gone on. It just sort of hit me a little bit where we are right now relative to where we've been.

“I think the most important thing to recognize is that wherever we're going, is to try to get back to that point, continue to compete, continue to build into the players in terms of what we're trying to do, concentrate on fundamentals, get our younger players ready to go, along with our older players, same thing.”

Dantonio-coached teams have typically played with a deep chip on their collective shoulder. This group hasn’t displayed the same competitive fire.

“We need to assume that that chip is not there and put it there, I guess, if that's the case,” Dantonio said. “Always sort of thought that we challenged each other, challenged ourselves individually to be our very best at game time. That needs to come out again. But it has to be results oriented, too.”

Regaining a competitive edge and playing with a chip is critical to salvaging the season.

“I know that '09 and '12 were difficult seasons,” Dantonio said. “But at some point in time we turned it a little bit, scrapped. At this point in time we're just going to become a team that's going to scrap. That's my intent. Let's get on with that first. So we'll be all in. We will be all in. That's all I can tell you.”

Scheme isn't the problem on offense
Dantonio dismissed the notion that the structure of Michigan State’s offense was to blame for his team’s struggles during a rebuilding year.

“There are always wrinkles, as I said last week,” Dantonio said. “I guess we could say we run the triple option, maybe Maryland will get ready for that, okay? But you just can't change and overhaul something that you've done, especially if you've been good at it. So what we have done is we have put players in positions to make plays. What we've done is taken relative schemes we use offensively and defensively, we've had tremendous success doing these things.

“So I don't think you go away from what you've been successful at and all of a sudden say, Hey, we're going to change that, that's no longer important, we're going to do these things.”

Moving forward, Dantonio stressed the importance of running the football with tailbacks, something his team did very little in a 54-40 loss to Northwestern last weekend. Running backs Gerald Holmes, LJ Scott, and Madre London accounted for just 11 carries against the Wildcats.

“We needed to be able to run the ball more effectively than we did on Saturday,” Dantonio said. “We have good tailbacks. They need to become a little bit more of our production, I would say. We have to be able to maintain that. That's what we've always done. Not wanting to do what we've always done, but it's been a strength of ours. We have to maintain that that has to reoccur.”

Scott played sparingly against Northwestern due to his struggles in pass-protection.

“He has to protect better in pass situations certainly,” Dantonio said. “Again, I'll go back to what I said earlier. We need to get our tailbacks involved in run and pass. They need to be a bigger part of who we are. They will be inevitably.”

Dantonio indicated that Michigan State's starter at quarterback will be determined in practice this week. Redshirt freshman Brian Lewerke started against Northwestern last weekend, before being pulled in the second half for veteran Tyler O'Connor.

Junior Damion Terry did not play last weekend, but has not been ruled out for this weekend.

"Damion is not out of the mix in terms of playing," Dantonio said. "He had a little hand issue last week. We held him. We went with the other two. We'll see how the practices work out this week. We'll make some determinations as we go, sort of go from there.As far as my speaking to our quarterbacks, that's an in-house thing. I spoke to all of our quarterbacks, make sure everybody was in good shape mentally."

Junior Dennis Finley replaces sophomore David Beedle on the depth chart at guard. Beedle suffered an injury against Northwestern and will not play at Maryland.


Confidence issues on defense?
Defensively, Michigan State needs to regain its confidence, coming off a game in which Northwestern scored 54 points.

“I think it comes down to fundamentals, the way you take on a double-team, the way you take on zone, missing tackles, whatever the case,” Dantonio said. “There's some things there. Maybe there's some structural things, as well. That's why I say this is all inclusive. Maybe there's a little confidence issue when things start moving in one direction.

“We had six three-and-outs on Saturday. The goal, a goal, is five. If you get more than five, you're doing pretty well because it doesn't happen all the time. So we did have a lot of three-and-outs. But when we didn't, things sort of snowballed a little bit. “You have to look at everything. That's what we've done. We'll look at our leadership on the field, as well, how we do things structurally, how we do things on the sideline. We'll look at it all and try and get everything in order.”


Maryland looking to bounce back
After starting the season 4-0, Maryland has lost back to back games against Big Ten opponents under first-year head coach and former Michigan defensive coordinator DJ Durkin.

Recent struggles are attributable to injuries at the quarterback position according to Dantonio.

"On the offensive side of the ball, they've had an injury at quarterback," Dantonio said. "They used a freshman quarterback this last game … I think their wide receivers are talented. They've not thrown the ball as effectively as they wanted to due to injuries, freshman quarterback, a little bit. 4-0 start. They have the makings of a good football team.”

Defensively, Michigan State will prepare for a scheme similar to what they faced when Durkin was the defensive coordinator at Michigan last season.

“You see a lot of press coverage, a lot of different pressures with middle-of-the-field safety,” Dantonio said. “They are going to play a variety of different coverages. They have an extensive nickel package. I think he's got his guys playing hard."

Edit

Holmes wants to keep it cranked
Ricardo Cooney | SpartanMag.com



EAST LANSING - Michigan State hoped to established a go-to feature back weeks ago.

But, through an inconsistent September and a rocky start to October, junior Gerald Holmesseems to be heading not the middle portion of the season as the choice as the workhorse running back.

At least that was the indication last week when he recorded his first start of the season. He also received the biggest workload chunk of his career, carrying the ball 15 times (for 57 yards) compared to three carries (for 9 yards) for LJ Scott and one carry (for 4 yards) for Madre London.

While Scott still holds the edge with a team-leading 70 carries for 311 yards and two touchdowns on the season, while averaging 4.4 yards a carry, Holmes is once again proving himself as reliable option as a tough runner and in pass protection, an area in which Scott struggled earlier this year.

Holmes refuses to enter into a debate as to who should start going forward.

“I don’t even pay attention to it,’’ said Holmes when asked about the weekly depth chart. “I don’t even be knowing that, whether it says ‘OR, OR’ (on the depth chart). However the coaches do things, when they call next man up, you just have to be ready to deal with it.’’




Holmes enters this week’s Homecoming matchup with 38 carries for 208 yards, a 5.5 yards per carry average and four TDs.

He was the go-to option during Michigan State’s game-tying touchdown drive in the final minutes at Indiana two weeks ago. But the Spartans went to Scott in overtime, although Scott didn’t receive a carry in the extra frame.

“I just look at like I did last year. You just have to have a starter’s mentality,” he said. “When you come here and you’re recruited as a tailback, you’re coming here for a reason, because you’re a good athlete and you’re going to make plays. So I know to just trust my ability and work every week like I am a starter and basically just wait until my name is called.’’

Holmes is eager to do his part to help correct MSU’s course.

“We’ve got to lock in, just key in to our assignments,’’ Holmes said. “Guys who make plays have to make plays. It’s about having confidence for each other.

“A lot of guys who have been here for a while and kind of had that chip on their shoulder the whole time. I feel like now, we’ve kind of lost that chip, especially with the younger guys. I feel like we’ve been bumping our heads around and not really understanding the main things. We’ve got the talent, we’ve got the guys that can make the plays so make sure you just come and commit.’’


PRICE CALLS FOR MORE FOCUS
There’s no doubt that Michigan State’s problems have spread across many areas and categories through the first five games of the season.

The Spartans haven’t blocked consistently well, haven’t run the ball with consistency, have not executed in the passing game, have not been sharp on special teams, have been shaky in the defensive front seven due in part to injuries, and suspect in the secondary, and in the coaching booth when it comes to the success of play calls on offense and defensive scheming.

As a result, the Spartans have been outscored by a margin of 28.3 to 13.6 points a game during its recent skid.

Despite all of those misgivings, members of MSU’s upper class feel like there’s something more they can do to help the team escape this free fall and right the ship for the remainder of the season. Price wants to be part of the corrective process.

“We’ve just got to focus on ourselves because most games we’ve beaten ourselves with penalties, missed assignments, with missed blocks, dropped balls or the bad throw with a missed read or the running back not seeing a hole as far as offensively speaking,” Price said. “That’s what’s killed us as an offense. We moved the ball a lot against a lot of teams but we’ve just shot ourselves in the foot, went backwards on certain drives and just not executed.

“So yes, it always starts with focus, making plays, execute our gameplan and play to the best of our ability and I think everything else will take care of itself.

“I mean, you can point blame at each (other) and everywhere (else) but as a leader on this team, I can say I didn’t do a good enough job because obviously, we are 2-3. So it’s up to me and the other leaders on this team to make everyone understand, especially the young guys, that it’s hard and you have to put in hours and hours and so much work to know the guy that I’m lined up across from. But we’ve got guys that are learning and we’re getting better.”




Michigan State came into the season hoping to repeat as Big Ten champions. Whether it be an unforeseen downturn in talent, furthered by injuries, or shaky focus, or whatever, Price said the pressure of high expectations haven’t been a factor in MSU’s problems.

“I don’t think it was any added undo pressure (to repeat as conference champions),’’ Price said. “We play football at Michigan State and we’ve won two Big Ten Championships in the last three years, so there’s a lot of pressure on us every season at the start. Yes, it’s been frustrating and it’s been tough (losing these last three games) but that’s life and it’s not always going to go the way you want it to go. So we’ve got to find a way to make the best of this, rally the guys, just come out, and play against Northwestern and try and get a win.’’

Sixth-year senior linebacker Ed Davis said it’s not so much about the athletic ability as it is about the mental aspects of the game.

“I feel like the main thing is just focus, staying focused’’ Davis said. “Not getting down on ourselves if something bad happens. There’s ups and downs in a game and we’ve got to keep our heads focused, keep thinking positive and keep pushing forward. You can’t think about the last plays and what happened because that’s how big plays tend to happen and that’s what happened last game. So we’ve just got to stay focused and stay together.’’

For Price, that mantra started this week as MSU prepared for it’s 3:30 p.m. matchup with the Wildcats.

“As much as we’d like to, we can’t change the past or go back and change anything that’s happened,’’ Price said. “So we’re just going to focus on the future and focus on what’s ahead of us.’’

Back To Business: Wildcats Up Next
Ricardo Cooney | SpartanMag.com



EAST LANSING - There was a different narrative coming out of Michigan State’s football practices this week as the Spartans prepared to face Northwestern amid a three-game losing streak.

Words like dedication, commitment, focus and consistency were being reintroduced as buzz words for a season that began with hopes of a back-to-back championship run.

While the talk of earning a third conference crown in the last four seasons was seemingly not far-fetched back in August, the idea that that goal would nearly be off the table so early in the Big Ten season is something almost unfathomable considering that this is a program fresh off a College Football Playoff appearance.

And the idea that a program which had become the epitome of words like dedication, commitment and focus would need to verbalize the ideals that had become second nature in a program has become firmly entrenched in the national discussion of top football programs is almost ridiculous

But that’s where Michigan State is, after consecutive losses to Wisconsin, Indiana and BYU.

The Spartans (2-3, 0-2 Big Ten) will be looking for their first victory in Big Ten play when they host Northwestern (2-3, 1-1) at 3:30 p.m. (BTN), on Homecoming Saturday in Spartan Stadium




During this three-game skid, MSU’s first since 2009, when the Spartans finished with their only losing season under Mark Dantonio, MSU has surrendered nearly 30 points a game, while scoring less than 14.

So when the Spartans and Wildcats meet for the 55th time in a series that MSU leads 37-17, it won’t just be about ending a losing streak but reestablishing the culture that has served this program so well over the past five to six seasons.

Meaning that while the Spartans are in desperate need of a victory, there are equally in need of a quality performance that will signal that this season isn’t a lost one and that a rebuild is in progress.

Meanwhile, Northwestern has been battling problems of its own.

With losses in three of their first contests, the Wildcats also have been battling to straighten out early-season problems. Although Northwestern did earn a win over Iowa two Saturday’s ago before having a bye week.

So in a game in which both teams need to establish a return to consistently strong play, Northwestern, which has become known for its physical toughness under the tenure of its coach Pat Fitzgerald, a former Wildcat linebacker himself, will be looking to break the will of a Spartan team whose mental makeup has been challenged on numerous occasions over the last three weekends.

“I love Coach Fitz, I think he’s a great guy and a great head coach,’’ said MSU senior tight endJosiah Price. “He gets his guys ready to go. I think with Northwestern, you’ve got a really tough team that plays with a lot of effort. They’re going to come in here hungry to win because they’ve had a couple of tough losses and they’re going to give you everything you can handle. So we’ve got to be really ready to come to play and execute our gameplan. We’ve got to focus on Michigan State and not over focus on what they’re doing and do what we’ve got to do.’’

Offensively, Northwestern is lead by sophomore quarterback Clayton Thorson, who is fifth in the Big Ten in passing yards per game at 224.

Thorson has completed 92 of his 169 pass attempts, while tossing for eight touchdowns against four interceptions.

He’s also rushed for 52 yards in an offense that is putting up an average of just 20.6 points per game and 350.4 yards of total offense.

While Northwestern’s offense as a whole hasn’t been impressive, Thorson’s top receiving target, senior Austin Carr, has become a standout target. Carr leads the Big Ten in receiving yards per game with 93 and catches per game with 6.4. He also ranks first in TD catches with six.




Sneaky-good Austin Carr leads the Big Ten in receptions and receiving yards per game.

Northwestern’s offense was stagnant in September, but erupted for 38 points at Iowa in the Wildcats’ most recent outing.

The Wildcats’ top running back is junior Justin Jackson, who ranks second in the Big Ten, averaging 102 yards per game. Jackson has scored four rushing TDs.

Northwestern’s offensive line is spearheaded by senior right tackle Eric Olson and senior left guard Connor Mahoney, who may miss the game with an injury.

“What sticks out to me is what you see all the time, that they’re so well-coached, they’re so precise,’’ said co-defensive coordinator Mike Tressel. “Obviously their running game has gotten better and better, when you look at against Nebraska and Iowa, who are two pretty stout defenses, that’s their two best rushing games so I think their o-line is gelling.

“The receivers and the quarterback, they just need small windows with what they do. It’s a precise, quick-passing game, and as soon as you start to nail down on that stuff, that’s when they take the big shots.

“I just feel like they are gaining confidence and coming together.”

While MSU has a secondary capable of containing Carr from having a big day, it’s the Spartans’ pass rush that will need to take its game to a higher level.

In addition to junior nose tackle Malik McDowell, who enters Saturday with just 16 tackles and just two tackles for loss, somebody else needs to step up on a d-line that could once again be without redshirt freshman Raequan Williams. Williams missed last week’s game with an arm injury.



Justin Jackson has more than 3,000 career rushing yards.

MSU’s safety combination of junior Montae Nicholson, the team’s leading tackler at 41, andDemetrious Cox, who has 36 stops, should be productive once again on Saturday. But with 5th-year senior linebacker and tri-captain Riley Bullough, and junior linebacker Jon Reschkeexpected to stay sidelined with injuries, the Spartans will need more than a monster day from junior linebacker Chris Frey, second on the team in tackles with 40, to slow a Northwestern offense that doesn’t make a ton of mistakes.

Somehow, as a group, MSU’s defense has to find a way on improving on a scoring defense that is giving up 25.2 points and 355.8 yards per game.

MSU enters Saturday with just 21 tackles for loss, which includes five sacks, and just four picks and three fumble recoveries.

While the Spartans’ defense will be looking to make a difference, MSU will be looking to answer some serious questions on offense.

Dantonio renewed MSU’s quarterback competition after Tyler O’Connor was yanked from his starting job in the fourth quarter of the team’s 31-14 loss to BYU in favor of junior Damion Terry.

While the Spartans need better play calling to help improve their chances in an offense that is producing just 366.2 yards and 21 points a game, Terry and redshirt freshman Brian Lewerkewere given chances to wrestle the job away from O’Connor this week.





O’Connor’s numbers after five games: 78-of-128 for 976 yards, eight TDs and five INTs. Dantonio acknowledges that O’Connor hasn’t been playing poorly, but the offense has needed a spark. That’s what he was hoping to provide in going with Terry. It’s unclear today whether Dantonio will play one quarterback, or both, or all three, or who will start.

The running back position also seems to be in flux if you look at MSU’s depth chart, which lists the possibility of junior Gerald Holmes and sophomores, LJ Scott and Madre London as potential starters.

Scott comes in as the leading rusher with 70 carries for 311 yards and two TDs. But Holmes started last week, and Scott is coming off one of the lightest workload games of his college career.

At wideout, senior R.J. Shelton now holds the top spot with 21 catches for 262 yards and two TDs but true freshman Donnie Corley and 5th-year senior Monty Madaris are valuable options for whoever ends up under center. But Madaris had two dropped passes last week, one of which stalled a drive. Corley dropped a deep pass the week before. MSU’s o-line is led by left tackle Kodi Kieler, one of four 5th-year seniors MSU will be depending on as redshirt freshman Tyler Higby gets incorporated at left guard and junior Brian Allen continues his move to center. But Kieler missed the second half last week with what appeared to be an upper body injury.

Defensively, the Wildcats are a stout bunch.

Surrendering just 19.8 points, while averaging 2.4 sacks per contest, this is a defense that can win games for its team. With 32 tackles for loss, the Wildcats boast at least one TFL from 12 members of a defense, which also has 12 sacks included in its TFL totals.

“They are athletic, they keep coming at you,” said wide receivers coach Terry Samuel. “They know that scheme. They have been working it and working it and all those guys they put in the mix, they all buy in. So the effort level and the intelligence that defense has is really one of the better ones we’ve seen. It’s in the same vain as Wisconsin as far as the way they try to come at you with the effort. So of course we’ve got to match that with our play.”

Senior linebacker Jaylen Prater and junior safety Godwin Igwebuike lead the way in the defensive department.

The top tackling duo in the Big Ten with a combined 18.0 tackles per game, Prater ranks third in the conference with 9.2 tackles per game, while Igwebuike ranks seventh at 8.8 per game. Igwebuike also leads the league and ranks fifth in the nation with 6.8 solo tackles per game.

Senior defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo is third in the conference and 14th in the nation in sacks per game, collecting one in every game Northwestern has played so far this season. He was dominant at times against Iowa, which served as the best game of his career to this point for the former four-star Rivals250 defensive end recruit.

“On the defense? No. 16 (Igwebuike), that is a really good safety. He can play, he’s a safety, but he can play you man and he comes down and he’ll pop,’’ Samuel said. “He’s got some pop to him when it’s time to make that tackle. He stands out of course. And of course No. 7 (Odenigbo), their defensive end, he’s no joke when he comes off the edge. That speed, aggressive. We got to do our job.”

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

MSU: Well here’s something you thought you’d never have to say about a Dantonio-coached team: It’s gut-check time for this group of Spartans. While no one is questioning this group’s heart, there is no doubt that MSU hasn’t done well in the face of adversity over the past three weekends. Heart? Yes. Psychological strength? No. Not to this point, anyway.

Adversity hasn’t been handled well and the Spartans have exhibited the poor body language to prove it. As physical as Northwestern plays, MSU is not only going to be punched in the mouth but bloodied. So if the Spartans’ season is going to go anywhere, this game against Northwestern is a worthy test. How the team performs as a group on Saturday will say a lot about this bunch.

NORTHWESTERN: Coming off a bye week, the Wildcats will need to shake off the rust of a weekend fairly quickly against a desperate Spartan team looking to regain its swagger after three disappointing performances and outcomes. While Northwestern’s offense is serviceable, if the Wildcats are going to win this game, it will be because off their defense. Forcing turnovers and getting off the field on 3rd down will be key to the Wildcats success. Northwestern will also need a big play from its special teams unit in order to ensure a victory.

Nicholson: 'It's time to rally'
Ricardo Cooney | SpartanMag.com



Co-defensive coordinator Harlon Barnett appeared frustrated and almost baffled by the ineffectiveness of MSU’s defense in the late stages of recent games.

“You can only scheme up so much and eventually you got to start making plays,” Barnett said. “And you can't over-scheme either. You know you got to let guys be in a position to make a play and sometimes it's going to get blocked up and you got to beat one-on-one blocks and things like that. I'm not pointing the finger at anybody, it just is what it is.”

But junior safety Montae Nicholson isn’t on the fix list. He’s been playing fine.

Nicholson is coming off a career-high 17 tackles, posted during last Saturday’s loss to BYU.

The fact that he was on the field for 17 stops, and that the ball carrier came into his territory 17 times, is a mark of a shaky defense.

But consider how much worse the defense might be if No. 9 wasn’t back there sticking people.

Nicholson has been a physical force against the run through the first five games of the season, and he hasn’t had any noticeable gaffes in pass defense.

Now, the Spartans will try to rally around his improvement as Michigan State (2-3) heads into the middle portions of the season, badly in need of a victory today against Northwestern (2-3).

“What it comes down to is that we need to execute better as a whole defense, as a team as a whole,’’ Nicholson said. “It’s time to rally. We may be down at 2-3 but we’re definitely not out of anything. We still have that chip on our shoulders. Now, instead of being the hunted, we’re the hunters.’’

Nicholson (6-2, 219, Monroeville, Pa.) is prepared to do his share of the hunting.




A year ago, he lost his starting job due to missed tackles and a general lack of comfort in his assignments. He regained the job in the final weeks of the season in helping Michigan State close out a Big Ten Championship run and a berth in the College Football Playoff.

Now he’s making quicker, correct reads which is allowing him to unleash his size, athleticism and force on a more frequent basis.

“Montae is a playmaker in general. He does that every week,’’ teammate Chris Frey said. “He’s a high-caliber player. A guy that is one of the best guys on our team.“

TEAM STILL SEARCHING
It seems as though the Spartans’ third-straight loss has sparked what most teams in this situation feel - that the time for team-only meetings and screaming coaches are not the solution.

It’s time for everyone on the Spartans’ defense to do some soul searching in an effort to improve their play and help turn things around this season. It starts with individual intensity and assignments, said linebacker Chris Frey.

“I don’t think there’s anything you can say or do to get somebody on that level,” Frey said. “It’s something you have inside of you. You either have it or you don’t.

“Guys are going to have to come out on the field and have what we call, that dawg in them. After losses like we’ve had, guys have to think about what they can do better on every single play. You go back, you watch the film, you study each and every play and think, what could I have done better here, what did I do wrong and how can I fix it.?’ And everybody needs to do it because that’s the only way we’re going to get better.’’


TERRY ON TAP?
Junior Damion Terry had a shot to earn the starting quarterback job this week in practice. In the hours leading to kickoff, it was unknown whom Mark Dantonio would name as the starting quarterback.

But Terry felt a lift of confidence last week when the coaches called on him to try to rescue the Spartans from a 17-7 deficit in the fourth quarter.

Terry hadn’t attempted a pass this season prior to last week’s loss to BYU. Injuries cost him practice time and a chance to relieve a struggling Tyler O’Connor in the September loss to Wisconsin. But he was the first thrower out of the bullpen last weekend, and heads into today’s game against Northwestern as a possible choice for extended playing time.

Against BYU, Terry was 6-of-10 for 63 yards, plus 29 yards rushing on eight carries, which included a one-yard TD run on 3rd-and-goal with five minutes left in the game. Terry threw one interception when he failed to notice a cornerback sinking down the sideline on a deep route.

Terry didn’t foresee last weekend’s opportunity.

“Honestly, I was in shock,” Terry said. “Third quarter, Coach (Brad) Salem looked at me and said, ‘Get ready.’

“I was surprised to see that we only had 50-something yards at halftime. But he told me and I was ready.

“Going into games, Tyler’s always been No. 1 and I’m No. 2 but I’ve always been prepared.’’

So when he was asked if he felt that he played well enough to start against Northwestern, Terry didn’t hesitate.

“Yes, but I definitely need to improve on stuff,” Terry said. “But yes. I definitely think when I went in there and we did the 2-minute offense, it kept (BYU’s) defense on its heels. I definitely would like to think I gave them a spark but we need to get the W next time.”

Slippery Ed Davis regaining steam, just in time?
Ricardo Cooney | SpartanMag.com



EAST LANSING - Amid all the disappointments brought on by Michigan State’s last three weekends of football, all losses, the Spartan defense received some welcome news this week.

Sixth-year senior linebacker Ed Davis has declared himself ready to return to the lineup as an every-down contributor.

It remains to be seen whether he will be deployed to play every down for Saturday’s game against Northwestern. But he feels he’s ready - something he hasn’t felt since August of 2015, when he went down with a knee injury which sidelined him for all of last season.

Davis, who was granted a sixth-year of eligibility this season, has been working himself back into game shape since the season began, getting reps in MSU’s delta package - one that utilizes an extra linebacker, usually on third downs.

While fitness issues and the emotional turmoil required to trust a repaired joint like Davis’ knee has been slow, he said he felt like he was almost back to the form that saw him finish the 2014-15 season with 58 tackles, good for fourth on the team.

“Actually, I’m pretty good where I’m at right now,’’ Davis said. “I think I’m on schedule.

“When I first start playing (this season), it (the knee) was hurting a lot and I didn’t know if I would be able to keep going back-to-back but eventually it stopped. After one day, it wouldn’t hurt so bad the next day and I would just keep building on that. Ever since then, a couple of weeks ago, it’s been like that and it’s been getting stronger and stronger. I’ve been getting faster, better, cutting more and doing everything I used to do. So I feel like I’m right on schedule and I just need to keep working on getting better.’’

Getting better would mean a return to his 2014 status.

During that breakout season, Davis’ first as a fulltime starter, he finished third on the team in tackles for loss with 12, which included seven sacks. He also had two pass breakups and a forced fumble, earning honorable mention All-Big Ten honors from both the coaches and the media.

And while his rehab has been a longer process than he would have liked, he pointed to a few specific plays in the Spartans’ 31-14 loss to BYU that gave him the confidence that he could be closing in on the form he showed back when he teamed up with former Spartan linebackers Taiwan Jones and Darien Harris.

“Honestly, it was last game with me getting so many snaps in the fourth quarter, back-to-back,’’ Davis said. “Usually, I was going in on third down and pass rushing downs but with me being in there for all three downs, I got cut-blocked on one play and then had to fight off the block to try and make the tackle on another, and then running to the ball, that really gave me confidence in my knee going back to the huddle, and me knowing that my knee really is all right.

“That was the exact play with me getting cut and I said, ‘Okay, you know what? I’m good. I’m ready to go.’”

With a pair of linebackers nursing injuries in 5th-year senior Riley Bullough and juniorJon Reschke, a confident Davis could give the Spartan defense a real boost against Northwestern and through the remainder of the season.

Junior Chris Frey, who has logged additional downs at linebacker during the absences of Bullough and Reschke, feels that Davis’ return to form could be a huge boost to the overall improvement of MSU’s defense.

“He’s getting better every single week and I think he’s starting to trust his knee more,’’ Frey said. “But it’s going to come in time. He keeps growing and if he can get back to where he was before the injury, it’s going to mean a lot because we know the ability that he has. We call him Slippery Ed for a reason. We put him out there on delta and he makes plays, so we’re really looking forward to him working his way back up to 100 percent.’’

Frey added that MSU linebackerscoach Mark Snyder expressed the same excitement in film study this week.

“We’re watching film and Coach Snyder goes, ‘Hey, you got cut on your bad knee and you’re still running! Forget about it! you’re fine,’” Frey said. “And the next play, they come out and they crack (back block) him with the receiver and throw a screen out and he got out there. And coach (Snyder) says, ‘You’re fine. You got out there. Just keep playing, you’re good.’”



Ed Davis and Demetrius Cooper have 17.5 career sacks, but none so far this year. MSU's defense could use a return to form for both players this weekend against Northwestern.

Well, I said I wasn't going to write anything, and get to bed so I could be awake for the drive to Southfield for the Channel 7 gig, but I lied.

I wrote something anyway.

Now, I'll go to bed. Get two hours of sleep and hopefully I make a few points at the Sports Cave, on Channel 7, this morning.

https://michiganstate.rivals.com/news/the-3-2-1-on-the-loss-at-indiana

The 3-2-1: Indiana Week
Jim Comparoni | Editor



EAST LANSING - Three things we learned early this week about Michigan State, two questions, one prediction:

THREE THINGS WE LEARNED:

1. Junior ‘star’ linebacker Jon Reschke is out for at least several weeks with a foot injury, and Riley Bullough is questionable.

Reschke’s injury wasn’t surprising news. Information about his foot injury leaked Sunday, and we talked about it on The Bunker Sunday evening.

The news is that head coach Mark Dantonio acknowledged the injury. Usually the head coach doesn’t talk about injuries unless it’s a season-ending injury.

Dantonio said he is “optimistic we'll get him back by the end of the year.”

But…

“He is out right now, and probably out for a significant time period here as he works through a severe an ankle sprain.”

What it means:

* Reschke was Michigan State’s best defensive player in the victory over Notre Dame. I said he was one of the most underrated players in the Big Ten, and was in the process of becoming one of the most respected players in the league.

Now, that rise has been halted, at least for a little while.

Reschke sustained the injury midway through Saturday’s game. He tried to come back and play a snap after the fumbled punt snap, but pulled up lame again.

When he comes back, will he have the quickness and speed he showed at Notre Dame? That’ll be hard to achieve right away.

Secondly, this is additionally concerning because Reschke battled injuries in each of his first two years at Michigan State. Coaches had trouble getting him on the practice field, and staying there, prior to his rise into the starting lineup at this time last year after Ed Davis went down with an injury.

He hasn’t had this particular injury in the past, but - for Michigan State’s sake - you have to hope the Reschke injuries subside after this one.

* With Reschke out, sophomore Andrew Dowell is back in the starting lineup. Dowell started the season opener against Furman as Reschke missed the game with a wrist injury.

Coaches liked the speed and effort Dowell showed against Furman, but he showed some inexperience in the face of Furman’s surprise formations and plays.

“Coach D said the toughest thing for a young player in your first start is adjusting to things on the fly,” Dowell said after practice on Tuesday. “So we get our gameplan, we know what we think they are going to do, and then how can you react off of that when they don’t show you exactly what you prepared for? So that’s been a growing process for me.”

Dowell will make his second start on Saturday at Indiana.

“I know me, personally, I have to be in the book more this week, being in a starting role. It’s definitely a test for me and for our entire defense because they (Indiana) have a very good scheme. I just have to continue to stay in film and watch a lot of it this week, to get better and get ready for the offense.”




* Also, senior Ed Davis continues to make progress toward what Dantonio hopes will be a regular role in the defense, soon.

Davis played a handful of snaps against Wisconsin. He didn’t look nearly as fast as he did in 2014 when he was second-team All-Big Ten, but Dantonio says Davis is making progress.

“He practiced much better last week. He had full day of practice a couple days of the week, so that was very positive.

“It's sort of day-by-day, game-by-game with Ed,” Dantonio said. “I want him to feel confident. Part of this is him having confidence and going back and playing at game speed.

“He had a knee injury, and it takes a little bit of time to get back in there and get acclimated. I think he's close to turning the corner.”

* Dantonio said senior Mike linebacker Riley Bullough might play against Indiana. Bullough sat out Saturday’s game against Wisconsin with an undisclosed injury.

“Riley probably is a little bit more day-to-day, and we'll see how that goes as we move through the week,” Dantonio said. “We'll make an announcement prior to the game as to whether or not he can or cannot go.”

Junior Shane Jones played Mike linebacker in place of Bullough, and performed well. Jones, who started last year against Central Michigan in place of Bullough, showed improved speed, and tackled well.

“We've been deep at linebacker,” Dantonio said. “We've got guys who have played and know what to do there. They can pick up the slack. It's an opportunity for people to grow.”

The Spartans were lacking in the leadership and communication department on Saturday, and are working to improve that area for the Indiana game.

“Everybody has to collectively step up with communication and echo it out,” Dowell said, “from d-line, linebackers, safeties, DBs, with him being our vocal leader and him being out, to replace him.”

2. Sunday’s weekly team meeting entailed very little, if anything, about football.

The Spartans gathered, as is customary, at the Skandalaris Center in the late morning. The meeting took place just hours after Dantonio and the Spartans learned of the tragic passing of former Spartan Mylan Hicks.

“Sunday, coming in after what had happened on Saturday afternoon against Wisconsin and then that news, and we had our first team meeting, and we came in and Coach D didn’t have one thing to say about football,” said quarterback Tyler O’Connor. “That’s just shows how much family and love and care has meant around this program.”

“It was a tough day Sunday,” Dantonio said. “Really didn't want to go in there and talk about a football game for sure. Left that up in the air for people whether they did or didn't want to be there. Also had a chapel specifically for him, a chapel with our team to specifically honor him and let our players just sort of be with that memory of that evening.

“There is no question it's been a challenge. Also, I think there is no question that we get on with it, because that's who he was. That's who Mike Sadler was. When you know those people and how committed they were to a football program, you don't want to do anything to steer away from what you're trying to accomplish.”

Dantonio said the Spartans will wear black shoes and black socks at Indiana on Saturday night in honor of Hicks.

“Of all the Spartan gear, he liked to wear black,” Dantonio said. “He liked the black Spartan gear. That's why I wore black today, in memory of him.

“But also we'll honor him with the No. 6 on the back of the helmet this weekend. We will probably travel down there with 41 players I counted that played on the team with him. He'll be in a lot of people's minds as we move forward.

“Mylan is the type of guy that loved football. He loved competing. He went at it 100 miles an hour, and he would be very disappointed in us if we did not do that on a game-by-game basis, throughout practice, and everything we try to accomplish here and go after. So he'll be with us.

“We'll do some special things in upcoming weeks.

“Just a tragic event. Again, it just speaks to how life can change on people very, very quickly. We experienced that with Mike Sadler and now again with Mylan Hicks. It's a tragic event. Just take into account what you have now and cherish it.

“He was a great competitor and teammate, and our guys are missing him. A lot of people are missing him.”

3. The problems on offense against Wisconsin weren’t all Tyler O’Connor’s fault.

O’Connor was the guy with the football, the guy having trouble distributing it on occasion. And he was the guy fans and media were watching, and criticizing after the 30-6 lead.

But Dantonio pointed out on Sunday and Tuesday that there were many culpable entities that had a hand in Michigan State’s problems on offense against the Badgers.




Tyler O'Connor was sacked four times on Saturday, and pressured on several other occasions.

The problems began with Wisconsin’s consistent success in putting pressure on O’Connor.

“It’s not just the offensive line, it’s the protection,” Dantonio said. “Our running backs, for some reason, were cut-blocking people.”

That’s apparently not what they’re taught to do. And Badger defensive players defeat blocks as well as any team MSU will face all year.

“Give credit to Wisconsin,” Dantonio said. “They got good players now. They threw some pressures at us, we didn't block them effectively, and they got home on others and beat us physically. That's football.

“There was pressure in his face. Usually you get pressure in people's face it affects quarterbacks. Makes them throw out their bad foot. Got to do a better job protecting our quarterback, whether it's by structure, recognition of what's coming, or actual execution, combination of things.”

Receivers? They took some blame too.

“Same thing happens if people get tied up down the field,” Dantonio said. “Nobody to throw to, you end up choking the ball, bad things happen.”

O’Connor’s mistakes were more apparent to the casual fan.

“There are some decisions he has to make that have to be better,” Dantonio said.

“Those are the three things all go along with the passing game. I think any of those things can affect you. I think as a quarterback, every experience you have is a learning experience, a growing experience. So even this guy who is in his fifth year, Tyler, he started one game; now he's started three. He’s growing.”

O’Connor doesn’t seem to have lost any confidence.

“Tyler is fine,” Dantonio said. “He's a confident player. I texted him Saturday night, and he had already watched the game twice.”

O’Connor said he downloaded the team’s copy of the film off the cloud, to his laptop. He was getting ready to watch it a third time when friends convinced him to get something to eat with them.

“He's a responsible, responsible guy,” Dantonio said. “He'll take ownership in what he did. He's not a finger-pointer. He's mature in terms of how he handles things.

“This hasn't been the first time in his football career that something has gone wrong. A lot of things can go wrong at that position.

“I’m sure he's prepared to handle these things, and he has an opportunity to bounce back and make it happen.”

TWO QUESTIONS:

Question No. 1. What’s the problem with the pass defense?

This is a common question among fans.

The answer: Nothing.

Chill.

Wisconsin had three scoring drives. There were five third-down plays that helped fuel those 16 points.

The Badgers did damage on a pair of third-and-10s on the first TD drive.

The Badgers converted a third-and-12 on the second TD drive.

The Badgers converted a third-and-11 and a third-and-eight on their field goal drive.

That’s all. Five plays. Five conversions, good for 16 points.

There was reason for review and corrections - although not reason for the coronaries Spartan fans were having over five plays. The negative reaction those five plays, I suspect, was due to the overall frustration of the afternoon. Wisconsin didn’t do as much damage on third down, for instance, as Western Michigan did against MSU last year in a double-digit Spartan victory.

Anyone remember that Central Michigan was 7-of-14 on third down against MSU last year. For math majors, that’s a better percentage than the Badgers had on Saturday.

Plant a flag.

Indiana was 5-of-11 on third downs against Michigan State last year. That’s a better percentage than Wisconsin’s.

Wisconsin ended up 7 of 16 on third down. That’s a good percentage, but not reason to expel anybody.

The five plays:

1. Wisconsin QB Alex Hornibook completed a 25-yard pass to WR Jazz Peavy.

What happened: MSU broke tendency and played man-to-man. The Spartans had Jalen Watts-Jackson in the slot area, playing first-string nickel back for the first time in his career.

Peavy shook Watts-Jackson with a nod to the post and a break to the corner. Very good route, and a perfect pass.

2. Ten plays later (including a third-and-two play action completion to the tight end, which caught Dowell out of position), Hornbook connected with WR Robert Wheelwright for a 9-yard gain.

Wait a minute. This wasn’t a conversion. MSU stopped the WR short of the first down with a fine reaction and tackle by safety Montae Nicholson.

(But Wisconsin converted fourth-and-one with a fullback dive).

As for the 9-yard gain on third-and-10, it was charted as a losing play for the Spartans and deserves mention in this study.

On that play, cornerback Vayante Copeland was beaten to the inside by Wheelwright. The inside release allowed Wheelwright to body-up Copeland for a late post break to the middle.

Good release move. Copeland, who had an excellent game against the run, was out-techniqued at the line of scrimmage. That doesn’t happen to him often. But it happened this time, on third down in the red zone. Not a championship play for Michigan State. But it’s probably not something that’s going to become a recurring problem. No need to fire any coordinators over this one.

(As for Dowell being out of position on the third-and-two play, well Wisconsin did a great job with a late shift of tight end personnel prior to the snap. That shift caused a hesitation in Dowell on the play side while Dowell checked to stop the run first. Then he was too late in getting outside to his receiver assignment.

(A play like that is why Dowell says this week he is “in the book.” Sometimes it takes a loss for players to realize there are consequences, like a national embarrassment of a loss, when too many details get left undone.

(By the way, Wisconsin ran the same play on third-and-short later in the game, but Copeland and Demetrious Cox were all over it for no gain, resulting in a stoppage and Wisconsin’s field goal attempt). [By the way, in the Spartan Plus Pre-Snap Read, we told you Wisconsin would repeat plays that worked, and they would do it similar situations. That was true about their short-yardage fullback dives, and this play-action out route to the tight end.]

3. On the third-and-12 conversion which keyed Wisconsin’s second TD drive, Hornbook found Peavy for 23 yards.

What happened: MSU was in man-to-man again, and Copeland tried to cover Peavy as the Badger WR ran the width of the field on a drag route. Blame this one on the pass rush. MSU came with a five-man rush and didn’t come close to getting home, or affecting the QB.

The QB found a semi-open receiver and once again delivered a perfect pass.

As for the field goal drive:

4. Hornbook hit WR George Rushing for 15 yards in front of Darian Hicks.

Hicks was sinking back into cover-three (three-deep) zone. Don’t believe Matt Millen. The BTN color analyst incorrectly labeled this as off man-to-man. It wasn’t. Hicks is/was supposed to bail deep on that zone coverage, as a safety net behind a blitz.

But once again, the blitz didn’t get home, and Hornibook was well-schooled on where to find a weak spot against a blitz.

MSU had abandoned its tendency-breaking usage of man-to-man coverage in order to go back to its mainstay blitz/cover-three on this play - and the Badgers were equal to that task as well.

“On those third downs it was a different coverage in each situation,” Dantonio said. “But on a scenario where when you bring people (on a blitz), you’ve got to affect the quarterback. Quarterback connected. He was on. Thought he played very well in the game.

“But it's sort of on everybody. Depends on leverage. First one we lost leverage on a corner route (vs. Watts-Jackson). Ball is dropped in right on the money.

“Another time we could have clouded it and had a corner sitting out there. Decision was made on the field not to. This is coach speak.”

(Cloud it, meaning they could have had a cornerback cover the flat tighter as part of cover-two zone. That might have been the cover-three/blitz call. Sometimes the players have the freedom to check to automatic blitzes, based sometimes on a motion by a WR. Sounds like that might have been the case on this one. But don’t blame the cornerback with playing too soft in man-to-man. It wasn’t man-to-man. It was MSU’s favored coverage behind a blitz.)

5. On third-and-eight, Hornbook made the crazy-good pass to Peavy for 31 yards on a deep corner to the wide side of the field vs. good coverage from Cox.

Michigan State hadn’t seen an opposing QB come to Spartan Stadium and make throws like this since J.T. Barrett and the eventual National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes in 2014.

“All of them could have been prevented, but you got to give it to them, too,” Dantonio said. “Dropped a couple right on the dime.”

16 points were generated off of these third down plays. MSU has won a lot of games in recent years while allowing a handful of third-down completions. That aggravating part was how perfect some of the passes were, and MSU’s need on each occasion to get a stop and halt Wisconsin’s momentum.

For the record, Wisconsin’s first third-and-long conversion took place on their first possession of the day, but it didn’t lead to a scoring drive.

On this play, Hornibook threw to his tight end for a gain of 20, leading him perfectly, into a tight window. MSU rushed four on the play, and McDowell came free up the middle for a big hit, off a stunt game - but Hornibrook took the hit to make a perfect throw.

Michigan State was in man-to-man. The tight end made the catch in Cox’s area. Dantonio said on Sunday there were times when underneath coverage needed to be better. This was probably one of those times.

But MSU survived the drive when Raequan Williams strip-sacked Hornibrook three plays later. On this play, MSU showed an outside linebacker blitz out of an aggressive 6-1 alignment. But MSU broke tendency and peeled those OLBs back into a surprising man-to-man coverage. Hornbook froze and was strip-sacked.

Question No. 2: Is there a leadership shortage on this team?

Answer: Stay tuned. Bullough is out with an injury. O’Connor is working through some tasks of his own. MSU graduated a lot of strong personalities last year. Coaches and players agree that now is the time for leaders to emerge. Let’s wait and see what the focus and level of accountability is in the coming game or games.

Prediction:

1. O’Connor will come back just fine against Indiana.

I’m not guaranteeing he’ll be without error when the Spartans meet up with quality defenses in the future. But I think he’ll churn out a good game at Indiana, having more time to throw, continuing to be aware of Donnie Corley as his go-to man, and capitalizing on bootleg and waggle plays when MSU moves the pocket.

Edit

Here is the notebook I wrote on what Salem had to say today.

As far as the Damion Terry run plays, Brad is a diplomatic dude, so I'm not surprised that he downplayed them. I'd be interested to hear what he thinks unfiltered. Obviously, they want Damion to be involved and get experience. If he isn't going to throw the football now, however, its tough to see him competing for a starting job in '17.

https://michiganstate.rivals.com/news/salem-pleased-o-connor-s-growth-entering-big-ten-play

Here is my story on Lyles who is looking forward to helping out at DE when needed.

https://michiganstate.rivals.com/news/lyles-embraces-two-way-role

Good story by our guy Ricardo Cooney

Quick little profile & developmental update on a guy i like to refer to as Psycho Killer:



Glue Guy: Frey keeping it cranked
Ricardo Cooney | SpartanMag.com



EAST LANSING - While Michigan State entered the 2016 season with question marks concerning the effectiveness of a defensive line whose depth was gutted by graduations and departures, the one area where MSU was expected to excel was at linebacker.

With a lineup that features a strong rotation of five to six players at the position, especially when you factor in the return of senior Ed Davis, who will enter Saturday night’s game at Notre Dame No. 2 on the Spartan depth chart at Sam linebacker after being granted a sixth season of eligibility by the NCAA earlier this week, MSU’s defense is expected to go as far as its linebacking corps will take it this season.

“Linebacker-wise we have a lot of guys with a lot of talent,’’ said junior Chris Frey, who is listed as the starting Sam linebacker for the second consecutive game. “So everybody’s going to play. Everybody’s going to have the opportunity to come in and play well, and make plays.’’

Frey led Michigan State in tackles (nine) in the season opener two weeks ago against Furman, in the first starting assignment of his career. He started in place of Jon Reschke, who was out with an undisclosed injury. Reschke is listed as the No. 2 ‘star’ linebacker for this week’s game against Notre Dame, although Sam linebacker is his usual position.

Reschke started at Sam linebacker last year, filling in for Davis, who started at the position in 2014 before being lost for the season with a torn ACL.

With Frey, Michigan State now has three players who have played winning football at Sam linebacker. It remains to be seen which player emerges as the long-term starter at the position. SPARTAN Magazine is still projecting Reschke to be the guy.

But for now, Frey is a capable starter at the worst, and a plus reserve at the best.

And while the Spartans have featured a number of great trios at linebacker during head coach Mark Dantonio’s tenure, the trio of Frey, Riley Bullough at the Mike linebacker and sophomore Andrew Dowell at the ‘star,’ could be the Spartans fastest threesome in that second tier unit’s history under Dantonio. That group will get faster if and when Reschke or Davis fill in at the Sam. But Frey runs well, too. He dropped about 10 pounds heading into the season and played faster last week than he did last year as a back-up linebacker.



Frey (23) led Michigan State with nine tackles against Furman.

With no linebacker weighing more than 230 pounds, it’s the lightest linebacking trio of the Dantonio era - which might help them to become the most mobile LB unit Dantonio has had.

“Everybody knows we’re always looking to play fast but with that comes the knowledge of what needs to be done in the different situations,’’ Frey said. “So part of my job is to know that and help communicate that to the rest of the team.’’

While Frey has always been a high-energy option at linebacker, he has developed into a dependable one too. A transition Bullough says Frey has made this season.

“With our defense, we’ve got to be gap sound and sometimes, I think, in his earlier days, he’d play a a little bit crazy and not always be in his right gap,’’ Bullough said. “Which is typical for a younger guy. But now he’s definitely changed that and become an all-around player and a great guy for our defense.’’

Frey will continue to get the chance to continue to prove himself against an Irish offense that has settled on junior quarterback DeShone Kizer as its every-down starter after he split snaps with senior Malik Zaire in the team’s first two games against Texas and Nevada.

Kizer, a polished dual threat option under center, enters Saturday with 30 completions on 42 attempts for 371 yards and seven touchdowns against just one interception. Additionally, he has bolstered the Irish’s offense with 112 rushing yards and two TD runs, making himself the team’s third-leading runner.

Which means Frey and the rest of MSU’s linebackers are facing a huge test on Saturday.

Since his arrival as an early enrollee, along with tight end Matt Sokol, back in 2014, Frey has battled to prove he was more then just a special teams demon and a special situations linebacker.

He tried to add weight in August of 2015 after Davis went down, in order to compete with Reschke for the opening at Sam linebacker. Frey held the No. 1 spot at that position for a couple of weeks in training camp, but Reschke eventually won the job, and Frey spent the rest of the year playing a bit heavier than was optimal.

This year, he cut weight in order to become more serviceable and versatile. He still has the ability to play Sam linebacker, but is also available at ‘star’ linebacker, and as a special situational linebacker - something that MSU might begin unveiling more as the season progresses, especially against uptempo teams.

With Reschke out and Davis still yet to be awarded a sixth year of eligibility, Frey was rewarded in MSU’s opener with his first career start.

“It was my first start and a I played a lot of plays, so I was really excited about that but I’m looking past that and looking forward to a huge game against a very good team,’’ Frey said. “The coaches are always going to put us in the best positions to make plays and I think I’ve proved to them that I can make plays and that I can be in the right place at the right time to be on the field more.’’

Now, with his name sitting atop the depth chart for his first start against a Top 25 opponent on the road, Frey hopes to further prove to his coaches and his teammates that he too is an every-down performer.

Even more than that, he wants help further develop the strong reputation MSU has established on defense over the past six seasons.

“Us linebackers, we have a real chemistry right now. We feed off of each other and we all bring energy to the field. But it’s not just us linebackers,’’ said Frey, who entered this season with 23 tackles, including five for loss, and a fumble recovery. “Chemistry is one of the main keys when it comes to being out on the field and I think as a unit we bring that to the rest if the team.’’

It’s a chemistry that Bullough credits Frey with help building even though it early in the season.

“Chris has done a great job,’’ Bullough said. “The biggest thing is that he’s been fundamentally sound. He’s always in his gap now and he’s making the rights reads and doing the right things when he needs to so them. And that’s important for the linebackers and our defense as a whole.’’



Chris Frey celebrates a fumble recovery in the fourth quarter of last years' victory over Indiana.

The 3-2-1 on MSU for Notre Dame Week
Jim Comparoni | Editor



EAST LANSING | Three things we learned from Tuesday’s Michigan State press conference, two questions heading into Saturday’s game at Notre Dame, and one prediction:

THREE THINGS WE LEARNED:
1. Notre Dame threw deep 20 times against Michigan State the last time these two programs met, in 2013. At least that’s what Mark Dantonio told us during Tuesday’s press conference.

Many of us remember the Irish seemingly abandoning the run, and some parts of their ball-control passing and intermediate passing, in order to jack up an array of 50-50 throws.

Dantonio knew the figure off the top of his head on Tuesday because Michigan State has obviously studied film of that game from three seasons ago in preparation for this year’s meeting, on Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium (7:30 p.m., NBC).

The Irish had excellent receivers in 2013, but the deep passes had an air of desperation about them. Three weeks earlier, Western Michigan had employed a similar strategy against Michigan State, with limited success, although WMU kept the game close (26-13).

As the 2013 season unfolded, and Michigan State went the rest of the year without losing, opponents had a terrible time trying to run the ball against that Spartan team. WMU lost confidence in trying to run the ball on opening night, and Notre Dame seemed to as well. But the strategy worked for the Irish, as Michigan State was flagged for downfield penalties on five of those deep-ball pass attempts.

Notre Dame was just 13-of-34 through the air for the day, for 142 yards. But the five penalties, which included four pass interference flags and one downfield holding penalty, contributed to Notre Dame’s three scoring drives in a disputed 17-13 victory over Michigan State.

Michigan State out-gained Notre Dame 254-220 in a defensive battle that day, but the Spartans were penalized 10 times for 115 yards.

Of the 20 deep shots, Notre Dame completed two of them, including a 37-yarder to a youngWill Fuller, who went on to become a first round NFL Draft pick in 2016. The other one was a 24-yarder to then-freshman Corey Robinson.

After that game, Dantonio and then-coordinator Pat Narduzzi said film study revealed that they wouldn’t ask their Spartan defensive backs to defend those deep balls any differently. Michigan State’s DBs continued to be hands-on and combative for the rest of the year, led the nation in pass efficiency defense, won the Rose Bowl, finished ranked No. 3 in the country, with the “No Fly Zone” being a major part of it.

Dantonio studied film from the 2013 game in preparation for this week, probably expects another barrage of deep balls from the Irish, and still feels his DBs did little wrong in that game in 2013.

“From my perspective, we made plays,” Dantonio said.

Darqueze Dennard, who won the Jim Thorpe Award that year and became a first-round NFL Draft pick, was called for holding, and one of the pass interference penalties.

Trae Waynes, who became a first-round pick after the 2014 season, was flagged for two pass interference penalties.

Michigan State coaches argued the calls.

“Flags came out a little bit, but from my perspective, we made plays on the ball,” Dantonio said. “Sometimes those are bang-bang type situations where you're trying to -- everybody's trying to do the right thing. Regardless of what happens, you need to move on and play the next play. I think that's the most important thing. I think we did do a good job of that. We held them to 17 points. That was a positive. So we need to continue to play like we do. We need to be who we are, too. We can't let somebody take us out of who we are.”

Notre Dame has reloaded at wide receiver, following Fuller’s departure. The Irish will attack with 6-foot-4 sophomore Equanimeous St. Brown, a rising star who has 11 catches on the year, two TDs and a long of 49. The Irish like to find him on shallow crossing routes in third down situations, and throw fades to him in the red zone.

Notre Dame also has 5-foot-8 jitterbug CJ Sanders at the wide out position. He has eight catches on the year, including a 25-yarder last week and a pair of TDs.



St. Brown has mismatch ability at WR for Notre Dame.

Quick freshman Kevin Stepherson (6-0, 181, Jacksonville, Fla.) turned in a 4-yard TD catch on an angle route while taking a big hit last week against Nevada. He played in both games despite being one of the six Irish players who were arrested in two separate incidents on Aug. 20. Stepherson was eventually charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

Torri Hunter Jr. had four catches for 37 yards in the opening-night loss to Texas, but was knocked out of that game via a blow to the head and a concussion. Hunter, the son of the former Detroit Tiger outfielder of the same name, missed last week’s game against Nevada. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound senior is back on the depth chart this week, although ND head coachBrian Kelly said Hunter would continue to be evaluated this week in practice.

Hunter had 28 catches a year ago.

Comp’s Takeaway: Dantonio stopped short on Tuesday of criticizing the Big Ten officiating crew who oversaw that game in 2013, but his comments seemed calculated and purposeful. He might have anticipated that there would be questions about the pass interference penalties that were called on a 2013 secondary that proved to be the best in college football. Coaches are known to work the officials from the sidelines prior to kickoff of games. I think Dantonio did a little bit of ref-working for this game through the press conference on Tuesday.

Michigan State isn’t going to change the way it plays. If the Spartans continue to employ press coverage on the corners and get nosy with safeties helping vs. the run, Notre Dame will likely continue to go deep - perhaps more so than any team Michigan State will see all year. MSU will play as it usually does, with a hands-on approach. And Dantonio is on record as saying, indirectly, that they shouldn’t get flagged for it, if the plays look a lot like they did in 2013.

2. Jon Reschke seems to be back in the playing group. He was listed as a co-starter at Sam linebacker prior to the Furman game, but SpartanMaggers knew, via the Bunker message board, the he wasn’t likely to play. We didn’t break the rumor that he was questionable for the game due to an injury, but once it was out, we confirmed it.

This week, Reschke is listed as a second-string ‘star’ linebacker, with recently-activated Ed Davis the No. 2 man at Sam linebacker, behind Chris Frey.

Frey started the Furman game at Sam linebacker, in Reschke’s place.




Jon Reschke should be a proper mood, Saturday.

MSU coaches and captains said, or indicated indirectly, that Reschke would be back for this game. We’ll take them at their word.

When asked about the impact of getting Reschke and Davis back on the field or this game, senior tri-captain Riley Bullough said:

“It means a lot. Those guys are tremendous players and fun guys to have with you on the field. They bring a lot of energy and a lot of excitement to our defense. So to have them back in practice this week and then for the game, I think, is huge for our defense and our team as a whole.”

Comp’s Takeaway: Reschke has the unique ability to play Sam linebacker as well as 'star' linebacker. He is firm enough to take on tight end blocking at the point of attack as a Sam, and coaches say he is agile and quick enough to play the slot area as a 'star.' Notre Dame might be eager to test the latter.

I can’t say that I’ve actually witnessed Reschke play in the slot area, but coaches say he can do it.

I don’t doubt we’ll see Reschke at ‘star’ linebacker, as is listed in the depth chart. But I suspect he will start at Sam linebacker, in place of Frey.

Frey also has the ability to play the ‘star.’ I think Frey and Reschke might each get a chance to play some downs at the ‘star’ position, against certain personnel groups in certain down-and-distance situations, if and when MSU has time to substitute on the fly against an Irish team that will employ an uptempo offense.

I expect Reschke and Davis to split time at Sam linebacker. In the long term, Davis is probably too good of a player to see playing time on less that 50 percent of the snaps. That’s why Reschke’s ability to play some snaps at ‘star’ linebacker is valuable, because it opens the door for Davis to get on the field a bit more.

Sophomore Andrew Dowell played every down at ‘star’ linebacker against Furman. He played with energy, and made the play of the night with a momentum-changing interception in the fourth quarter. But he also had some deployment errors, and pursuit errors.

Dowell is going to be an outstanding player. But he could benefit nicely from getting a chance to sit out a series or two, in addition to other random plays. Get him to the sideline for some coaching from his cornermen, get Reschke or Frey out on the field in his place, and the Spartans won’t lose a thing while Dowell gets a chance to gain a breather, watch and learn. Playing a little less and watching a pair of venerable juniors play his position for a few downs, could yield a sharper, more efficient Dowell - which could enable him to unleash that speed just a little more.

3. Riley Bullough doesn’t hate the Notre Dame fight song.

Of the four Michigan State representative who were available for interviews on Tuesday - Dantonio, Bullough, Tyler O’Connor and Demetrious Cox - three of them grew up Notre Dame fans, to an extent. The Irish were the team of choice for O’Connor and Dantonio when they were youngsters, growing up in Ohio. Notre Dame was Bullough’s second favorite team, as his mother was an ND graduate, as were several family members on her side of the family.

Bullough said his family often went to Michigan State games one week, and then Notre Dame games the next. Of course when ND squared off with Michigan State, the Bulloughs - who are the unofficial First Family of Spartan football - rooted for the green and white. Riley said even his mother came around to rooting for Michigan State, which was only natural considering that three of her sons (Max, Riley and sophomore Byron) have played for the Spartans, dating back to 2010.

Dantonio was 10-years-old when Notre Dame and Michigan State played to a 10-10 tie in the “Game of the Century” in 1966. Dantonio said he probably watched the game, but doesn’t remember it specifically.

“No, I wasn't a Spartan then,” Dantonio said. “I was just a happy kid and didn't have all these pressures on me.”


TWO QUESTIONS:
1. How much will Ed Davis play?

He was honorable mention All-Big Ten in 2014 when he led the Spartan defense in production points. But we haven’t seen him play since Michigan State beat Baylor in the 2014 Cotton Bowl Classic.

Dantonio didn’t give a clue as to how much Davis will play, or how he has looked in practice.

“I think the question is; Is Ed at 90 percent, 95 percent? Is he at a 100 percent or 3 percent?" Dantonio said. "Whatever he is, where is he relative to the other guys that are playing?”

In other words, even if he is completely healthy, has he shaken off enough rust and proved himself worthy of taking snaps away from guys like Reschke, Frey and, indirectly, Dowell?



We haven't seen Ed Davis on the field since the 2014 Cotton Bowl Classic.

“We've got deep linebacker situation,” Dantonio said. “We've got good players. Do I expect him to play? I expect him to play. How much he plays will be determined by how much he comes yet this week.

“I know we're only four days away or so, but we need to see him today (in practice) for Tuesday’s practice because last Tuesday's practice is a week removed.”

Tuesday practice is usually the most physical practice of the week, and therefore the most telling for a guy making a comeback like Davis. Last Tuesday, Davis wasn’t yet reinstated for a sixth year of eligibility. He received reinstatement last Friday.

“So, too early to tell, I guess, is the thing I would say,” Dantonio said about Davis’ role for Saturday.

Comp’s Take: I would expect to see Davis, at least, in third down situations as a pass rusher. MSU missed him in passing situations last year. Is he ready to make an impact? I haven’t heard. But I wouldn’t be surprised.

2. Has Michigan State ironed out its errors and negativity from the Furman game?

Players indicated that they did some extra running last week, during a hot weather week, partly as punishment for the penalty problem the Spartans had against Furman. Dantonio said retaining a level of high-end conditioning was also on the agenda last week. So the running served that purpose as well.

Dantonio said an unnamed fifth-year senior told him that one of the practices last week was the toughest practice of that player’s five-year career at Michigan State.

Bye weeks are usually a time to rest weary legs. But with MSU’s bye week coming so early in the season, MSU won’t have that luxury of resting legs any time during the regular season, and instead regarded the week off as a challenge in conditioning maintenance. MSU needed to do it that way in order to prepare for Notre Dame. It remains to be seen whether it will cost them fuel mileage for the long haul of the season. But they had little choice.

As for corrections, it’s impossible to forecast whether Michigan State will eradicate the unforced errors from the Furman game. Michigan State probably needed to get back on the field last Saturday to test themselves in that area. Instead, the Spartans will have waited 15 days to test themselves in the game management department by the time kickoff arrives on Saturday.

“I think we have to learn a lot about our football team,” Dantonio said. “I don't think there is any question about that. We've only played one game. We've been working for six weeks, and only played one game.

“You don't know a lot about it. You know there is going to be growth. You have some people that are going to fail, some people are going to be successful in this game. I mean, that's the nature of it. That's what football is.

“But you've got to be able to get back up in either case and play the next play, and then you also have to move forward and learn to adapt and handle those situations.”

Notre Dame has already encountered those tasks. They came back from a double-digit deficit at Texas to force overtime. The Irish didn’t win that game, but they showed they could withstand a blow, and punch back, in a 50-47 double-overtime loss.

Michigan State hasn’t faced that type of challenge.

Notre Dame came back on a short week of prep after travel and played a respectable game in a 39-10 victory over Nevada last weekend.

Notre Dame is entering midseason form. Michigan State is still getting out of the crib.

“So that's a part of the game experience, and we're going to get that,” Dantonio said. “That's why every year when people say so-and-so is preseason number this, number that, at the end of the season, it sort of all washes out.

“I think we have a good football team. I think we've got players. We're looking forward to this opportunity.

“Again, we've waited. I don't think there is anybody in our program that wanted to sit last weekend. So I anticipate our guys being ready to go, enthusiastic, and it will be fun to go down there. There will be 10, 15,000 Spartan fans there as well. Always has been, that makes it exciting as well.”

Can they play sharp football? Did the bye week help tighten some screws?

No idea. That’s why this was Question No. 2.


ONE PREDICTION:
1. Malik McDowell is going to enjoy a decided advantage over Notre Dame center, No. 53, Sam Mustipher.

In closely watching ND’s games against Texas and Nevada, I felt the center position is the main weakness on the Irish offense. Mustipher (6-2 and a half, 310, Jr., Olney, Md.) gives good effort, and has the potential to improve. But he has missed blocks at times. And now he is going to face arguably the best nose tackle in the country.

McDowell has the flexibility to move to the three technique of defensive end, which he played for one series last week and occasionally on passing downs. But I suspect Michigan State will keep him right there at his primary position of nose tackle for the match-up with No. 53 in this game. And McDowell has the ability to win, or dominate, that matchup and put a dent in the backfield.

It’s not a bold prediction to forecast a big game for McDowell. But in this case, it should be noted that a Michigan State strength matches up directly with a Notre Dame weakness.

Dantonio rejects the idea that MSU will have a decided advantage anywhere:

“All of our players, every single one of our players, will have their hands full when we go down there, that's the nature of this and they'll have to play to a high level,” Dantonio said. “I think that our defensive line is going to have to come to play. Going to have to pressure the quarterback. Going to have to stop the run, do those type of things. Obviously, Malik will be a catalyst involved in helping to do that.

“When you look at it, he's going into his third year. So he's still a relatively young player. I don't think we ever stop growing. We're always ready to take that next step, and that's what you have to do as a competitor, be prepared to do that. But he's got an enormous amount of ability, and I expect him to play very well down there and play with a lot of effort."

DANTONIO UNPLUGGED:

* Dantonio reiterated that the coaches are more challenged than ever to whittle their roster down to a traveling team of 70 for the trip.

“We’ve got depth on this football team. So it's very difficult to even pick who the travelers are, really. We've got some good players we'll have to leave back here. But that's what happens when you've been successful for a while. That's a natural occurrence.”

* Is this a friendly rivalry?

“I’ll let you know after this weekend, I guess. But I think there are things that happened in this rivalry that led to the emergence of Michigan State being a major football player in the country. And that's because people got together, whether it was John Hannah and people at Notre Dame, and they made it happen. So from that point of view, I think there will always be a respect from the people of Michigan State in place because of that aspect.”

* Is the o-line ready to expand beyond the six-man playing group from game one?

“That remains to be seen whether we've got to go deeper or not. We want to play as many guys as we can that are game-ready. So we'll see.

“As far as our offensive line, I thought they played well this last game, and we'll need to play well again. We'll need to protect the quarterback and run the football. That starts up front. It always does.”

* On special teams, yielding Dantonio’s most candid remarks of the day:

“As I remember, we kicked the ball out of bounds in the first kickoff, which wasn't good. We punted extremely well. Got two inside the 10, a 58-yarder.

“Kickoff return, we missed two seams which could have went to the house. Punt return, we missed one seam that could have went to the house. Missed a field goal. Does that about cover it? I thought we played hard.”

RJ Shelton and Brandon Sowards each had a pair of punt returns for the Spartans. Shelton left the game with an undisclosed injury, but said last week he will be back for the ND game.

No word on which player missed the seam that Dantonio was talking about.

Shelton had one kickoff return for 18 yards and redshirt-freshman Darrell Stewart looked explosive on a pair of kickoff returns, one of which went for 27 yards.

Again, no word on which player or players missed the two seams Dantonio was talking about.

But it sounds like the blocking for the return units graded out well, which is a good sign for improvement for the return game in 2016, something that is much-needed after the Spartans ranked at the bottom of the Big Ten in kick and punt returns last year.

AND FINALLY …

How many current Spartans saw the field for Michigan State in the 2013 game in South Bend?

Only Davis and cornerback Darian Hicks saw time in regular roles, as part of the nickel defense and Shelton saw some time as a fly sweep threat.

Others who saw the field: Demetrious Cox, Jamal Lyles, Riley Bullough, Kodi Kieler, Matt Macksood and Brandon Clemons as a defensive tackle. Clemons is now the starting right guard.

Macksood, by the way, blocked a Notre Dame punt in the first quarter in 2013.

Here is the notebook I put together from today's player interviews.

https://michiganstate.rivals.com/news/seniors-prepare-for-man-s-game-at-notre-dame

With Davis Back: What's New & What's Next
Jim Comparoni | Editor



EAST LANSING | With Ed Davis being granted a sixth year of eligibility today, the next questions are when will he begin seeing playing time, and what impact will he have on the Spartans?


WHAT'S NEW:
Michigan State released news of Davis’ eligibility via a press release on Friday afternoon. Other than a statement from Mark Dantonio, no coaches have commented on Davis’ return.

Michigan State plays at Notre Dame on Sept. 17, giving the Spartans time to begin working Davis into the playing group on an official basis at today’s practice.

Davis resumed practicing with the Spartans during the third week of August, after finishing a summer semester class. He missed last fall with a torn ACL. He redshirted in 2011. He needed to finish the summer class and graduate before petitioning for a sixth year of eligibility.

Davis (6-2, 237, Detroit Southeastern) was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection as a junior in 2014 when he led the team in production points and was third on the team in tackles for loss and sacks (seven).

Davis has been practicing at 'money' linebacker since Aug. 22, anticipating his full reinstatement.

WHAT’S NEXT:

Michigan State's linebacking corps has been in a bit of flux in recent weeks, but now regains a big boost in talent, depth and flexibility.

Chris Frey made the first start of his college career at 'money' linebacker during last Friday’s 28-13 victory over Furman. Frey played in place of Jon Reschke, who was out with an undisclosed ailment.

Reschke is expected to be available to play at Notre Dame next week. Reschke and Frey have the ability to move to ‘star’ (slot-area) linebacker. But Davis is entrenched as a 'money' linebacker (also known as Sam linebacker in MSU’s system).

“Ed is a ‘money’,” co-defensive coordinator Mike Tressel said during August camp. “We’re not going to mess with him. We’re not going to move him, and Andrew Dowell is a ‘star.’ Those two guys play those two positions, only.

“Those other guys, like Jon Reschke and Chris Frey, can rotate around a little bit. They’ve been cross-trained to do both. And Reschke can play Mike too. He played that position all up until last year.”

Senior Riley Bullough is entrenched as a second-year starter at Mike linebacker.

When Davis went down with the knee injury in August of 2015, Reschke moved from Mike linebacker to ‘money,’ linebacker and competed with Frey for the starting job. Reschke won the job.

Reschke (6-2, 227, Jr., Sterling Heights/Birmingham Brother Rice) excelled as Davis’ replacement last year. Reschke earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors while ranking fifth on the team in production points.

Reschke has earned praise from coaches in practice for taking his physicality to another level with what Tressel called “knock-back tackles.”

Davis made a splash with the 2013 Rose Bowl team as a pass rusher on the nickel defense. He improved to become a well-rounded, impact player as a starter in 2014.

Without Davis in 2015, Michigan State’s pass rush in blitz situations wasn’t as productive as it had been in 2013 and ’14. With Davis back in the group, Michigan State should receive a shot of play-making ability, especially in the pass rush department. The question is how long will it take for Davis to begin to look like the Davis of 2014, or better?

Dantonio said in August Davis was in fine shape from a conditioning standpoint, as well as knee health.


WHAT TO LOOK FOR:
Look for Reschke to return to his starting spot at ‘money’ linebacker for the Notre Dame game.

Davis has been going through the process of regaining trust in his knee and shaking off some rust.

It wouldn’t be a surprise if Davis returns to the playing group for the Notre Dame game, but we’ll learn more from Dantonio on this matter at his next interview opportunity, which is scheduled for Tuesday.

With Reschke and Davis available at ‘money’ linebacker, Frey might see some of his playing time shifted to being a back-up ‘star’ linebacker, behind Dowell.

Coaches are looking forward to having a full allotment of linebackers for the first time since the end of the 2014 season.

“I think this group has the most depth of any linebacking group we’ve had since we’ve been here,” Tressel said. “When you say, ‘How many guys can actually be out there that you would be comfortable with as starters?', it’s the highest number we’ve had. Are the top three the best three we’ve ever had? We’ll see.”

In Reschke and Davis, Michigan State has a pair of players who were honorable mention All-Big Ten at the same position, in different seasons. They’ve never been part of the playing group at the same time. Now, both players are available, and will presumably pack all-conference potential.



Reschke is expected to bring even more force in 2016, potentially at two positions.

If Davis comes back strong, will he challenge Reschke for the starting ‘money’ linebacker job in the weeks ahead? Or will they split time close to 50-50 at ‘money’ linebacker while Reschke gets additional time elsewhere, possibly at 'star'?

“When we’ve talked about depth before, what it’s meant was: These three guys are the guys until or unless someone gets tired,” Tressel said. “And then we had our nickel package with Chris Frey going in.

“But this year we truly feel like we can give people roles where it’s not, ‘That guy needs a series out because he’s exhausted.’ It’s, ‘This is my role. I go in against this personnel group, or that personnel group.’

“It allows you to have more specific film study and really lock into your role and have greater knowledge of those situations.

“And when you get to playing Indiana, you’ve got to have six linebackers.”

So what happens with Ed Davis back?

“Then you can take it even farther and get to have a situation where you have pre-planned rotations where you say, ‘If they’re in pro personnel or two tight end personnel, these are the guys in the game,’” Tressel said hypothetically, in late August, about ways to work Davis into the group. “Or if they are in three receivers, four receivers, these are the guys in the game. And these guys are the nickel package. And then you can get to the point that you have four or five guys that truly are starters, and this is your role, and this is the other guy’s role.”

MSU could potentially have different “starters” and “finishers” each week, depending on the offensive personnel groups that are checked into the game.

The era of uptempo offenses, such as Indiana's, has put a new premium on depth and substitution strength. Michigan State has the pieces at linebacker to rotate liberally and stay fresher than ever against uptempo teams.

In the meantime, Dowell needs to come along in the mental aspects of the game. Dowell has explosive potential, but there are times when the position could use a little tag-team help from a reserve like Frey, or possibly a moonlighting Reschke. With Reschke and Davis back in the lineup, Dowell will have more reserve help than he had last week.

THE BREAKDOWN ON DOWELL
Dowell had eight tackles against Furman, ranking second on the team. However, there were several times when he leveraged plays improperly, due in part to his inexperience, as well as Furman’s surprising new wrinkles, formations and plays - most of which the Spartans hadn’t prepared for in practice.

At 6-1, 218, Dowell plays with excellent speed and quickness. He might be the fastest starting linebacker Michigan State has had under Dantonio.

“I think had the play of the game on his pick,” Dantonio said. “He flipped it (momentum) the other way immediately. Great pick, big play in the game. Great effort.”

But he needs to play correctly as he gains a feel for the starting job.

“Got to know where to go sometimes,” Dantonio said. “And that's coaching and that's also experience because the game changes and you have to adapt. You have to adapt to things you haven't been coached on throughout the week, because they show something different. That's a big part of it.”

If the most improvement truly comes between game one and game two (especially with a bye week thrown in), then the Spartans should see a better version of Dowell at Notre Dame, and in the weeks to come.

Furman didn’t have a great day on the ground against Michigan State, averaging 2.6 yards per carry. But Furman had occasional success on an assortment of inside running plays and then some speed option, sometimes with Dowell at the scene of the crime.

SpartanMag’s unofficial scorecard on Dowell:

- Dowell slipped and fell on an inside zone run that went for a 7-yard gain with 2:40 left in the first half.

- Dowell was a little late squeezing and closing on a shovel pass on third-and-three, late in the first half.

- On Furman’s first play after MSU went up 21-6, Furman gained 7 yards on a speed option pitch in Dowell’s direction. Dowell was influenced inside toward the box too tightly, losing leverage and getting out-flanked.

- Later, Furman scored on a 6-yard speed option TD, in the direction of Dowell and DE Gabe Sherrod, cutting the lead to 21-13.

Michigan State hadn’t anticipated speed option from Furman and hadn’t emphasized speed option defense in game preparation. Furman didn’t show its speed option package until after halftime, giving Michigan State even less time to adapt to it. Dowell and Sherrod happened to be the guys in the area when Furman sprang the speed option on Michigan State during the Paladins' lone touchdown drive.

“On the option, backs were diving into the box,” Dantonio said. “They (Furman) created a different gap a little bit, things with a young player that you've got to get straightened out from a coaching perspective, as well. Things that can be alleviated, things that can be fixed.”

+ Dowell showed good speed in an explosive tackle on RB Darius Morehead after a gain of 6 on an inside isolation play.

- Dowell allowed the No. 3 receiver to get inside of him for a gain of 11 to the 3-yard line on a third-and-six curl.

- Dowell was caught “breaking down” to “catch” a tackle rather than going full-tilt through the tackle, as Tressel wants it, allowing hidden yardage on a 3-yard run through his gap. This came after DT Kevin Williams did a good job against a double-team to free up Dowell to make the stop in the hole. It could have been stopped for little or no gain by Dowell.

+ Showed improvement on speed option to his side, pursuing the alley to hold it to a gain of 3. This was one play after Furman’s trick double-pass.

++! Dowell turned in the play of the night with the game-changing interception with 11:44 to play. Caught in a classic run-pass conflict, Dowell stayed inside for a moment to play his run gap assignment, and then when the QB showed pass, Dowell made three or four fast steps out to the slot area, covering ground with terrific quickness and knowledge in getting into position to have a chance to lay out for the one-handed interception. That was text book coverage of a difficult run-pass option play. The play on the ball was beautiful. But the knowledge, timing and quickness Dowell showed to make the play were exquisite.

“He played with a lot of effort and I think he was involved in a lot of tackles, a lot of production,” Dantonio said of Dowell. “I thought he played very, very well.

“And Chris Frey, same thing, more experienced, played very well.”

Frey performed well in his first start, and will provide zip in an expanded reserve role at two positions.

Davis will likely be a reserve of sorts, too, and potentially an immediate play-maker in pass rush situations.

Dowell, who has been praised by teammates and coaches for his work ethic and commitment, will likely show rapid improvement at ‘star' linebacker.

Now, Reschke will return to the lineup, likely as a better version of last year’s honorable mention All-Big Ten model.

They will revolve around Bullough, one of the best middle linebackers in the country.

The five-man linebacking corps appears ready to become a force. How much Davis contributes to it in South Bend will remain to be seen.

DotComp: Get Your Grump On
Jim Comparoni | Editor



EAST LANSING - Grumpy, spoiled Spartan fans didn’t like this football game.

Michigan State didn’t win by enough, wasn't smooth enough, against a mediocre FCS opponent, Furman.

Most of the grumpy, spoiled Spartan fans - which is a new species of Michigan State supporter, spawned by Dantonio-era mutations - stayed until the end of the game, made noise in the stands, and generally got their money’s worth for the ticket they purchased.

But they didn’t want their money’s worth. They didn’t want a good, competitive game. They wanted a good performance from their Spartans, which would have produced a four- or five-touchdown margin of victory. And you can’t blame them for their distaste.

Don’t you hate it when grumpy, spoiled people are right?

We’ve waited eight months for the defending Big Ten Champion Spartans to begin to show that the off-season of disrespect they have endured has been inaccurate, ignorant, and unjust.

Instead, the Spartans didn’t play up to their No. 12 ranking.

So, after eight months of nothing to do but talk about college football, we are left with 14 days to talk some more about the things that didn’t go perfectly for Michigan State on this opening night before 74,516 on a clear, perfect evening for football that carried a hint of fall.

That’s why we love college football so much. There are so few games, and so much riding on them, that we end up doing nothing but talking and obsessing about what might happen next to the point that we all end up hating each other.

And that’s usually when the Spartans go back to work and improve under the cloak of apparent mediocrity.

This program performs best when mixed with early-season anxieties and dismissive critics.

And this 28-13 victory against Furman comes chock full of little morsels of mediocrity.

But first the positives:

1. Mark Dantonio.

The shot of him in his new glasses, arms folded, shaking his head slowly, disapprovingly, after a Brandon Clemons false start in the third quarter was iconic Dantonio. It was like John Wooden holding the rolled-up program, or Frank Leahysmiling in a fedora, or Woody Hayes straining in snow flurries while wearing Burger King-style short sleeves and tie. It was grand.

Michigan State finished with 10 penalties for 120 yards. The penalties killed Spartan drives, and fueled Furman drives. The drive-killers nearly drove Dantonio to kill.

But he’s too cool for that. He didn’t yell, didn’t rant, didn’t take anyone out back behind Beaumont Tower and put a bullet in anyone’s head.

He folded his arms, and shook his head disapprovingly, like a father looking at his son’s bad report card.





The penalties were angering Spartan fans. But when those watching the BTN telecast saw that shot of Dantonio, arms folded, shaking his head in calm, measured disappointment, they knew this little issue was in good hands.

I don’t know if this team is going to end up being all that great. But Dantonio is pretty great. And if this team can be great, he’s going to wring it out of them. Isn’t that what we’ve learned about him? And isn’t that why we have all these grumpy, spoiled Spartan fans, now?

2. I liked part of Tyler O’Connor’s night. He was terrific when throwing on the move, whether on nakeds or waggles, or snaggles or fake-eds.

Actually, there’s no such thing as a snaggle or a fake-ed. But offensive playbooks are expanding so rapidly that we need to reserve words for future terminology. And Furman gave MSU a dose of new football on this night. More on that later.

As for the waggles and nakeds, O’Connor has the tools to bother defenses with his mobility, his arm, and the accuracy of that arm when moving the pocket.

He also showed great touch on out routes and fades to the corner when throwing from the hash to the wide side of the field. Opponents are going to have to defend the entire width of the field, because he can stretch you that way and drop it in the bucket, with his touch, and also his ability to throw on the run.

I like what I heard from his teammates about the leadership he showed on the sidelines when this game became a bit uncomfortable.

On the negative side, he held the ball a beat too long on a couple of occasions, especially when throwing from the pocket and making intermediate reads over the middle.

However, idiots like myself might have misread those missed reads. For instance, in SpartanMag's post-game V-Cast with our Associate Editor Paul Konyndyk, I mistakenly criticized O’Connor for holding the ball too long and staring down an outside receiver to his left when tight end Josiah Price was open for a check down over the middle.

This happened on MSU’s second drive of the game. O’Connor held the ball, scampered out of the pocket while continuing to read the left sideline. He fumbled as he reached the boundary, but the ball bounced safely, luckily out of bounds.

I gently criticized O’Connor for locking in on a receiver. That’s after seeing the play once live, and then a replay in the press box. Then, an hour after the game, Paul and I try to act like we know what we’re talking about. And I usually THINK I know what I’m talking about during those V-Casts. And most of it I think is somewhat credible. And since this is merely football, and not something important like local millage analysis, no one gets hurt if I err a little bit - except maybe the immediate families of the coaches and players. Come to think of it, those people are real human beings, so maybe I should be more careful. But we’re on deadline, you know?

So anyway, after watching a replay of that play, I noticed that running back L.J. Scottjust kind of drifted out on a pass route and coasted into space. He didn’t make a cut, didn’t turn to make himself available for a pass. He just drifted.

O’Connor seemed to be locking in on Scott, waiting for him to run the route the quarterback expected from him.

That would explain O’Connor waiting and waiting and staring down a receiver. Scott was the receiver.

I thought O'Connor was looking farther downfield. But when I watched it again, I noticed that he was looking at Scott. He was trying to hit his check-down. But his check-down didn’t sufficiently check with the guy who had the ball (O’Connor).

O’Connor had a word with Scott after the play.

After seeing a play like that, this post-game quote from O’Connor began to make more sense to me: “I think the biggest thing is getting comfortable with everybody around me,” O’Connor said. “I think there were some jitters across the offense. We have to get on the same page across all scenarios.

“We need to get a feel for how we are going to attack Notre Dame. That is 15 days away, so we have a lot of time for us to figure all of that out. I just really need to get comfortable with everyone - the offensive line and the running backs and the wide receivers.”

The offensive line? There were times when O’Connor didn’t quite trust the pass protection and didn’t hang in the pocket long enough. Just once or twice, but enough to notice.

The receivers? Remember when O’Connor threw deep to Monty Madaris on a post, durin MSU's second possession? He threw it kind of flat, and patted the ball a little too long before attempting it. He telegraphed it, which allowed the back-side safety time to come over and knock it away.

After the incompletion, Madaris pointed to the sky, indicating that he felt he could have made a play on the ball if O’Connor had sailed it higher and deeper. That’s part of the comfort level needed between quarterback, receiver and the moment on the big stage.

Madaris and O’Connor are a pair of fifth-year seniors who came to Michigan State as part of the same recruiting class, from the same state (Ohio), and played on the scout team together.

They served as second- and third-stringers behind guys who are now in the NFL.

And now O’Connor and Madaris have a chance to show that they aren’t merely functional college football players, but can star at this level for a Top 10 team.

On Friday night, Madaris certainly had that look about him. And O’Connor had some good moments, with enough high-end plays to suggest that his ceiling of potential is pretty strong for his senior season.

But even these guys, who have worked together for so long, weren't entirely on the same page, all night.

O’Connor and Scott are going to be on the field a lot together this season. They were a little too awkward with one other in this game.

Example: On the play after Andrew Dowell’s terrific interception. MSU attempted to spring Scott down the right sideline as a receiver. He became wide open, on a wheel route of sorts. But O'Connor's pass missed badly. I'm not sure if O'Connor threw it wrong, threw inaccurately, or if Scott failed to open up to the ball correctlly and run his steps right.

That play should have went for 15 or more yards and served as a big momentum boost after the interception. Instead, the pass fell incomplete, and the grumpy Spartan fans groaned about the missed opportunity.

The play call and play design were sublime. But the quarterback and receiver weren’t on the same page.

Michigan State has had some sluggish season-openers during the Dantonio era. But I’m kind of surprised that there would be these basic route-and-throw miscommunications after 15 spring practices, and an August of camp.

I assume these are among the more correctable issues that the Spartans will be tackling for the next couple of weeks.

As for other positives:

3. Spartan fans. Even the grumpy ones. They showed up, filled seats on the first day of a holiday weekend that never used to be about college football.

4. R.J. Shelton looked good as a punt returner. But he got a little dinged up and had to come out of the game. Dantonio said it was a minor injury and he’ll be fine. I took to that to mean that he will be back for the Notre Dame game.

And I like Shelton as a punt returner. But can MSU afford to put him in harm’s way on special teams? I think so. MSU needs the open-field threat in the punt return game, something the Spartans haven’t had since 2013 when Macgarrett Kings was a sophomore.

5. The fullbacks. Prescott Line was a hammerhead basher as a lead blocker. And he had a carry on second-and-one on a FB dive on the opening drive of the night. That guy looks like a veteran of the program.

Delton Williams is second-string fullback. And he’s got something to offer, too.

Most of us have been writing about him as a potential mismatch player as a fullback (an idea that really doesn’t apply to today’s football. Back in the old days of two-back offenses, a team could isolate a fast fullback on a big, unsuspecting Sam linebacker for a downfield pass play, once or twice a month).

(But big Sam linebackers don’t exist anymore. They became extinct when defenses had to start chasing these spread offenses around the field. So the idea of a mismatch fullback doesn’t quite exist anymore because all three linebackers are faster than they used to be. In fact, fullbacks don’t exist much anymore - although Michigan State still keeps one or two in captivity, kind of like zoo animals, so that local school children can come to the football building on field trips to make sketches of them.

Aside from those educational outreach programs, the fullbacks in East Lansing still find function as blockers in old style run plays invented in the 1800s at the end of the industrial revolution. Many of those plays still work today, partly because defenses no longer carry antibiotics to combat this particular strain of football. That’s partly why Stanford keeps ending up in the Rose Bowl, like an annual flu virus.

Anyway, Delton Williams accepts his new role as a fullback, and seems to like it. He’s not quite big enough to be a thumping fullback, but they say he is willing.

What I like about Williams is how fast he gets out to his targets and landmarks as a blocker. This has the potential to be truly revolutionary.

There was a play in the first half when tailback Madre London carried to the left on an outside zone play. Left guard Benny McGowan performed a front-side pull and blocked the play-side linebacker.

Williams, at fullback, had a free release out to the play-side cornerback. Williams sprinted out to the cornerback faster than any fullback I can remember. He didn’t destroy the cornerback, but he got out on him so quickly that it knocked the cornerback off-kilter and out of the picture.

London was brought down by a desperate ankle tackle from the middle linebacker. If the middle linebacker doesn’t make that shoe-string tackle, London probably would have went 49 yards for a touchdown and I’d be praising that block by Williams - not because he thumped the cornerback, but because he stalked him with uncommon speed for the blocking back position.

That play only went for a gain of two, but the speed of Williams at fullback is something that play-design Picaso Jim Bollman can make use of in his 19th-century run game art studio.

6. There were no dropped passes.

7. O’Connor dialed in on the tight ends in the red zone. Good choices.

8. Malik McDowell was occasionally dominant.

9. Byron Bullough came off the bench for a big stop on third down. A few plays earlier,Riley Bullough, Chris Frey and defensive tackles had trouble reading, diagnosing and fitting some of the surprise looks they were getting from Furman.

Byron came in and made an aggressive, smart stick, presumably while Riley was getting some instruction form his cornermen.

10. Darian Hicks got picked on, and picked on, and picked on, and was called for a pair of pass interference penalties … but did he give up any receptions? Not that I can think of.

As for the pass interference penalties, his hip-turn, feet and burst put him in position to make those plays, but he didn’t seem to trust himself enough to turn and look in time.

The cornerbacks aren’t supposed to turn and look until and unless that have caught up, hip-to-hip, with the receiver. So he might not have been entirely wrong in failing to turn and look.

On one of those pass interference penalties, the pass was under-thrown. If the ball had been thrown accurately, he would have been in position to rake the ball out as the receiver’s hands lit up, although that’s not an ideal situation for a cornerback.

There seems to be a bit of a panic and lack of confidence with Hicks in how he plays these receivers. He needs to get over that and realize that his feet and hips are pretty good. This won’t be the last opponent that tests him and tests him and tests him.

But, correct me if I’m wrong, he passed those tests on this night. And he went against some fairly decent receivers.

The pass interference penalties were costly, but even the great Pat Narduzzi used to say that he would like the cornerbacks to get a pass interference play once in a while, because that indicates a combative level of play. Well, Hicks provided those on this night. And Hicks used to be a Narduzzi guy, back in 2013 when Hicks saw regular time in the nickel defense for Narduzzi as a true freshman.

Meanwhile, count Hicks among those who needs to show marked improvement between game one and game two. We’ve been saying that about Hicks for three or four years. Injuries have been an issue in the past. But he’s healthy now, and he’s going to get tested at Notre Dame like crazy.

11. Dowell’s interception. He had some unsure moments at other times in the game. But the interception was a special play, right when MSU needed it most.

12. Demetrious Cox. He was outstanding at safety. His pursuit angles were correct, and he carried them out with speed and force. In pass defense, he helped tighten up MSU’s red zone defense with his ability to play press coverage on slot receivers. MSU saves its across-the-board press coverage for when the field shrinks. And when it does, Cox is a trump card extraordinaire as a third corner. His pass break-up against their top receiver,Andrej Suttles, in the third quarter was badness.

Cox is becoming an eraser, against the run and the pass. He’s going to have a big season.

13. Punter Jake Hartbarger was a weapon.

14. The one or two times I focused in on right tackle Miguel Machado, he was moving and smashing like a mother jumper. I think he’s got it now. But I need to watch it again.

15. How cool is Benny McGowan? He’s a senior and he doesn’t mind being the sixth man of the offensive line. He spent the first series on the bench, played right guard (in for Clemons) on the second series, played center (in for Kodi Kieler) on the third series, and played left guard (in for Brian Allen) on the fourth series.

So, four possessions into the game, all four of those guys had played equally. McGowan’s versatility makes him an asset that should serve all four players, and all three positions, all year.

16. L.J. Scott’s decisiveness as a runner was good. His make-you-miss ability seems to have improved, possibly due to losing 10 or 12 pounds.



L.J. Scott was tough, quick, decisive.

As for the negatives:

1. O’Connor forced a pass intended for Felton Davis, into double- or triple-coverage on one occasion. But I was left wondering whether Davis might have taken his route too far downfield. Still, O’Connor had other check down options that I suspect he will wish he had gone to when he watches it on film.

2. In the final episode of BTN’s “Green and White Days,” Dantonio told the players after the final scrimmage of August camp that there were too many penalties on that day, and there were too many passes thrown down the middle of the field, dangerously.

And then in this game against Furman there were … too many penalties and one or two too many passes thrown dangerously down the middle of the field.

Obviously, that stuff needs to get cleaned up if MSU wants to make a run at a sixth 11-win season in seven years.

3. The d-line didn’t provide a pass rush. I’ll need to watch again and zero in on what was happening up front. It’s not like Furman’s QB was operating a quick-release passing game that didn’t give d-linemen a chance to get home. Their QB was throwing from the pocket and didn’t get affected nearly enough.

4. There were some gap assignment errors on some of those gainers that Furman enjoyed on inside run plays.

For instance, Furman gained 11 yards on the first play of their second possession when McDowell vacated his weak-side A-gap. He saw the blocking back and the ball carrier headed toward the B-gap. McDowell vacated his assignment and tried to jump a gap and head off the ball carrier.

The problem for McDowell and MSU is that the Furman RB detected the daylight at McDowell’s unmanned gap, cut in that direction and ran through the unmanned gap and sprinted north for a gain of 11.

That will be an easy film room correction. And the next time you hear Dantonio or Spartans talk about the occasional run game problems against Furman, they’ll say that players need to do their job and trust that their teammates will do theirs. It’s a cliché, but that phraseology is layman’s terms for the need to be gap sound.

5. The penalties and turnovers, obviously.

6. Michael Geiger missed a field goal. He ranked 14th in the Big Ten in field goal accuracy last year. He was 1-of-2 on this night. That’s not a good start.

One final takeaway:

Players spend hours and hours and hours and hours watching opponent game film in order to get prepared for what they’ll see on game day. If they really, really, really watch film and get to know the tendencies, it gives them the half-step edge they need to try to make plays, limit gains and prevent the chains from moving.

So what would happen if defensive players didn’t watch film?

The answer? You saw it on Friday night.

Michigan State’s players watched a lot of film. But the film they watched wasn’t the same outfit that they played against. Furman changed most of its offense for this game.

An offense can’t change all that much DURING a season. Teams spend all spring and August putting in an offense and working to become proficient at it. An offense can’t burn time on TOO MANY plays and packages and formations. An offense has to choose its material and attempt to master it. A team can add packages and plays to its base offense as a season progresses. But a team can't overhaul its offense at midseason the way Furman did this off-season.

For the rest of the year, Furman’s opponents will have this film of its game against MSU. Furman will no longer be able to surprise opponents.

But Furman surprised MSU. Much of what MSU saw on film and practiced against turned out to be a waste of time.

“We weren’t expecting, to be honest, any of that stuff that they threw at us,” Riley Bullough said.

Furman put in the new offense during spring practice and August camp.

“They changed their plan from last year,” Dantonio said. “They had a fullback-oriented team (last year). They ran some three wide receiver sets, but it was a different type of offense, completely from what they did this year. Pistol, dive, the run pass-options, RPO's, the option itself in the second half.”

They didn’t show the speed option stuff until after halftime, in order to limit MSU’s ability to meet and talk about it.

In the manly art of tackle football, the first 60 minutes of surprise-element offense are the best. Furman coach Bruce Fowler’s tactics were straight out of Sun Tzu’s Art of War for Football, if such book were ever published.

Fowler determined when and where he would implement his art of deception. Those are Tsu’s teachings to a T.

As a result, Fowler’s college of 2,000 students nearly repelled Dantonio’s college of 40,000.

And somehow we all went home unsatisfied.

We probably should have stood and applauded. That’s one difference between football and opera. At opera, we don’t care who loses or looks ugly.

The disapproving man with the folded arms and new glasses warned us something like this was possible. Dantonio told us that when a venerable coach such as Fowler (who used to be d-coordinator at Vanderbilt) has been head coach at a place for six years, there’s reason for caution. Dantonio figured Fowler would have a sharp plan.

“They hung around,” Dantonio said of Furman. “And they hung around because they played well, not because of a fluke.”

MSU has 25 more scholarship players than Furman, and much more recruiting pull. But Furman found equalizers, first with the surprise offense. Michigan State was a willing stooge, with its penalties and a pair of turnovers.

In the end, Michigan State scored twice as many points.

Could Michigan State have spent spring practice and August camp devising surprises for Furman. Yes. But there are only so many practices, only so much meeting time. A team can’t have EVERYTHING in its playbook. A team must pick and choose its battles and mind its resources.

Michigan State’s mode of operation on offense and defense has been very successful in the past nine years. There is no need for overhauls and facelifts at Michigan State. But there are annual tweaks and improvements. Michigan State won’t begin to show some of them, until 14 days from now, at Notre Dame.

“You are never going to show everything the first game I guess, but you better be ready for the second game,” Dantonio said. “We need to be able to get better. Hopefully the second game usually you are little bit more loose, a little bit more experienced but again a great challenge awaits us in South Bend but we've got time.”

The 3, 2, 1 on MSU Football
Jim Comparoni | Editor



EAST LANSING | Three things we learned during this week’s press briefing, two questions, and one prediction:

THREE THINGS WE LEARNED:

1. Saturday’s game against Furman, according to Mark Dantonio, marked the first time a Dantonio-coached team had prevented an opponent from having a running play of more than 15 yards and a pass play of more than 20 yards.

This has been an item on Dantonio’s team’s goal chart, at Michigan State and the University of Cincinnati, for 13 years. But Saturday’s 28-13 victory over Furman in the season opener represented the first time his team achieved it.

“Defensively, I thought we played solid against the run,” Dantonio said. “But we have 60 yards worth of penalties, that gives them first downs on a number of occasions, keeps drives alive.”

* Furman’s longest run from scrimmage was a 14-yard burst on an H-wham trap, on the second play of the Paladins’ third possession. The trap action drew an unsuspecting Malik McDowell upfield and into the backfield, and then clubbed him upside the head with a de-cleating block by the H-back, who was cruising parallel to the line of scrimmage, waiting for the aggressive McDowell to bite upfield.

“It was an influence trap,” Dantonio said.

It influenced him, all right. McDowell was so angry about getting de-cleated that he made like Jefferson, from “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” He ransacked the center on the next play, and chased down the tailback for a 6-yard loss.

Furman tried the H-back wham trap on McDowell again on a third-and-four in the third quarter, with McDowell playing d-end in the nickel defense. But it didn't have quite the same effect. Montae Nicholson and Vayante Copeland were playing closer to the box on that play as part of a sudden switch to a cover-one. They wrapped up the running back with a stiff, immediate sure tackle after a gain of 2.

That was the only play all night in which SpartanMag detected MSU playing cover-one (single safety deep, man-to-man underneath).

Furman tried to wham-trap Raequan Williams a couple of times as well, but never managed to bait him upfield like they did that one time with McDowell.

* Furman had a pair of pass plays go for 16-yard gainers, including a double-pass trick play.

Furman’s quarterback was 15 of 30 for 123 yards on the night. That’s an average of just 4.1 yards per pass attempt. That figure would lead the nation in yards allowed per pass attempt every year, if a defense could maintain it over 12 games.

Michigan State’s “No Fly Zone” pass defense of 2013 led the Big Ten in yards allowed per pass attempt at 5.2.

Michigan State tackled well in the secondary against Furman. Demetrious Cox led the Spartan defensive backs in tackles with seven.

A Williams late hit personal foul turned a fourth-and-seven situation for Furman into a first-and-10 at the Spartan 42-yard line on Furman’s opening drive of the second half.

That was Michigan State’s most costly defensive penalty of the night and played a role in the Spartans possessing the ball for only six snaps in the third quarter.

Michigan State was penalized for 120 yards on the night.

“That's a lot of yards, especially at inopportune times for us, and really told the story of the game,” Dantonio said. “The penalties and the turnovers really makes the game a little closer than maybe we wanted it.”




* Furman looked to go deep on at least three occasions. Cornerback Darian Hicks broke up one, on a deep post. He was flagged for pass interference on another.

And Cox was flagged for holding on a deep pass ploy behind max protection. Cox’s hold in the secondary led to a Chris Frey coverage sack, which was overturned by the flag.

2. Darian Hicks “graded out a winner” in Michigan State’s internal grading system.

This might come as a surprise to cynical Spartan fans, who saw Furman target the Michigan State senior cornerback six times when he was in press zone quarters coverage.

But the stat sheet shows that those passes resulted in four incompletions and two pass interference penalties.

Furman completed one pass in Hicks’ area. That came vs. cover-three zone, which required a deep drop by Hicks and a soft cushion, behind a Spartan blitz. That completion wasn’t a negative against Hicks. He was playing the assigned structure for that play.

Hicks showed a quick hip turn and pretty good burst in sticking with Furman’s All-Southland Conference WR Andrej Suttles, when in press/quarters, which becomes man-to-man on deep vertical routes and some post routes.

Hicks’ feet put him in position to defend the deep passes and red zone fades, however Hicks seemed to panic a bit and resort to hand battles a little too early, rather than feeling comfortable and confident about locating the ball.

Furman saw Hicks struggle on film at times last year, including the Big Ten Championship Game against Iowa.

“Yeah, I think they did go after him a little bit,” Dantonio said. “I thought he played very well. I thought he covered. Numerous pass breakups.

“Two very questionable interference calls; I'm not saying they're right, I'm not saying they're wrong. They're close. They're bang-bang calls. And he's playing the ball as best as you can play it.

“This is a game of inches, in so many respects. I've said that over the years and you see it every single weekend. I think that was one of the times, incidents, that we're talking about.”

Hicks recognized that Furman was targeting him midway through the game, and waved his hands in excitement to embrace the challenge.

Michigan State is looking for Hicks to have a strong season, after battling through three ailments a year ago, and losing his starting job as a true sophomore in 2014.

“I thought he played well, and he's going to have that every week, with our corners, the way we play,” Dantonio said.

3. Michigan State will use the bye week to continue to evaluate its true freshmen.

Michigan State played two true freshmen on Friday - WR Donnie Corley and DT Mike Panasiuk.

Other d-linemen, including defensive ends Josh King and Auston Robertson, have been considered for rookie playing time. But Dantonio wants to wait and watch those players a bit more, and other freshmen, before burning their redshirts.

“This week is an advantage, when you look at our young players and trying to get them extra reps and seeing if we can bring them forward, bring them along,” Dantonio said. “I think we want to see where the young players are.

“We have an outstanding group of freshmen. But I don't want to just play them and put them on the field and take away the redshirt. I want to legitimatize if we do redshirt.”

Phantom injuries are a means of preserving redshirt status for freshmen who see game action in two or three games prior to the midway point of the season.

“I don't want to say he got hurt and he didn't really get hurt,” Dantonio said.

“Their time is coming,” Dantonio sadder. “We’ll play the freshmen when they're ready to play. This will be a big week for them. We'll have an opportunity to look at them more fully.

“Players need to be functional. And functionality is relative to who else is in your program, too.”

Dantonio cited Michigan State’s depth at cornerback, where the Spartans have Copeland, Hicks and Tyson Smith - each of whom played against Furman. The Spartans also have David Dowell, Kaleel Gaines and Josh Butler in the three-deep at cornerback. This means true freshman Austin Andrews isn’t likely to burn a redshirt, although he might have had a chance to play early at a program with a weaker foundation.

“Austin, who is going to be a very, very good player for us, he's redshirted,” Dantonio said. “Same with probably maybe D.J. Vance. Kenney Lyke, maybe not so much. But those are just examples. If you're deep in a certain position and you have people that are functional that play, such as maybe a corner, (a redshirt is more likely).

“Other opportunities would be for players if there is not as much depth at that position. But we have a good football team. We have a foundation of players that are as deep as maybe we've ever been. So putting together the 70-player travel team is going to get very, very tight in terms of who goes and who doesn't go. We've not had a lot of a transition. As of late we've had a couple of guys leaving. They're leaving as a result of the situation itself. Let's just be straight up.”

He was most likely talking about defensive tackles Enoch Smith and Cassius Peat, who announced plans to transfer during August camp. Neither was likely to crack the three-deep, get into the playing group or travel this fall.

“We want to play (freshmen) and get them reps if they're going to continue to play throughout the season,” Dantonio said. “We have a couple of guys that that may be the case.

“We didn't want to play those guys (King, Robertson and DT Naquan Jones) without fully playing them a lot of plays.

“On our defensive line, I thought (graduate senior) Kevin Williams did I a nice job. ObviouslyMalik McDowell played extraordinarily well, great effort. Big guy, rushing the passer, doing all the things that you wanted him to do. But the biggest thing was I thought he played with a lot of effort, and he was our defensive MVP, and had a lot of production, as well. So that was a positive.”

They’ll make use of the bye week, but Dantonio isn’t thrilled about having a bye this early in the season.

“I would rather have it some time in October,” Dantonio said on Sirius Satellite radio last week.

On Tuesday, he grumbled a bit more.

“I think we're the only team in America that plays as a bye the second week of the season, and then plays a Power 5 team that next week,” Dantonio said. “So there's not a lot to compare to that. But we use it as a positive. We'll get some guys healthy. Secondly, our players are really in school for the first time this week. Last week was a chopped up week. So they can get themselves grounded in that respect.

“Third, we can get out and recruit a little bit on the weekend. So that's a positive.

“Fourth thing we have to do is maintain our game conditioning. I thought we were in condition in the game. We have to maintain our game conditioning aspect. So we've got to work this week hard. And there's always risk a little bit with that. We don't go live or anything like that, but you have to work your players as if you had a game from the conditioning standpoint. We're going to work hard doing that throughout the week.

“And it also gives us an opportunity obviously to get ahead a little bit from a film and schematic standpoint on Notre Dame, things tend to change week-to-week with programs and who you play. But it does give us a chance to watch their personnel, what they've done thus far and what they've done last year.”

TWO QUESTIONS:

1. Is Michigan State going to be lacking in the pass rush department this year?

Without Shilique Calhoun, the Spartans have questions in that area for 2016.

Against Furman, the Spartans didn’t put much pressure on Paladins quarterback P.J. Blazejowski.

Michigan State sacked Blazejowski only once, although Dantonio says the stat sheet should officially show two.

Evan Jones was credited with the sack.

Demetrius Cooper was credited with a TFL in the second half, but it wasn’t recorded as a sack because the QB initially fumbled the snap. Dantonio isn’t buying that. He says the QB recovered and looked to pass downfield.

Either way, MSU had trouble getting sustained pressure on Blazejowski.

Furman employed maximum protection on a high percentage of his pocket pass attempts (meaning they kept two or three extra players in to help the five-man offensive line in pass protection).

Furman also caused MSU to play a beat slower than the Spartans might otherwise play, as the Spartans paused to try to make reads on Furman’s revamped, previously unseen offense.

Still, Dantonio would have liked to have seen more horsepower on the pass rush.

“What we have to do is transition better from run to pass, when there is run action and then it's a pass,” Dantonio said. “We've got to be able to transition more.

“We needed to come up with more sacks. We had two. But we need to sack the quarterback more often than that. Good plan by them, keeping us off base. Plus the run-pass options.”

As for Cooper, he looked pretty quick at times. He had five sacks last year as a reserve sophomore. He has the goods to exceed a half dozen this year and maybe pursue Calhoun’s mark of 10.5 from a year ago.

McDowell was credited with one QB hit. He often moved to d-end in the nickel defense. He also played one series of pure defensive end early in the second quarter. But Furman kept it on the ground for gains of 7, 8, 6 and 3 yards, up the middle, when McDowell moved to the outside.

McDowell also flushed the QB out of the pocket on a third-and-eight with 2:40 left in the game as part of the nickel defense. Linebacker Chris Frey chased down the scrambling QB after a gain of 3.




Grad transfer Gabe Sherrod showed some promise in the pass rush department. He showed speed, quickness and good hands, which should serve him well through the course of the season.

On a third-and-16 late in the first quarter, Sherrod was a little late with his take-off, but then used his hands well to defeat the left tackle, and disengage. He was converging on the QB and would have gotten there for a QB hurry if the QB hadn’t grounded it before he arrived.

Later, on a first-and-10 play with MSU leading 14-0, Sherrod replaced Cooper at field DE and looked like a field DE. He took on the double-team of an H-back and a running back, and met them with quick feet, violent hands and some shock when he engaged. He proved worthy of a double-team on that play, as he was still coming, through the max protection, when the QB got rid of it.

Sherrod showed some horsepower.

We’re not here to say MSU’s pass rush is going to be great, or poor, in 2016. But keep the argument open. Table the answer for weeks to come.

2. Will Tyler O’Connor continue to have jitters?

Senior QB Tyler O’Connor acknowledged that there were some jitters throughout the offense at the outset of Friday’s game.

He felt he settled down after some hasty decisions early in the game.

“I thought offensively Tyler O'Conner probably a little nervous initially, but after that start, I thought he played pretty well,” Dantonio said. “Three touchdown passes. I think he threw the ball effectively, threw the ball with velocity, didn't hold back, and played aggressively.”

That begs the question as to whether jitters will follow him on occasions such as his trip to South Bend to take on the Irish later this month. None of us will know until the time comes.

O’Connor said he was surprised by how calm he was when he became the starter for last year’s upset at Ohio State, in a game of much greater magnitude and potential intimidation than last week’s season opener against Furman. But the idea of being THE man at QB this time might have altered his psychological approach a bit.

Dantonio wasn’t pleased with O’Connor’s fumble at the left sideline during MSU’s second possession. O’Connor allowed the ball to pop out of his hands after he was flushed from the pocket and was waiting for RB L.J. Scott to get to the left flat. Scott never went there, and O’Connor almost compounded Scott’s error with a bigger error of his own.

“Got to hold on to the football,” Dantonio said, Tuesday. “Can't have mistakes with the football in our hands at any point in the game and that's No. 1. The ball was on the ground too often.”




ONE PREDICTION:

1. Notre Dame is going to attack Darian Hicks.

That’s not a bold prediction, of course. The real question is whether the Irish will be able to cash in better than Furman.

The last time Michigan State played Notre Dame, the Irish went deep against Michigan State in 2013 more often than any Spartan opponent of the Dantonio era, with the possible exception of Western Michigan in 2013.

The Irish seemed to concede in 2013 that they weren’t going to be able to run the ball against MSU, and were unlikely to drive it, so they hoisted the ball deep and called upon officials to throw flags - which they did. Notre Dame rode several pass interference calls to victory that day.

Michigan State’s ground defense might not be as daunting right now as the Spartans’ 2013 unit, but MSU’s pass defense isn’t nearly as strong, either - with Hicks perceived by some (including Furman) as the apparent weak link.

So Hicks will get tested through the season - especially a week from Saturday in South Bend.

**

Other stuff from Tuesday’s press conference that you probably already know:

* Mark Dantonio said defensive line coach Ron Burton is back with the coaching staff, coaching in practice after missing the Furman game due to “an emergency procedure.”

Dantonio gave no further details on the procedure, which took place Friday morning.

“He's doing well and he's back with us and everything,” Dantionio said. “Sort of an emergency surgery.”

Mark Snyder took over as defensive line coach on Friday night, in addition to his regular duty as linebackers coach. This called for Snyder to come out of the box and coach from the field level.

“He's a long time defensive line coach, as well,” Dantonio said. “I don't think there's any question that affects your staff and affects how you do things.”

* Ed Davis is still awaiting word from the NCAA on his petition for a sixth year of eligibility.

“I would expect to hear something this week,” Dantonio said. “So I would expect that there would be a positive outcome. But, hey, you never know. That's all I can basically say about that. And in the meantime he is able to practice and is going to school and those type of things.”

DANTONIO UNPLUGGED:

* “Andrew Dowell I think had the play of the game on his pick. He flipped it (momentum) the other way immediately. Great pick, big play in the game. Great effort.”

But Dowell was influenced out of position a few times by Furman’s surprise formations and plays.

“Got to know where to go sometimes,” Dantonio said. “And that's coaching and that's also experience because the game changes and you have to adapt. You have to adapt to things you haven't been coached on throughout the week, because they show something different. That's a big part of it.

“But I thought he played very, very well. He played with a lot of effort and I think he was involved in a lot of tackles, a lot of production.

“And Chris Frey, same thing, more experienced, played very well.

“Byron (Bullough) came in there. Byron two big plays, one down at the goal line and one on the third-and-one. It's good to see him as I younger player to get involved in that capacity. He played well.”

* “I thought Prescott Line played very, very well in the game. He's a football player. And (Delton) Williams was playing. We're deep in the fullback position. That will be a positive. That will be useful in the future here. And I could see using him (Williams) as the tailback.”

* “LJ Scott I thought he had a great football game.”

“I think that most pleased with how we ran the ball and continued to recollect ourselves on both sides of the ball when things didn't go quite well. We just sort of maintain a workmanlike approach to it.”

* “I thought our sideline needed to be a little bit more emotional than maybe it was.”

Offensive Notebook: Warner provides the latest
Jim Comparoni | Editor



EAST LANSING | Spartan fans are less than two days away from the opener of the 2016 football season, and the debut of a new-look offensive backfield.

When No. 12-ranked Michigan State plays host to Furman on Friday (7:04 p.m., BTN), the Spartans will trot out a new starting quarterback, two new options at fullback, and the expectation of new-and-improved talent at tailback.

Senior Tyler O’Connor has been a lightning rod for attention and anticipation, heading into the season. The tri-captain started last year’s monumental victory at Ohio State, but this is the first time he has handled first-string duties for the long term.

Many are expecting a blowout of Furman, and the likelihood of back-ups Damion Terry andBrian Lewerke getting some time at quarterback.

But coaches indicate that there are no plans to schedule early-game work for Terry or Lewerke.

“I think he (O’Connor) is our guy and we’re going to go with him,” co-offensive coordinatorDave Warner said on Wednesday at the Skandalaris Center. “Like every position, you’d like to give other guys the opportunity, but at the quarterback position, he’s going to be in there for the long haul until we feel like we can get somebody else in.”

“He's had a great camp,” head coach Mark Dantonio said of O’Connor on Tuesday. “Nobody's dislodged him. He's thrown the ball very effectively with knowing where to go with the ball and I think his arm strength is very, very good. He's got the ability to move and he understands our offense very, very well. Scale of one to 10, probably 10.

“I think everything is in order for him. My message to him is: Be yourself, understand there's going to be criticism. If you make a mistake, go at it 100 percent and bounce back from it.

“It's tough being a quarterback at any level, especially at this level in football, because you get a lot of criticism. Much of it, from people that don't understand the nuances of what he's going through.

“So he's got to roll with it a little bit, but he'll be fine. He's a competitor and he's prepared himself for this moment and he's got a great supporting cast around him.”


DON’T SLEEP ON LONDON
At tailback, coaches hoped and expected to have one of the three top backs from a year ago emerge as the feature back in time for the 2016 season. Now, it appears that those auditions will carry into the season, with none of the three having an upper hand on the others.

L.J. Scott (699 yards last year), Madre London (500) and Gerald Holmes (540) were all listed as sharing first-string status on the official depth chart that was released to media on Tuesday.

"It is unique,” Warner said. “It's probably more unique here than many places because there's so much talent. So we'll see how it works out come Friday night, but I think all those guys obviously will get their opportunities. I expect all three to play and perform very, very well, as they have done in the past.

“It’s just a natural deal for those guys to get better as their confidence grows, and I think that’s happened.”




Madre London started the first six games of 2015 for Michigan State.

Coaches still prefer to eventually settle on one feature back, with a second back getting a smaller percentage of carries.

London started last year’s opener against Western Michigan. He lost the starting job midway through the season after sustaining a knee injury against Rutgers.

London was back in the mix by the end of the year. He started the second half of the Big Ten Championship Game against Iowa, but Scott finished it, with the title-clinching TD run in the final minute.

Scott has been regarded as the favorite to win the job this year. But London has held firm in the competition.

“He has gained a little bit more speed and quickness, to a certain extent,” Warner said of London, who is close to 12 pounds lighter than in 2015. “It’s not anything he planned to do. It just sort of happened. But he has always been a guy that has great change-of-direction and elusiveness and I think that may have enhanced that also.”

TRANSFER OF TALENT
SMU transfer Prescott Line (6-0, 253, Sr., Oxford) has impressed during August camp at fullback.

Line had 774 career rushing yards at SMU, but saw his role diminish as the Mustangs adopted a spread offense. He wanted to come back to his home state for a chance to play in an offense that utilized a conventional fullback.

The graduation of three-year starter Trevon Pendleton provided an opportunity for Line. Line has prospered as hammerhead blocking back in August.

“He is a guy that really will shock you in our blocking scheme, iso blocking and power blocking and so forth,” Warner said. “He provides probably more shock than we’ve had at that position in a few years. So he’s able to move people. And he’s got some decent running ability too.

“So he’s a guy that we’re excited to see out there because he could give us a little more power than we’ve had at that position.”




Prescott Line brings size, physicality and some versatility to the fullback position.

Former tailback Delton Williams (6-1, 228, Sr., Erie, Pa.) is competing for time at fullback as well.

Williams and Line were listed as co-starters on Tuesday’s depth chart.

Williams has 610 career rushing yards at Michigan State, and moved to fullback in the spring.

“His running ability, his pass catching ability provides something for us,” Warner said. “We’ve had good fullbacks, but I think Delton maybe raises the bar a little bit there. So he’ll be able to do that.

“We’re anxious to find out how he’s going to be as a blocker. He has shown to be pretty good. But we’ll find out come game time.”


WARNER UNPLUGGED ...
* Warner and other Spartans have been high on WR Monty Madaris this week. The fifth-year senior is likely to make his first career start on Friday.

“He's ready for a breakout year,” Warner said. “We've had high expectations for him all along. He had a very good spring, and he's had a good camp. His problem in the past has just been staying healthy.

"He's been here in the program for a few years now and really knows all of our receiver positions, which really makes him more valuable. All of a sudden now, if someone needs a break or gets hurt or whatever, he can move to a different position and get the next-best guy on the field for us.”

* Madaris’ ability to play all three WR positions in the offense sets him apart from the other Spartan receivers in that regard.

"He's probably the best at it right now,” Warner said. “I will say this, all of those receivers can to some degree play more than one position, even our freshmen to a certain degree, which is impressive. That has not been the case around here. Most of the time, a guy that had to play right away usually stuck at one spot - Keshawn Martin, guys like that, they pretty much just played one position. These freshmen, they have the ability to jump around. We're trying to keep them at one spot right now to keep them coming along and learning."

* Warner on the offensive line: “I think we know who those six guys are and those six guys will all play.”

Those six are David Beedle, Brian Allen, Kodi Kieler, Brandon Clemons, Benny McGowan andMiguel Machado.

Clemons or McGowan are still competing at right guard. McGowan is comfortable with the idea of coming off the bench and potentially subbing in at any of the three interior positions.

Beedle, Clemons and Machado would be first-year starters. Clemons became a regular in the playing group in the last month of last season. Machado was in the playing group in the early part of the season.

“You’ve got some linemen stepping in there, obviously a new quarterback, so there are a lot of new guys that have waited their turn, paid the price and I think they’re anxious to get out there and show people what they’re capable of,” Warner said. “(On the offensive line) I think it’s a matter of finding out who the seventh guy is, who the eighth guy is to keep working guys in.”

* On Furman safety Trey Robinson (6-1, 212, Sr.), who was named preseason All-Southern Conference by the league’s coaches:

“He’s all over the field,” Warner said. “First and foremost, he is excellent against the run. He’s a big dude. He’ll come up and hit you. But he is very good in the pass game, for his size. He moves around well in the back end. So we’re going to have to know where he’s at.”

Robinson had 10 tackles in a 16-15 win over Central Florida last year.

Furman went 4-7 last year.

* On Furman’s style of play, defensively:

“They are very similar to us as far as a four-down scheme. They play a robber coverage similar to us. That’s what we’re expecting. We’ve been able to carry through with what we do against our own guys and formulate our game that way. So that’s been a benefit. But the first game, you never know for sure until you get out there and see exactly what they’re doing.”

Edit

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New captain O'Connor has learned from MSU's cradle of quarterbacks
Jim Comparoni | Editor



EAST LANSING | Tyler O’Connor, on Thursday, became the first Spartan quarterback to be named captain since Andrew Maxwell in 2012.

Connor Cook, who set every major passing record in school history as a three-year starter from 2013-15, was scrutinized last year for not being named captain, a negative distinction that some believe hurt his draft stock. O'Connor was asked if he is relieved that he will be free of that scrutiny.

“I kind of assumed I would get a question similar to that but I’m my own person," O'Connor said. "I’m out there to be a quarterback my special way and to lead my own way. How he chose to lead, I learned a lot from Connor. I learned a lot by how he led teams and how guys respond to him. I’ll take that and run with it for this year."

After being named officially the starting quarterback on Monday for next week’s season opener against Furman, O’Connor received messages of congratulations and encouragement from Maxwell, Cook, Kirk Cousins, Brian Hoyer and others.

“When I first got here, Kirk Cousins had just graduated and he was a three-time captain, and that (being a three-time captain) was my first goal,” O’Connor said. “Obviously that didn’t happen but I still took it upon myself to try to be a significant leader in this program, and finally getting a chance to play has a lot to do with it (being named captain), but joining the cradle of captains that they have here is phenomenal. They’re great on the field, they’re great off the field and they are faces that you put with each senior class, so it’s an honor.”

O’Connor served as Cook’s back-up in 2014 and ’15. He stepped in when Cook went down with a shoulder injury and helped lead, along with reserve QB Damion Terry, last year’s upset at Ohio State, fueling a run to the Big Ten Championship and a berth in the 2015 College Football Playoff.

O’Connor has tried to take steps toward becoming a leader, even while serving as a back-up for his first four years on campus.

“To me, it’s very important that a quarterback is a leader,” O’Connor said. “That’s something that I really have taken to heart, literally since January first, since the day after the Cotton Bowl. Now being the oldest guy in the room, and having the potential to be a starter, it was very important to me to be respected as a leader, on the field and off the field. It’s hard to lead from the back.”

Teammates recognized his strong personality, even before he won the starting job.

“Tyler O’Connor could be a wide receiver right now and because of his personality and leadership ability, he would still be a captain,” said senior safety Demetrious Cox, who was also named tri-captain on Thursday.

“I feel like he (O’Connor) was a shoo-in to be a captain,” said senior linebacker Riley Bullough, who was also named tri-captain. “I feel like a lot of people thought that, so it’s well-deserved. Tremendous leader, tremendous quarterback and awesome person.”

O’Connor played in six games last year, completed 13 of 24 passes for 133 yards.




Tyler O'Connor helped lead last year's upset at Ohio State with sound decision-making and occasional running ability.

The three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection was 7 of 12 for 89 yards and one touchdown in the victory over Ohio State in cold, rainy, windy conditions. He carried the ball eight times for 25 yards.

Coaches and teammates say he has settled in to becoming a dangerous, well-rounded quarterback.

“You just see his confidence grow, day-by-day, since the spring,” Bullough said of O’Connor. “Since he really kind of took over, he has done a great job. I’m sure a lot of people are eager to see how he is going to play for us next week against Furman and I think he’s going to shock some people and do a really great job. He’s an exciting player to watch.”

O’Connor competed with Cook and Maxwell for the starting job, early in the 2013 season. O’Connor was a freshman at the time. He went 9-of-14 for 90 yards in three games that year but fell short of the more experienced Cook and Maxwell.

Maxwell lost the starting job by October, but did so with grace. O’Connor noticed.

“I’ve learned a lot from both situations,” O’Connor said. “Maxwell had his time and everything like that, but he was all about the team. That was the greatest thing about him - whatever the team needed, whatever the team wanted, he was all about it.

“If that situation were to come about for me, I’d do the same exact thing because to me it’s always been about the team. This team and the program is 10 times bigger than any of us will ever be.”

In looking back at the victory at Ohio State, O’Connor said he was surprised how slow the game seemed for him. He made decisions with ease.

“I have very high confidence in myself, and our coaches do a great job of getting us in any random situation that we might get in,” O’Connor said. “I truthfully would put my knowledge of the game of football against any other quarterback in the country at this point. I haven’t played as much as anybody but I feel like I’ve been taught and I know as much x’s and o’s - defenses, blitzes, situational - as anybody else in the country. I’m not naive to think that there isn’t plenty more to learn, because you’re learning each and every day as a quarterback. Even Peyton Manning says he is learning each and every day. So I continue to learn every day, whether it’s going over the same concepts that we’ve had for four years.”

For his career, he is 34 of 54 (.630) for 374 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions in 14 games.

“I know this offense and I’ve been enough situations that the game should really be slow for me now,” O’Connor said. “And I have been able to get to that level, identifying blitzes and coverages before the snap, and understanding what the defense is giving me at pre-snap and not figuring it out necessarily as the play goes.

“The Ohio State game was very important to me and to Damion to have the respect and the confidence in our teammates, and that’s what pushed us that night. You can always look back at that night and realize that we went against something like seven draft picks that night, a fantastic defense statistically and athletically. But we had a mindset that night that we were going to do whatever we could to win, whether it was a pretty win or an ugly win, and do what we could as an offense to help us win.

“It gave us a great confidence boost, going against such a great team in such a tough atmosphere. It allows us to think back that anything is possible, regardless of the situation no matter who we’re playing.

“We’re such a team here that no matter who is under center and who is at wide out, we’re going to make things happen and have each other’s backs. We’re such a unit here, we’re such a family, that’s it’s never a one-person show and it’s always the next man up. Coach D creates such depth and puts young guys in such tough situations that makes those situations easier.”