Dantonio and Leach met with media in San Diego last evening.
My notebook:
Air Raid vs. No Fly Zone? Kind Of
Jim Comparoni • SpartanMag.com
@JimComparoni
Do the Spartans care to be in the Holiday Bowl? Will Michigan State be charged up to play against Washington State in the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 28?
Those questions were part of the tenor when Mark Dantonio and Mike Leach met with west coast media in San Diego on Wednesday during the first joint press conference between the two schools during the run-up to the Dec. 28 Holiday Bowl.
“We’ve been focused on the Holiday Bowl since we’ve been invited,” Dantonio said. “Our guys are very, very excited to come out here.
“We’ve got a lot of guys that have never been to the West Coast. To come out here, see this part of the country, we have a large alumni base in Southern California, out in Arizona, as well. We’ll represent that in great fashion. I think our guys are going to be excited.”
Dantonio was asked if takes awhile to get started when a team has been off for a month.
“No, our guys will be ready to play,” Dantonio said. “I think we’re focused on that. We had a tough year last year. Our thought process was to make it back and change things back to the way they had been.
“We’ve always come ready to play. That’s the one thing that I think we pride ourselves in, that we will come ready to play.
“There’s preparation with that. There’s a mindset. We’ll get ourselves going.”
As for the locale and the event, Dantonio said: “I’ve heard nothing but outstanding things about the Holiday Bowl throughout my coaching career.
“I think they’re getting seven to ten inches of snow back home, 17 degrees. Out here on the sunny West Coast is great for us.”
Leach added weight to Dantonio’s pro-Holiday bowl sentiments.
“On behalf of Washington State, we’re thrilled to be in the Holiday Bowl, maybe the greatest bowl I’ve ever been to.”
Washington State lost to Minnesota in the Holiday Bowl, 17-12, last year.
As for the obligatory question to Dantonio about the Spartans being passed over by the Outback Bowl and how players deal with it, Dantonio said: "I think everybody goes through that. I think that’s part of it. That’s sort of old news to me."
AIR RAID vs NO FLY ZONE
Leach’s brand of offense has been dubbed the Air Raid, for its prolific passing figures - and also a play on words during his time as head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
Michigan State rose to power under Dantonio with a terrific secondary, known as The No-Fly Zone, during the 2013 run to the Rose Bowl. Michigan State secondaries have tried to live up to that monicker in subsequent years with varying degrees of success.
Texas Tech leads the nation in pass completions and is No. 2 in the country in passing offense (at 374 yards per game).
Michigan State ranks No. 31 in the nation in passing yards allowed (195 yards per game).
Penn State is the highest-ranked passing attack the Spartans have faced this year. The Nittany Lions rank No. 26 in the country in passing yards per game at 285 yards.
Leach was among the first coaches in college football to spread out five receivers and throw to various parts of the field on virtually every down, dating back to his time as offensive coordinator for Tim Couch at Kentucky in 1997-98 and then for one year at Oklahoma when Bob Stoops was getting his program going in 1999.
The following year, after Leach left Oklahoma to take the head coaching job at Texas Tech, the upstart Sooners made a surprise run to the National Championship in 2000 while using remnants of Leach’s offense.
Oklahoma’s success helped usher in an era of spread offenses at the major conference level. Zone read run action and uptempo tactics have been woven into various offshoots of some of the things Leach helped popularize.
“I think everybody takes something from somebody, so we’ve seen components of it,” Dantonio said of the Air Raid offense. “(We’ve) seen the mesh route. I think they’re the pioneers in that area, maybe the people that are the ones that do it the best certainly.”
Dealing with the Air Raid offense won’t be as stark a system shock to the Spartans in 2017 as it was when Michigan State lost to Texas Tech, 41-31, in the 2009 Alamo Bowl, a few days after Leach was fired for that job due in part to harsh treatment of a player.
“We’ve at least had some experience versus that offense,” Dantonio said. “It goes all the way back to 2002. I had my 2002 notes out the other day from when I was at Ohio State (and the Buckeyes played Texas Tech).
“It’s one of the things coaches do. You keep coaching. I think at the end of the day it’s about execution.
“Playing no-huddle offenses, passing game they’re going to spread you horizontally and vertically,” Dantonio added. “Very good players, players that play extremely well in space. We’re going to have to play well in space on defense. Always how you affect the quarterback usually affects the football game.”
Stanford is the team on Washington State’s schedule that plays the most like Michigan State. The Cougars beat Stanford 24-21 in the 10th game of the season on Nov. 4.
“They are a very good football team, very well-coached,” Dantonio said. “(Coach Leach) He’s turned programs around, has done this other times.
ONE OF NINE
The Holiday Bowl is one of nine bowl games pitting a pair of teams ranked in the College Football Playoff Top 20 against one another, with No. 16 Michigan State (9-3) and No. 18 Washington State (9-3).
“You got kind of contrasts styles,” Leach said. “They’re big and strong and physical. We’re trying to maneuver some stuff around. I think it’s a good matchup. I think it will be fun to watch.”
WSU’s WR SITUATION
Leach was asked for the second time this week about the departure and dismissal of his two leading wide receivers.
“Yeah, it’s kind of a next-man-up deal,” said Leach, unwilling to expand about it. “It’s a lot like practice or spring or camp: you just play the next guy. We’re confident in them.”
‘FANTASTIC’ SETTING
Leach was asked to expand on what made the Holiday Bowl possibly the best bowl he has ever been associated with.
“I think the setting’s fantastic,” he said. “I think where the hotels are situated with regard to things to do within walking distance is excellent. I think that’s one of the biggest keys to a bowl as far as the teams go.
“First of all, you got good hotels where everybody can have a lot of fun. You have plenty of space. Space is huge with regards to football teams.
“As a matter of fact, when we stay on the road, I don’t worry about the quality of the hotel as much as the space. So you got plenty of space. It’s a high-quality hotel.
“The other thing that I think is important is walking distance. You don’t have to mess with the logistics of cars or buses or all that. On their downtime, everything is right across the street or down the boardwalk.”
How much down time will the Washington State players have?
“Once we get here? We’ll let them go out, have kind of a later curfew early in the week, then tighten is up as we get through the week,” Leach said. “We enforce it, but from my experience in the past, generally, with a few rare exceptions, pretty good luck as far as guys getting themselves in.”
ROLLER COASTER SCORING
In jumping out to a 6-0 record and a No. 3 ranking, Washington State scored as least 30 points in each of those win. The Cougars won games by scores of 31-0 (vs. Montana State), 47-44 (vs. Boise State), 52-23 (vs. Oregon State), 45-7 (vs. Nevada) and 30-27 (vs. USC).
But then California stoned Washington state 37-3 in week seven.
And Washington held Washington State to two touchdowns in a 41-14 victory over the Cougars in the Apple Cup rivalry game on Nov. 25, WSU’s last game appearance.
“We sort of had the same types of scenarios,” Dantonio said of the Spartans. “We’ve outscored some people and had some other games that have been a little bit tight. We’ve gone back and forth as well.
“How do I see it playing out? Who knows. I don’t know. But we’re going to find out.”
“Hopefully higher scoring,” Leach said. “I think the best thing about our team this year is we’re a pretty complete team. We had contributions pretty consistently throughout the season on all three sides of the ball: special teams, offense and defense.
“Of the teams that I’ve coached, as far as all three sides of the ball contributing, not having a real weak spot, I felt like this was one of my more balanced teams.”
Dantonio on Washington State:
“When you look at them, you see a team that understands what they’re doing conceptually on both sides of the ball. They beat the two conference (division) champions in the Pac-12 (USC and Stanford).”
QUICK HITTERS
* The Holiday Bowl marks the eighth meeting between Michigan State and Washington State. MSU leads the all-time series, 5-2, with the last meeting arriving in 1977. It will be the first meeting between the two teams in a bowl game.
* The Spartans will be making their 27th all-time bowl appearance (11-15 record).
* The Spartans are in position to record their sixth double-digit win season in the last eight years with a victory in the Holiday Bowl. It marks the 10th bowl bid in 11 seasons under Dantonio.
* Dantonio owns a 99-45 record at the helm of the Spartans and will be looking for his 100th win as head coach at Michigan State.
* Dantonio owns school records for most bowl wins (four) and bowl appearances (10), including a school-record four-game bowl winning streak with victories in the 2011 Outback Bowl vs. No. 18 Georgia, 2012 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl over TCU, 2014 Rose Bowl against No. 5 Stanford, and 2015 Cotton Bowl vs. No. 4 Baylor.
LEACH BEING LEACH:
Q. The Holiday Bowl has a reputation for shootouts, fantastic finishes. How do you see this matchup finishing out? LEACH: “I think it will be a shootout and a fantastic finish (laughter).”
Q. Your thoughts on San Diego? LEACH: “I like San Diego a lot. I’ve been to San Diego quite a bit. My wife is from San Diego, went to Patrick Henry High School. Yeah, so I’ve been to San Diego quite a bit.
“When we got married, I thought I was guaranteed a lot of trips to San Diego, then her parents moved to Utah. I got gypped out of that a little bit. But anyway, it’s good to be back.”
DANTONIO’s TURN
Q. Coach Leach mentioned his wife went to high school here. Do you have any San Diego ties we should know about?
DANTONIO: “Not that you should know about (laughter).”
Senior Washington State QB Luke Falk led the Pac-12 with 30 TD passes and is sixth in the country with 3,593 passing yards.
My notebook:
Air Raid vs. No Fly Zone? Kind Of
Jim Comparoni • SpartanMag.com
@JimComparoni
Do the Spartans care to be in the Holiday Bowl? Will Michigan State be charged up to play against Washington State in the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 28?
Those questions were part of the tenor when Mark Dantonio and Mike Leach met with west coast media in San Diego on Wednesday during the first joint press conference between the two schools during the run-up to the Dec. 28 Holiday Bowl.
“We’ve been focused on the Holiday Bowl since we’ve been invited,” Dantonio said. “Our guys are very, very excited to come out here.
“We’ve got a lot of guys that have never been to the West Coast. To come out here, see this part of the country, we have a large alumni base in Southern California, out in Arizona, as well. We’ll represent that in great fashion. I think our guys are going to be excited.”
Dantonio was asked if takes awhile to get started when a team has been off for a month.
“No, our guys will be ready to play,” Dantonio said. “I think we’re focused on that. We had a tough year last year. Our thought process was to make it back and change things back to the way they had been.
“We’ve always come ready to play. That’s the one thing that I think we pride ourselves in, that we will come ready to play.
“There’s preparation with that. There’s a mindset. We’ll get ourselves going.”
As for the locale and the event, Dantonio said: “I’ve heard nothing but outstanding things about the Holiday Bowl throughout my coaching career.
“I think they’re getting seven to ten inches of snow back home, 17 degrees. Out here on the sunny West Coast is great for us.”
Leach added weight to Dantonio’s pro-Holiday bowl sentiments.
“On behalf of Washington State, we’re thrilled to be in the Holiday Bowl, maybe the greatest bowl I’ve ever been to.”
Washington State lost to Minnesota in the Holiday Bowl, 17-12, last year.
As for the obligatory question to Dantonio about the Spartans being passed over by the Outback Bowl and how players deal with it, Dantonio said: "I think everybody goes through that. I think that’s part of it. That’s sort of old news to me."
AIR RAID vs NO FLY ZONE
Leach’s brand of offense has been dubbed the Air Raid, for its prolific passing figures - and also a play on words during his time as head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
Michigan State rose to power under Dantonio with a terrific secondary, known as The No-Fly Zone, during the 2013 run to the Rose Bowl. Michigan State secondaries have tried to live up to that monicker in subsequent years with varying degrees of success.
Texas Tech leads the nation in pass completions and is No. 2 in the country in passing offense (at 374 yards per game).
Michigan State ranks No. 31 in the nation in passing yards allowed (195 yards per game).
Penn State is the highest-ranked passing attack the Spartans have faced this year. The Nittany Lions rank No. 26 in the country in passing yards per game at 285 yards.
Leach was among the first coaches in college football to spread out five receivers and throw to various parts of the field on virtually every down, dating back to his time as offensive coordinator for Tim Couch at Kentucky in 1997-98 and then for one year at Oklahoma when Bob Stoops was getting his program going in 1999.
The following year, after Leach left Oklahoma to take the head coaching job at Texas Tech, the upstart Sooners made a surprise run to the National Championship in 2000 while using remnants of Leach’s offense.
Oklahoma’s success helped usher in an era of spread offenses at the major conference level. Zone read run action and uptempo tactics have been woven into various offshoots of some of the things Leach helped popularize.
“I think everybody takes something from somebody, so we’ve seen components of it,” Dantonio said of the Air Raid offense. “(We’ve) seen the mesh route. I think they’re the pioneers in that area, maybe the people that are the ones that do it the best certainly.”
Dealing with the Air Raid offense won’t be as stark a system shock to the Spartans in 2017 as it was when Michigan State lost to Texas Tech, 41-31, in the 2009 Alamo Bowl, a few days after Leach was fired for that job due in part to harsh treatment of a player.
“We’ve at least had some experience versus that offense,” Dantonio said. “It goes all the way back to 2002. I had my 2002 notes out the other day from when I was at Ohio State (and the Buckeyes played Texas Tech).
“It’s one of the things coaches do. You keep coaching. I think at the end of the day it’s about execution.
“Playing no-huddle offenses, passing game they’re going to spread you horizontally and vertically,” Dantonio added. “Very good players, players that play extremely well in space. We’re going to have to play well in space on defense. Always how you affect the quarterback usually affects the football game.”
Stanford is the team on Washington State’s schedule that plays the most like Michigan State. The Cougars beat Stanford 24-21 in the 10th game of the season on Nov. 4.
“They are a very good football team, very well-coached,” Dantonio said. “(Coach Leach) He’s turned programs around, has done this other times.
ONE OF NINE
The Holiday Bowl is one of nine bowl games pitting a pair of teams ranked in the College Football Playoff Top 20 against one another, with No. 16 Michigan State (9-3) and No. 18 Washington State (9-3).
“You got kind of contrasts styles,” Leach said. “They’re big and strong and physical. We’re trying to maneuver some stuff around. I think it’s a good matchup. I think it will be fun to watch.”
WSU’s WR SITUATION
Leach was asked for the second time this week about the departure and dismissal of his two leading wide receivers.
“Yeah, it’s kind of a next-man-up deal,” said Leach, unwilling to expand about it. “It’s a lot like practice or spring or camp: you just play the next guy. We’re confident in them.”
‘FANTASTIC’ SETTING
Leach was asked to expand on what made the Holiday Bowl possibly the best bowl he has ever been associated with.
“I think the setting’s fantastic,” he said. “I think where the hotels are situated with regard to things to do within walking distance is excellent. I think that’s one of the biggest keys to a bowl as far as the teams go.
“First of all, you got good hotels where everybody can have a lot of fun. You have plenty of space. Space is huge with regards to football teams.
“As a matter of fact, when we stay on the road, I don’t worry about the quality of the hotel as much as the space. So you got plenty of space. It’s a high-quality hotel.
“The other thing that I think is important is walking distance. You don’t have to mess with the logistics of cars or buses or all that. On their downtime, everything is right across the street or down the boardwalk.”
How much down time will the Washington State players have?
“Once we get here? We’ll let them go out, have kind of a later curfew early in the week, then tighten is up as we get through the week,” Leach said. “We enforce it, but from my experience in the past, generally, with a few rare exceptions, pretty good luck as far as guys getting themselves in.”
ROLLER COASTER SCORING
In jumping out to a 6-0 record and a No. 3 ranking, Washington State scored as least 30 points in each of those win. The Cougars won games by scores of 31-0 (vs. Montana State), 47-44 (vs. Boise State), 52-23 (vs. Oregon State), 45-7 (vs. Nevada) and 30-27 (vs. USC).
But then California stoned Washington state 37-3 in week seven.
And Washington held Washington State to two touchdowns in a 41-14 victory over the Cougars in the Apple Cup rivalry game on Nov. 25, WSU’s last game appearance.
“We sort of had the same types of scenarios,” Dantonio said of the Spartans. “We’ve outscored some people and had some other games that have been a little bit tight. We’ve gone back and forth as well.
“How do I see it playing out? Who knows. I don’t know. But we’re going to find out.”
“Hopefully higher scoring,” Leach said. “I think the best thing about our team this year is we’re a pretty complete team. We had contributions pretty consistently throughout the season on all three sides of the ball: special teams, offense and defense.
“Of the teams that I’ve coached, as far as all three sides of the ball contributing, not having a real weak spot, I felt like this was one of my more balanced teams.”
Dantonio on Washington State:
“When you look at them, you see a team that understands what they’re doing conceptually on both sides of the ball. They beat the two conference (division) champions in the Pac-12 (USC and Stanford).”
QUICK HITTERS
* The Holiday Bowl marks the eighth meeting between Michigan State and Washington State. MSU leads the all-time series, 5-2, with the last meeting arriving in 1977. It will be the first meeting between the two teams in a bowl game.
* The Spartans will be making their 27th all-time bowl appearance (11-15 record).
* The Spartans are in position to record their sixth double-digit win season in the last eight years with a victory in the Holiday Bowl. It marks the 10th bowl bid in 11 seasons under Dantonio.
* Dantonio owns a 99-45 record at the helm of the Spartans and will be looking for his 100th win as head coach at Michigan State.
* Dantonio owns school records for most bowl wins (four) and bowl appearances (10), including a school-record four-game bowl winning streak with victories in the 2011 Outback Bowl vs. No. 18 Georgia, 2012 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl over TCU, 2014 Rose Bowl against No. 5 Stanford, and 2015 Cotton Bowl vs. No. 4 Baylor.
LEACH BEING LEACH:
Q. The Holiday Bowl has a reputation for shootouts, fantastic finishes. How do you see this matchup finishing out? LEACH: “I think it will be a shootout and a fantastic finish (laughter).”
Q. Your thoughts on San Diego? LEACH: “I like San Diego a lot. I’ve been to San Diego quite a bit. My wife is from San Diego, went to Patrick Henry High School. Yeah, so I’ve been to San Diego quite a bit.
“When we got married, I thought I was guaranteed a lot of trips to San Diego, then her parents moved to Utah. I got gypped out of that a little bit. But anyway, it’s good to be back.”
DANTONIO’s TURN
Q. Coach Leach mentioned his wife went to high school here. Do you have any San Diego ties we should know about?
DANTONIO: “Not that you should know about (laughter).”
Senior Washington State QB Luke Falk led the Pac-12 with 30 TD passes and is sixth in the country with 3,593 passing yards.
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