MMQB: Finley 'winning', Nicholson challenged
Jim Comparoni
SpartanMag.com Publisher
EAST LANSING - Dennis Finley had some rough moments in the initial snaps of his first foray into quality playing time, during No. 2-ranked Michigan State's victory over Central Michigan on Saturday.
But after the sophomore settled in at left tackle in relief of injured Jack Conklin, Finley gained a rhythm and acquitted himself well, head coach Mark Dantonio said during his weekly teleconference, Sunday evening.
Finley's run-blocking was strong, Saturday.
"Up front, I was impressed with Finley, coming in as he did," Dantonio said as part of his opening statement on Sunday evening, without being asked about Finley initially.
Conklin went out with an undisclosed injury late in the second quarter. Finley started the second half at left tackle and played the rest of the game. Conklin wore civilian clothes on the sideline in the second half.
Conklin's availability for Saturday's game against Purdue is unknown. Dantonio refused to give injury updates on Sunday, as is his usual policy.
Finley (6-6, 304, Detroit Cass Tech) struggled in the opening drive of the second half during Michigan State's 30-10 victory over Central Michigan.
Finley allowed a QB pressure to Central Michigan defensive end Blake Serpa on MSU's second snap of the second half. Serpa beat Finley to the punch on pass rush, making first contact against the offensive tackle with a two-handed shiver to the breast plate. From there, Serpa controlled Finley, disengaged and put strong heat on MSU quarterback Connor Cook, resulting in a scramble gain of one yard.
Then, on third-and-14, Finley was flagged for holding while in pass protection. Central Michigan declined the penalty and MSU had to punt, opening the opportunity for the Chippewas to make a run at tightening the game in the third quarter.
From that point on, Finley was solvent in pass protection and occasionally strong in his run blocking.
"This was his first opportunity with a lot of football plays, and he got better and better as the game went," Dantonio said, having had the opportunity to review the film. "I thought he played winning football. He did exactly what he needs to do."
Finley's best moment of the game might have come when he helped Michigan State convert a third-and-one situation in the second half when his double-team of a CMU defensive tackle, along with left guardBrian Allen, during an inside zone run play resulted in a 13-yard gain by Spartan running back Madre London. Finley finished the double-team block on his own, collecting a pancake block in driving the defender's back to the ground.
"He's a big guy, he was exceptionally sudden and pass-blocked well," Dantoni said. "Had one holding call but other than that I thought played very well."
Finley has served as a second-string left tackle all year, but hadn't yet been trusted to see playing time as a reserve. Conklin's injury forced his insertion into the game.
Finley's solid finish to Saturday's game could help the Spartans' long-term depth on the offensive line, although there is a possibility Finley could be needed as more than a reserve in the games ahead, depending on Conklin's health.
"I think we are deeper as a football team right now than we've been," Dantonio said. "We're inexperienced some at key positions and that's the key to it. But guys like Dennis Finley, and Miguel Machado the week before, got experience, got game experience. And there's nothing more important, I believe, than game experience. You can practice all you want, but once you play in a game, all the sudden the practices mean a lot more because they understand that there is a great probability that they're gonna be playing on Saturday. You know, there are higher stakes."
Machado replaced starting right tackle Kodi Kieler midway through Michigan State's victory over Oregon on Sept. 12. Kieler hasn't dressed for a game since. His status for Saturday is unknown, although Dantonio said a week ago that the Spartans should get Kieler back "in a couple of weeks."
Machado was functional against Oregon, but struggled in less playing time against Air Force. Michigan State opted to move senior Donavon Clark to right tackle and slide reserve Benny McGowan into the playing group at right guard for most of the Air Force game. And MSU went with the McGowan/Clark combination for the entire Central Michigan game. Machado did not see playing time against the Chippewas.
"I think they played pretty well," Dantonio said of McGowan and Clark on the right side. "I haven't had a chance to sit and talk to all the offensive coaches yet but I've watched the film.
"But I would say Miguel Machado is still in the mix there, although he didn't play yesterday. We went with McGowan the whole time. I expect Miguel to play a little bit every game, until he gets better. But I think he's got a lot of talent, he's just got to get experience. The only way to get it is by playing, but he didn't get the opportunity yesterday."
Angry About Third Down
Twenty-four hours after the Spartans' victory over Central Michigan, Dantonio remained bothered by the Chippewas' 7-of-15 efficiency on third down, which included a hot run of success on third-and-long in the first half.
"What was disappointing yesterday is we got them in third and long numerous times, third-and-10-plus, and they were able to convert," Dantonio said. "A lot of those conversions were good execution by Central Michigan, some bad technique by our guys and underneath routes. (Those) are good schematics that were turn routes. Basically it's third-and-seven, they ran up eight yards and turned and the ball was on time a number of times.
"But it was frustrating to be in long-yardage situations and not get out of them more often than we did. In the second half we were much, much better. I think they were two-of-nine in the second half on third and fourth downs. Much, much better in the second half but too many yards given up on third-and-20 and they get 18 or something like that and next thing you know it's fourth-and-two or something like that. Those are the things we need to correct."
There's a reason CMU was regularly in long-yardage situations on third down.
"I thought we played very, very well on first down," Dantonio said.
Central Michigan continually tried to carve out positive yardage with first-down run plays, and the Chips were consistently shut down. The Chippewas rushed for 55 yards on 26 attempts (2.1 per try), with 42 of those 55 yards coming on one run, early in the second half.
"I thought we basically eliminated the run with the exception of the one play which was the result of a missed tackle and one guy filling a gap a little bit wrong," Dantonio said. "Our first down efficiency in terms of stopping them on first down was 18 out of 18, 100 percent."
That means MSU held Central Michigan to three yards or fewer on all 18 first-down plays. Dantonio said he believed that marked the first time a Spartan defense had been 100 percent in that category, on first downs, during his tenure as head coach at Michigan State.
Nicholson 'Needed To Play Better'
Sophomore safety Montae Nicholson received a lot of preseason hype from media and Spartan coaches prior to the season. But Nicholson has struggled at times at field safety, most notably in the tackling department. His angles in pass defense have been shaky at times too.
Nicholson has had some difficult moments as a starting field safety.
Nicholson allowed a 42-yard pass on Central Michigan's first third-down situation of the game, Saturday. Covering the slot receiver, Nicholson came out of balance and bit when the receiver sold a nod fake to the post and then went to the flag. Nicholson had to play catch-up from inside-out while CMU quarterback Cooper Rushwas on-time and on-target with the pass.
Nicholson was also involved on a negative play during CMU's first snap of the second half, when Chippewa running back Devon Spaldingscampered outside for a gain of 42 on a strong-side power.
On that play, defensive end Shilique Calhoun lost outside containment when the CMU fullback stalemated him and turned Calhoun inside. Spalding capitalized on the daylight by bouncing outside of Calhoun and into open space.
From there, Nicholson took an ambitious tackling angle to the inside in chasing Spalding, a banana-shaped trek that made it difficult for Nicholson to get a hand on him.
Nicholson arrived at the edge, trying to get leverage help on Spalding from MSU's play-side cornerback,Arjen Colquhoun. Colquhoun did a good job of getting off the WR's block and was in position to make a play on Spalding, but missed the tackle. The combination of Nicholson and Colquhoun failed to contain the play, and let Spalding get out and down the sideline for CMU's lone positive run play of the game.
Nicholson and Colquhoun were also involved in a pair of pass defense busts a week earlier against Air Force.
Dantonio gave Nicholson a firm talking-to on the sidelines during the Air Force game. This week, he removed Nicholson from the lineup for several plays - choosing to move Demetrious Cox from cornerback to field safety, to play with RJ Williamson.
"Montae needed to play better," Dantonio said, Sunday evening.
Cox's move to safety opened a position at cornerback.
Dantonio settled on junior Darian Hicks to close the game at cornerback for the Spartans, along with Colquhoun - after Jermaine Edmondson struggled in pass defense.
Dantonio indicated that the Spartans might go with Cox and Williamson as the safeties on Saturday. Dantonio also said when Nicholson plays, he might be moved from field (free) safety to the boundary (strong) safety position.
"Montae has played more of a boundary safety-type position (in the past), which may be what he needs to play," Dantonio said.
Nicholson played boundary safety last year, spending most of the season as Williamson's back-up.
This season, with 2014 field safety Kurtis Drummond having graduated, the Spartans kept Williamson at boundary safety and inserted Nicholson into the starting lineup at Drummond's old position.
Cox can play either safety position, and has been comfortable on the field side - making him a natural tag team partner for Williamson.
But if Nicholson is going to start at safety and if Cox is going to remain a starting cornerback, then the other alternative would be to use Williamson at field safety - something the Spartans haven't done in the past.
Dantonio was asked if Saturday's solution of moving Cox to field safety - with Hicks at cornerback - might be the plan for the immediate future.
"I'm not sure, but we will look at that this week," Dantonio said. "We need to have a guy playing better at that (field safety) position in a game, so we went in that direction and gave Darian Hicks a shot at the corner position and he played well. Cox played well at the safety position. We've got guys that can play back there."
But the Spartans continue to be without Mark Meyers, who was MSU's top reserve safety prior to a drinking and driving arrest in early September. But Dantonio feels good about the players in line for a chance.
"We've got some depth and we've got to continue to develop more depth. (True freshman) Khari Willisplayed yesterday and I thought he did a good job. You'll see more of Khari Willis moving forward in some ways. You go from there."
The Final Word
Dantonio said he saw good things out of all three running backs on Saturday, and credited Gerald Holmeswith finishing as the hot guy.
Holmes was noticeably more patient in setting up his blockers on a pair of TD runs than redshirt freshmanMadre London was on a couple of occasions earlier in the game.
"I thought Gerald came in and did some very nice things, sort of gave us a spark, had a great run after a catch and another little bit of patience, very patient on the two touchdown runs," Dantonio said. "Tracked exactly where he needed to go."
Jim Comparoni
SpartanMag.com Publisher
EAST LANSING - Dennis Finley had some rough moments in the initial snaps of his first foray into quality playing time, during No. 2-ranked Michigan State's victory over Central Michigan on Saturday.
But after the sophomore settled in at left tackle in relief of injured Jack Conklin, Finley gained a rhythm and acquitted himself well, head coach Mark Dantonio said during his weekly teleconference, Sunday evening.
Finley's run-blocking was strong, Saturday.
"Up front, I was impressed with Finley, coming in as he did," Dantonio said as part of his opening statement on Sunday evening, without being asked about Finley initially.
Conklin went out with an undisclosed injury late in the second quarter. Finley started the second half at left tackle and played the rest of the game. Conklin wore civilian clothes on the sideline in the second half.
Conklin's availability for Saturday's game against Purdue is unknown. Dantonio refused to give injury updates on Sunday, as is his usual policy.
Finley (6-6, 304, Detroit Cass Tech) struggled in the opening drive of the second half during Michigan State's 30-10 victory over Central Michigan.
Finley allowed a QB pressure to Central Michigan defensive end Blake Serpa on MSU's second snap of the second half. Serpa beat Finley to the punch on pass rush, making first contact against the offensive tackle with a two-handed shiver to the breast plate. From there, Serpa controlled Finley, disengaged and put strong heat on MSU quarterback Connor Cook, resulting in a scramble gain of one yard.
Then, on third-and-14, Finley was flagged for holding while in pass protection. Central Michigan declined the penalty and MSU had to punt, opening the opportunity for the Chippewas to make a run at tightening the game in the third quarter.
From that point on, Finley was solvent in pass protection and occasionally strong in his run blocking.
"This was his first opportunity with a lot of football plays, and he got better and better as the game went," Dantonio said, having had the opportunity to review the film. "I thought he played winning football. He did exactly what he needs to do."
Finley's best moment of the game might have come when he helped Michigan State convert a third-and-one situation in the second half when his double-team of a CMU defensive tackle, along with left guardBrian Allen, during an inside zone run play resulted in a 13-yard gain by Spartan running back Madre London. Finley finished the double-team block on his own, collecting a pancake block in driving the defender's back to the ground.
"He's a big guy, he was exceptionally sudden and pass-blocked well," Dantoni said. "Had one holding call but other than that I thought played very well."
Finley has served as a second-string left tackle all year, but hadn't yet been trusted to see playing time as a reserve. Conklin's injury forced his insertion into the game.
Finley's solid finish to Saturday's game could help the Spartans' long-term depth on the offensive line, although there is a possibility Finley could be needed as more than a reserve in the games ahead, depending on Conklin's health.
"I think we are deeper as a football team right now than we've been," Dantonio said. "We're inexperienced some at key positions and that's the key to it. But guys like Dennis Finley, and Miguel Machado the week before, got experience, got game experience. And there's nothing more important, I believe, than game experience. You can practice all you want, but once you play in a game, all the sudden the practices mean a lot more because they understand that there is a great probability that they're gonna be playing on Saturday. You know, there are higher stakes."
Machado replaced starting right tackle Kodi Kieler midway through Michigan State's victory over Oregon on Sept. 12. Kieler hasn't dressed for a game since. His status for Saturday is unknown, although Dantonio said a week ago that the Spartans should get Kieler back "in a couple of weeks."
Machado was functional against Oregon, but struggled in less playing time against Air Force. Michigan State opted to move senior Donavon Clark to right tackle and slide reserve Benny McGowan into the playing group at right guard for most of the Air Force game. And MSU went with the McGowan/Clark combination for the entire Central Michigan game. Machado did not see playing time against the Chippewas.
"I think they played pretty well," Dantonio said of McGowan and Clark on the right side. "I haven't had a chance to sit and talk to all the offensive coaches yet but I've watched the film.
"But I would say Miguel Machado is still in the mix there, although he didn't play yesterday. We went with McGowan the whole time. I expect Miguel to play a little bit every game, until he gets better. But I think he's got a lot of talent, he's just got to get experience. The only way to get it is by playing, but he didn't get the opportunity yesterday."
Angry About Third Down
Twenty-four hours after the Spartans' victory over Central Michigan, Dantonio remained bothered by the Chippewas' 7-of-15 efficiency on third down, which included a hot run of success on third-and-long in the first half.
"What was disappointing yesterday is we got them in third and long numerous times, third-and-10-plus, and they were able to convert," Dantonio said. "A lot of those conversions were good execution by Central Michigan, some bad technique by our guys and underneath routes. (Those) are good schematics that were turn routes. Basically it's third-and-seven, they ran up eight yards and turned and the ball was on time a number of times.
"But it was frustrating to be in long-yardage situations and not get out of them more often than we did. In the second half we were much, much better. I think they were two-of-nine in the second half on third and fourth downs. Much, much better in the second half but too many yards given up on third-and-20 and they get 18 or something like that and next thing you know it's fourth-and-two or something like that. Those are the things we need to correct."
There's a reason CMU was regularly in long-yardage situations on third down.
"I thought we played very, very well on first down," Dantonio said.
Central Michigan continually tried to carve out positive yardage with first-down run plays, and the Chips were consistently shut down. The Chippewas rushed for 55 yards on 26 attempts (2.1 per try), with 42 of those 55 yards coming on one run, early in the second half.
"I thought we basically eliminated the run with the exception of the one play which was the result of a missed tackle and one guy filling a gap a little bit wrong," Dantonio said. "Our first down efficiency in terms of stopping them on first down was 18 out of 18, 100 percent."
That means MSU held Central Michigan to three yards or fewer on all 18 first-down plays. Dantonio said he believed that marked the first time a Spartan defense had been 100 percent in that category, on first downs, during his tenure as head coach at Michigan State.
Nicholson 'Needed To Play Better'
Sophomore safety Montae Nicholson received a lot of preseason hype from media and Spartan coaches prior to the season. But Nicholson has struggled at times at field safety, most notably in the tackling department. His angles in pass defense have been shaky at times too.
Nicholson has had some difficult moments as a starting field safety.
Nicholson allowed a 42-yard pass on Central Michigan's first third-down situation of the game, Saturday. Covering the slot receiver, Nicholson came out of balance and bit when the receiver sold a nod fake to the post and then went to the flag. Nicholson had to play catch-up from inside-out while CMU quarterback Cooper Rushwas on-time and on-target with the pass.
Nicholson was also involved on a negative play during CMU's first snap of the second half, when Chippewa running back Devon Spaldingscampered outside for a gain of 42 on a strong-side power.
On that play, defensive end Shilique Calhoun lost outside containment when the CMU fullback stalemated him and turned Calhoun inside. Spalding capitalized on the daylight by bouncing outside of Calhoun and into open space.
From there, Nicholson took an ambitious tackling angle to the inside in chasing Spalding, a banana-shaped trek that made it difficult for Nicholson to get a hand on him.
Nicholson arrived at the edge, trying to get leverage help on Spalding from MSU's play-side cornerback,Arjen Colquhoun. Colquhoun did a good job of getting off the WR's block and was in position to make a play on Spalding, but missed the tackle. The combination of Nicholson and Colquhoun failed to contain the play, and let Spalding get out and down the sideline for CMU's lone positive run play of the game.
Nicholson and Colquhoun were also involved in a pair of pass defense busts a week earlier against Air Force.
Dantonio gave Nicholson a firm talking-to on the sidelines during the Air Force game. This week, he removed Nicholson from the lineup for several plays - choosing to move Demetrious Cox from cornerback to field safety, to play with RJ Williamson.
"Montae needed to play better," Dantonio said, Sunday evening.
Cox's move to safety opened a position at cornerback.
Dantonio settled on junior Darian Hicks to close the game at cornerback for the Spartans, along with Colquhoun - after Jermaine Edmondson struggled in pass defense.
Dantonio indicated that the Spartans might go with Cox and Williamson as the safeties on Saturday. Dantonio also said when Nicholson plays, he might be moved from field (free) safety to the boundary (strong) safety position.
"Montae has played more of a boundary safety-type position (in the past), which may be what he needs to play," Dantonio said.
Nicholson played boundary safety last year, spending most of the season as Williamson's back-up.
This season, with 2014 field safety Kurtis Drummond having graduated, the Spartans kept Williamson at boundary safety and inserted Nicholson into the starting lineup at Drummond's old position.
Cox can play either safety position, and has been comfortable on the field side - making him a natural tag team partner for Williamson.
But if Nicholson is going to start at safety and if Cox is going to remain a starting cornerback, then the other alternative would be to use Williamson at field safety - something the Spartans haven't done in the past.
Dantonio was asked if Saturday's solution of moving Cox to field safety - with Hicks at cornerback - might be the plan for the immediate future.
"I'm not sure, but we will look at that this week," Dantonio said. "We need to have a guy playing better at that (field safety) position in a game, so we went in that direction and gave Darian Hicks a shot at the corner position and he played well. Cox played well at the safety position. We've got guys that can play back there."
But the Spartans continue to be without Mark Meyers, who was MSU's top reserve safety prior to a drinking and driving arrest in early September. But Dantonio feels good about the players in line for a chance.
"We've got some depth and we've got to continue to develop more depth. (True freshman) Khari Willisplayed yesterday and I thought he did a good job. You'll see more of Khari Willis moving forward in some ways. You go from there."
The Final Word
Dantonio said he saw good things out of all three running backs on Saturday, and credited Gerald Holmeswith finishing as the hot guy.
Holmes was noticeably more patient in setting up his blockers on a pair of TD runs than redshirt freshmanMadre London was on a couple of occasions earlier in the game.
"I thought Gerald came in and did some very nice things, sort of gave us a spark, had a great run after a catch and another little bit of patience, very patient on the two touchdown runs," Dantonio said. "Tracked exactly where he needed to go."
