Pre Snap Read: MSU GAME 12
By Jim Comparoni
Publisher SpartanMag.com
A little different Pre-Snap Read this week. We’ll go with less info on the opponent, and more info on Michigan State and some recent Spartan trends of note.
There’s not a lot to talk about when it comes to Rutgers. By now, you’ve probably seen them play a couple of times, and you know their situation, at 4-7.
As for the Spartans, there are new developments, even at this stage of the season.
And Spartan fans have a lot to be thankful for this weekend, heading into game 12 with a chance to finish the regular season with a 9-3 record. Mark Dantonio has been preaching the mantra “Flip It” this week, motivating his players to finish a complete mirror flip of last year’s 3-9 season.
In speaking with players this week, I think there is momentum behind that movement. I think the players are eager to finish the “Flip.” There seems to be a sense of accomplishment in the making, and there should be. This has been a terrific bounce-back season for the Spartans, with a solid chance to secure a bid to the Outback Bowl with a victory.
THREE THINGS:
1. The Michigan State football community, fans included, are back to EXPECTING a win and a 9-3 season and a chance for a share of the Big Ten East Division championship (if Michigan beats Ohio State).
2. The Michigan State football community, fans included, are back to EXPECTING quality football to be played this weekend.
Despite going 8-3 to the point in the season, there haven’t been a lot of occasions this year when we (observers) have gone into a game EXPECTING a quality performance in all areas. I think fans were hopeful, but needed to see it to believe it.
Now, after the workmanlike victory over Maryland last week, and enough evidence throughout the year that this football team is pretty good, Spartan fans can expect a strong finish on Saturday in New Brunswick, N.J.
3. Now, it’s time for the build to continue, and that’s what’s so healthy about MSU’s situation. They can improve to 9-3, complete The Flip, AND improve as a team and program.
“I think we still have not peaked yet as a complete football team,” Dantonio said.
We would all agree with that.
“I think maybe we'll peak in our 12th game, maybe our 13th,” he said.
The build continues.
WHERE MSU IS IMPROVING:
1. Last week, Collin Lucas, Demetrius Cooper and Antjuan Simmons played, in my opinion, the best games of their Spartan careers to this point.
That’s a strange mix. That’s a fifth-year senior, a true freshman, and a junior walk-on in that group.
* Cooper, the senior, was a major disappointment last year. He has bounced back with a decent season this year, and last week played a good all-around game. More on that later.
* Lucas, the walk-on junior, has been a functional blocking back this year. Against Maryland, he went from functional to physical. He played with pop, a little more RPM. He was a factor. It’s the first time I would consider him a plus fullback.
* Simmons, the true freshman, is covering ground with more and more quickness, the more he learns the game and this system. He is improving more rapidly than the second-year starter, Andrew Dowell. And if the trends continue in this direction, Dowell had better be careful about being overtaken by the bowl game.
2. The run game. It’s been inconsistent, and often ineffective, this year.
Now, Michigan State is into the soft portion of the schedule. The Spartans rushed for 271 yards last week.
For example, Michigan’s run game took off in weeks eight to 10 when playing Rutgers, Minnesota and Maryland.
Now the Spartans get Maryland and Rutgers in back-to-back weeks, and MSU’s run game should end the season feeling good about itself.
Should it?
3. Yes. Every member of the offensive line and blocking unit had good moments in the run game last week. They weren’t play the ’85 Bears, but the Spartans did what they are supposed to do against a fading opponent, and that’s put a dent in them.
In the process, the Spartans even converted on two occasions on third-and-three with conventional run plays. Plant a flag.
The Spartans were close to going up 21-0, and more, but let the Terps off the ropes and the game remained a game for 60 minutes. But Michigan State won a high, high percentage of the snaps. If that game is a boxing match, Michigan State win a unanimous decision, 10 rounds to 2. That doesn’t do anything for their credibility as a team, but in terms of winning snaps, the trends are good for the Spartans.
4. Defensive ends. Michigan State is improving at defensive end. Cooper was good against the run, good in playing leverage, playing angles, taking on blocks. Kenny Willekes played the zone read option well.
5. Matt Morrissey had some good snaps in the nickel defense. He supported the run smart, quick and physical.
Morrissey, a junior, began the year as a starter. He had some struggles. He spent some weeks out of the playing group. Last week, he was back, and he was better. He’s more decisive. He has grown.
6. The package is expanding.
Michigan State played a 3-4 defense on second-down situations throughout most of the game.
The Spartans stood up Cooper as an OLB on the first second-down situation of the game.
The rest of the game, they stood up Willekes as an inside linebacker, in the middle with Bachie.
The look might have confused Maryland’s blockers a little bit, but probably not all that much once the game was underway.
I haven’t had a chance to ask Michigan State coaches what they wanted to accomplish with the 3-4. Sometimes, it’s a matter of getting one lineman out of the wash, and able to be up and pursuing sideline-to-sideline more freely. Willekes has the quickness to play inside linebacker to an extent. He’s a former walk-on linebacker, but at his current weight, you wouldn’t want him chasing JK Dobbins from sideline to sideline. But there was something about Maryland’s schemes that made Michigan State compelled to expand the package to include some legit 3-4 concepts.
And it wasn’t just a nickel 30 third-down type of look. It was a legit 3-4, although it remained a one-gapping 3-4. It wasn’t a two-gapping, Alabama style 30 with a middle guard.
The usage of the 3-4 goes along with a defensive package that has been updating and expanding all season. In pass defense, Michigan State has played more cover-two (halves) coverage than in the past, maybe the most ever under Dantonio. And they played more man-to-man in the first half of the season than in past years.
Michigan State is still a base quarters coverage team. But instead of playing base quarters on 90 pct of non-blitz downs (as has been the case in the past), I would estimate that Michigan State has been base quarters maybe 45 percent of the time in non-blitz situations. There have been some games when Michigan State has been back to its base quarters for 80 to 90 percent of its non-blitz downs, and other games (earlier in the year) when it has played base quarters less than 33 percent of the time.
Mike Tressel and Harlon Barnett have said they wanted to be less predictable on defense, and prevent opposing offensive coordinators and quarterbacks from anticipating with certainty where defenders are going to be. They’ve achieved that this year, and they’ll look to build on that as this defense continues to mature in the weeks and months ahead.
BACK TO LUCAS, SIMMONS, COOPER
* Cooper has taken a step of improvement late in his career - late this season, actually - in defeating blocks in the run game.
He has only 1.5 sacks on the year and just 23 tackles. But last weekend, he had a couple of physical plus plays.
+ On the second play of the game last week, Maryland left Cooper unblocked, and tried to draw him upfield for a trap block.
Cooper didn’t take the bait. He came upfield but remained tight to the formation and anticipated a trap block from the pull guard.
The guard charged at Cooper, full-blast. Cooper got low and blasted his right shoulder into the pull guard. The guard, running at full-speed into a stand-still Cooper, got zero movement on Cooper. Cooper kept the gap tight, zero daylight, and Khari Willis came in for a near-leg tackle. It was a gain of a yard, but a painful play for Maryland. The guard found, as we all did, that Cooper can be tougher and more firm than his slender (but muscular) frame would indicate. And the RB whom Willis tackle hobbled off the field.
+ On Maryland’s second drive, Cooper made the transition from pass rush to run defense on a draw play, making the tackle and holding it to a gain of one. Looked like a vet.
+ On second-and-10 in the second quarter, Michigan State went with the 3-4 defense. Maryland tried a WR screen. (Perhaps MSU’s reason for going with a 3-4 on second-and-long was a Maryland tendency to throw short to the perimeter in those situations.)
On this play, Cooper read the screen action quickly and pursued to the sideline like an athlete.
Willis bounced the play, and Cooper made the tackle for a loss of three.
A d-end making a TFL on a WR screen? That’s the kind of day Cooper had, again, as an all-around player.
+ On the first play of the second half, Cooper took on the right tackle on an outside zone run right at him. He put two hands on the right tackle, controlled him, disengaged and made FAST convergence for a TFL.
He showed knowledge, technique, strength, ability to disengage and short-area quickness on that play.
That was perhaps the best I’ve ever seen him play the run. It’s hard to play that play better than he did.
If you didn’t know better, you’d think he was an NFL prospect on that play.
+ In the third quarter, Maryland tried that trap play again. Again, he took on the pulling guard, who was running right at him at a good rate of speed. Cooper got low and once again blasted his inside shoulder into the guard. He hit the guard so hard that the guard bounced off of him like one of those inflatable sumo wrestler outfits that you see at halftime shows. The guard, at about 300 pounds, bounced off of Cooper and back into the running back with force that knocked the RB to the ground for no gain. Seriously. This was comical.
Cooper? Was that really Cooper.
**
So what does Cooper’s strong play mean for the team and the program? Maybe not much at this late stage. But he played plus football last week and seems to be improving rather than playing out the string.
He’s always been a lean, high-ceiling, slow-improvement guy. Maybe he’s a guy that keep maturing into his 20s, like Lemar Marshall. I’m not saying he’s an NFL guy, but any NFL scout who watched the Michigan State-Maryland game came out of it with Cooper as a name to keep an eye on at the combines.
And feel free to root for him. He had some off-field trouble last off-season, that’s not who he is.
It’ll be interesting to see if he continues this upward trend into bowl practice and the postseason. Michigan State could use that from him.
ANTJUAN SIMMONS PLUS PLAYS
* Simmons played a career-high 26 snaps against Ohio State. I don’t have his snap count against the Terps, but I charted him with more plus plays than ever before.
++ On a second-and-17 in the second quarter, Michigan State went with a two-DL look, a sub-nickel type of look. They had 4-3 personnel on the field, but only had two of the four defensive linemen down in a three-point stance. Michigan State had Willekes and Dillon Alexander standing up.
Maryland surprised Michigan State with a counter run. Michigan State needed its front seven to convert to run defense, and Simmons more than filled the bill.
Simmons came forward and took on the lead-blocking H-back. Simmons not only took on the H-back, he took him on low, in Pat Narduzzi fashion, and flat-out sawed off that guy at the knees.
Simmons’ play cleared the way for Morrissey to come forward and make a clean tackle and hold what looked like a promising play to a gain of 2.
+ Simmons had a TFL on a read option counter. Maryland optioned Willekes, leaving him unblocked. Simmons showed QUICK FEET, agile, in coming up to the edge, playing it outside-in, correctly, athletically, and strong tackling ability. Terrific play by a freshman. He looked mature, smart and showed short-area quickness.
(Gerald Owens also played it with quickness, too, converging from outside-in).
+ In the second quarter, Willekes was firm against a point-of-attack blocking. Simmons played behind him, shuffled with quickness and stopped the RB for no gain. Good quickness in playing square. He’s there on time, perhaps gaining more trust and consistency in doing that than Dowell has established.
+ Good tackle, reading and CLOSING QUICKLY to lay out to stop a ball carrier after a gain of 7. Joe Bachie had gotten out of his gap on a third-and-two play, and Simmons cleaned it up before it got out to the third level.
(Bachie had a good game. This was an isolated incident for him).
COLLIN LUCAS PLUS PLAYS
Lucas (6-1, 232, Jr., Avon Lake, Ohio) has been a functional FB most of the season. But he had never been what I would call a forceful fullback - until last Saturday.
Some notable ones:
+ On LJ Scott’s 14-yard run on the opening drive, Lucas put a physical block on the MLB. (David Beedle controlled the d-end and mvoed him two yards).
+ On Scott’s 2-yard TD run in the first quarter, Lucas put a lead block on the outside linebacker. Physical hit.
+ On MSU’s third drive of the game, Lucas hammered an inside linebacker and won the collision. Scott gained eight yards (Higby pulled and executed a physical kickout block).
Over the course of the game, this was the hardest I’ve ever seen Lucas hit people. He wasn’t a crusher. But he was forceful. It’s as if he has an improved mental grasp on where to be and how to do it, so now he’s loading up with more power. This is a great development for the run game.
ONE MORE THING …
Michigan State did a good job of establishing the inside zone run last week.
Off of that, they made the defense bite on the inside zone, and QB Brian Lewerke was able to fake the zone and keep it as part of the zone read option for a 25-yard TD (and a 12-yard keeper earlier in the drive).
After those plays, Lewerke said he noticed the d-end staying wider to honor the QB keeper, which kept things a little cleaner for the RB to run inside.
Example: On a third-and-four in the third quarter, Michigan State ran an inside zone out of the shot gun.
But it wasn’t just any zone read. It was a zone read option. But the DE stayed home to honor Lewerke. So he handed it to Holmes.
Holmes broke out for a gain of 15 on the play, getting a good double-team block from Kevin Jarvis and Luke Campbell on the right side. They destroyed a Maryland defensive tackle, moving him back three yards.
**
Michigan State wasn’t perfect last week, left some points on the field, and allowed Maryland to get back into the game in the last five minutes - similar to the Minnesota game in some respects.
The challenge this week is to gain control early - like the Spartans did against Minnesota and Maryland - and (this time) finish the job with a TKO before the fourth quarter.
KICK IT OFF
An abbreviated (compared to the usual Pre-Snap Read) look at the opponent:
RUTGERS THIS YEAR:
L Washington 30, Rutgers 14
L Eastern Michigan 16, Rutgers 13
W Rutgers 65, Morgan State 0
L Nebraska 27, Rutgers 17
L Ohio State 56, Rutgers 0
W Rutgers 35, Illinois 24
W Rutgers 14, Purdue 12
L Michigan 35, Rutgers 14
W Rutgers 31, Maryland 24
L Penn State 35, Rutgers 6
L Indiana 41, Rutgers 0
“Three Big Ten wins in your second year and a chance to get a fourth is a step in the right direction,” said Rutgers offensive coordinator Jerry Kill. “The one we really messed up was Eastern Michigan. You have to win that game. And I think Indiana is a lot better team than their record shows because of their schedule. They had some really good skill players.”
LAST WEEK: Indiana 41, Rutgers 0
That was Indiana’s first Big Ten shutout since 1993, and is the largest margin of victory in a Big Ten game since 1990.
* Indiana out-rushed Rutgers 267-87.
* Indiana had two running backs rush for more than 100 a yards - Morgan Ellison rushed for 148 yards and Cole Gest rushed for 104.
Rutgers coach Chris Ash was asked what message he would want to send to Rutgers fans after that game:
“That we’re better than this,” he said. “We’ve been better than this, we’ve played better than this. We’ve come too far to play a game like this. It’s on me. Gotta find a way to coach better. It’s a 41-0 ass kicking. We have improved, we’ve done a lot of good things this year, this wasn’t a good day.”
So that’s the challenge for Rutgers. Are they playing out the string? Do they have anything to pay for?
Rutgers is looking for a fourth Big Ten win, which would be the most the Scarlet Knights have had in a season since joining the conference. Ash is trying to use that, along with Senior Day, as motivation.
We’ll see if any of it works. If it doesn’t work, Rutgers is likely headed for another blowout, shutout loss, or something similar.
THE MACRO ON RUTGERS:
* They are a run-oriented team, without much run-game power.
They have a pair of pretty good running backs, and Rutgers does some good things with inside zone blocking. But they don’t have enough balance to spread a defense out.
They don’t have a pass game to back the defense off.
And their run game is not varied. I saw them pull a lineman only once in the first three quarters against Penn State.
They run the inside zone well. But if that’s ALL that you do, and you don’t have a pass game to balance it out, the end results aren’t going to be good. And that’s Rutgers’ offense.
* Rutgers is dead last in the Big Ten in total offense and 13th in scoring offense.
* Rutgers is No. 6 in the Big Ten in rushing offense at 159 yards per game (Michigan State is No. 7 at 158 per game).
* Rutgers averages 4.1 yards per carry, Michigan State averages 4.0 yards per carry.
* Rutgers has thrown only six TD passes all year, against nine INTs.
* Rutgers is averaging only 117 yards passing per game.
* Rutgers has allowed the fewest sacks in the Big Ten at 16, partly because they rarely throw the ball (Only Minnesota has attempted fewer passes this year in the Big Ten).
But their pass protection honestly looks pretty good when I watched them closely against PSU two weeks ago. Pretty good and QB Giovanni Rescigno is elusive in the pocket.
RUTGERS DEFENSE:
* Rutgers ranks No. 11 in the Big Ten in rushing defense at 179 yards per game, and is No. 13 in the Big Ten in yards allowed per carry (4.7), trailing only Nebraska’s 5.4.
* Pass defense isn’t any better. Rutgers is allowing 7.2 yards per pass attempt which is tied for worst in the Big Ten.
* Does Rutgers do anything well on defense? Not really, but they rank No. 4 in the Big Ten in interceptions with 12 (Michigan State is No. 5 with 11).
* Rutgers is tied for last in the Big Ten in sacks with just 14 on the year.
* They run a 3-4 defense, if you were wondering.
* 6 MLB DEONTE ROBERTS is a captain and shows up on film a little bit, including a big hit on PSU’s Barkley in the 3q vs a speed option pitch.
* Player of Note: No. 58 d-end KEMOKO TURAY (6-5, 247, Sr., Newark, NJ).
Turay has a team-high 2.5 sacks on the year.
Turay was honorable mention All-Big Ten by media as a freshman in 2014, with 7.5 sacks and no starts. Media voted him in despite not being a starter and being a passing down specialist.
He’s had a pretty good senior year with 53 tackles, ranking fourth on the team.
* DT 95 JON BATEKY (6-3, 300, Jr.)
+ Had a sack against PSU in the first quarter, grabbling the PSU left guard, pulling him forward off-balance, and going around him, running the hoop fairly decently.
They have some guys that are good once in awhile but, as a defense, they have trouble stringing plays and series together (like Maryland).
* S 2 KIY HESTER (6-0, 208, Jr., Plainfield, NJ), you may remember him. Michigan State recruited him, probably came in second.
* I watched him a little bit in a couple of games, arrived at no opinion.
OTHER STUFF:
* Rutgers went with Louisville grad transfer Kyle Bolin as the starting QB for the first half of the season.
Then Rutgers replaced him with Giovanni Rescigno, who had started a little bit last year.
Last week, Rescigno was replaced by freshman QB JOHNATHAN LEWIS (6-3, 240). Lewis had a team-high 36 yards rushing on six carries.
Rescigno took some hard shots last week, “I’m surprised he got up a couple of times,” said o-coordinator Jerry Kill. “It’s a unit thing. He needs guys to get open.”
So the QB controversy continues at Rutgers. Ash indicated that Rescigno is likely to remain the starter but said it would be evaluated this week in practice.
Evaluating practice in week 12 to make a QB decision is … not ideal.
TWO WEEKS AGO VS PENN STATE (a 35-6 loss):
* Rutgers had won three out of four games heading into this bout at Happy Valley. And Rutgers played real well for two quarters.
* Through the first 18 minutes of the game, Rutgers had out-rushed Penn State 90-11, thanks to two or three chunk plays. Rutgers kicked a pair of early field goals to go up 6-0 (thanks to a fumbled opening kickoff on one; but Rutgers drove and earned the second field goal).
* PSU had trailed for only 15 minutes all season in the first nine games of the year, prior to the Rutgers game. Then Rutgers went out and led against PSU for 20 minutes in the first half of that game.
Then PSU dominated the last few minutes of the first half and the entire second half.
RUTGERS PERSONNEL TO KNOW
* QB Giovanni Rescigno (6-3, 228, Jr.)
* Was 0-5 as a starter last year. Had a 3-1 streak as a starter this year prior to losing the last two games.
Is completing 48.5 pct of his passes. Has 2 TDs and 1 INT on the year. He has started six games and played in eight.
* Rescigno replaced Louisville transfer Kyle Bolin as the starting QB midway through the season.
* Bolin started five games. He completed 55 pct of his passes with 3 TDs and 6 INTs.
* Rescigno isn’t much of a passer but he provides more lively legs than Bolin.
* Rescigno runs with quick feet, almost as quick as Brian Lewerke. Kind of similar that way. But he is erratic as a passer.
* WR Janarion Grant (5-10, 178, Sr., Trilby, Fla.) was slowed by an ankle injury this year. He is listed as questionable this weekend. He didn’t crack the box score last week. He has seen action in only seven games and has just 16 catches this year after considering a jump to the NFL after last year.
+ Grant had a 65-yard TD run against Michigan off an direct snap.
* Their leading pass catcher is tight end Jerome Washington (No. 88, 6-4, 258, Elizabeth, NJ), who has 27 catches and 1 TD. He is averaging 24.8 yards receiving per game.
He was a four-star recruit. He signed with Miami but was given a release after Miami changed coaches.
IS RUTGERS A THREAT?
Probably not - unless you fumble kickoffs like Penn State once.
Rescigno is erratic, but - if healthy - Janarion Grant is a game-breaker. The combination of an erratic QB and a game-breaking WR is essentially what Minnesota had in successfully rolling the dice a few times late in its game against Michigan State.
Can Rutgers duplicate that? It’s doubtful.
* RUTGERS RUN GAME
* Very, very basic inside zone run game from the shot gun and some pistol. They didn’t run anything but zone vs PSU until they ran a power late in the 3q. Then it was back to zone.
Rescigno has good foot quickness, very good, but I didn’t see them run zone read option keepers for the QB at all vs PSU. Maybe they’re trying to keep him healthy.
But I don’t remember Jerry Kill running any zone read option while at Minnesota. They were primarily a designed-give team, although playing in shot gun with a zone read type of mesh. It wasn’t often an actual read, from what I could gather.
They are shot gun inside zone team. Over and over. It’s strange to do that as your primary look without incorporating the read/keeper.
Michigan State’s defense, if it does ONE thing especially well, it’s stopping the basic inside zone.
I would expect Michigan State to stifle the Rutgers run game, unless Rutgers has some broad new wrinkles, which I don’t expect.
THE RUTGERS RUN GAME
* RB Gus Edwards (6-1, 235, Sr., Staten Island, NY) has 703 yards on the year, averaging 63 per game and 4.4 per carry with six TDs. He broke the 100-yard mark once this year with 109 yards on 21 carries three weeks ago against Maryland.
* Good inside runner.
Last week, he had seven carries last week for 30 yards.
Two weeks ago against Penn State, he had 13 carries for 43 yards.
* 80 percent of their play calls in the red zone this year are run plays.
* RB Robert Martin (5-11, 212, Sr.)
* Led team with 625 yards last year.
* RB Raheem Blackshear (5-9, 185, Warminster, Pa.) rushed for 87 yards against Illinois.
* Good speed to the outside. Good future.
You may remember that he visited Michigan State last January and was a silent verbal at one time. It’s unclear whether he backed off on Michigan State, or the other way around. But an impending commitment was broken at some point.
Rutgers might not be the most motivated team in the world on Saturday, but Blackshear will be.
INTERESTING QUOTE
* O-Coordinator Jerry Kill on the state of the Rutgers program: “I was fortunate to have the same people, most of them for 16 to 20 years. Continuity, when you’re turning around a program is very, very important. I’ve done this five different times and this isn’t any different than the other five - we had the same questions about quarterback and this and that. In some ways, this is Coach Ash’s first year because when you take over the job late, it’s tough. But we’ve made some progress. I think that’s evident in some areas. We just haven’t got everything fixed yet and that only comes through recruiting and continuity.
“We have two or three guys playing both ways. We just don’t have the depth. That comes with recruiting.
“This job wouldn’t have been open if it was a great job at the time. Most of the time the job is open because there are issues, and a lot of them. You just can’t take care of all of them all at once.
“I think getting three Big Ten wins was important. We need to get a fourth one.
“Why we played the way we did against Indiana, I don’t know. I asked all five quarterbacks that, and we talked about it. We just didn’t play like we’ve been playing. Even in the loss to Penn State, I thought we played hard and did some good things.
“Against Indiana, I think they got up so fast and emotionally our kids didn’t respond. They got on us so quick and I think our kids were culture shocked. I think that’s a sign of a team that hasn’t been there. Maybe they were nervous because they were playing to have a chance to go to a bowl game and they haven’t been used to that for awhile. Those are the million-dollar questions. If you get ‘em answered, send them to me.”
SPECIAL TEAMS
* Their punter ranks No. 1 in the Big Ten at 44.6 per attempt, and No. 1 in the Big Ten in kickoff net average.
* Rutgers opened the Penn State game two weeks ago with a pooch kickoff (to avoid Barkley), and Rutgers recovered it. Michigan State doesn’t have a Barkley, but Rutgers is in need of some life, and has little to lose, so something tricky on the opening kick is possible.
* Trailing 21-6 late in the 3q, Rutgers faked a punt at PSU and failed. They snapped it to one of the punt protectors and tried to run straight into the line. Didn’t work. But this is a team with nothing to lose.
ADD IT ALL UP
If MSU has a motivational edge over Rutgers in this game, the Spartan run game SHOULD put a hole in these guys, any way they choose. With good weather, facing a team that doesn’t specialize in stopping the run, or the pass or rushing the passer, Michigan State SHOULD finally (for the first time in the conference season) establish some offensive balance - perhaps in impressive form.
Michigan State has as much offensive balance POTENTIAL as any team in the Big Ten (with the possible exception of Ohio State and maybe Penn State). That potential hasn’t been met this year, but it could come to fruition in this game, with Lewerke, his receivers, and MSU’s running backs sharing the ball with good productivity.
On defense, Rutgers isn’t difficult to solve, and Michigan State specializes in stopping what Rutgers tries to do well.
I wouldn’t expect Rutgers to pull a page out of the Pitt Panthers playbook and play inspired, physical football in this game.
By Jim Comparoni
Publisher SpartanMag.com
A little different Pre-Snap Read this week. We’ll go with less info on the opponent, and more info on Michigan State and some recent Spartan trends of note.
There’s not a lot to talk about when it comes to Rutgers. By now, you’ve probably seen them play a couple of times, and you know their situation, at 4-7.
As for the Spartans, there are new developments, even at this stage of the season.
And Spartan fans have a lot to be thankful for this weekend, heading into game 12 with a chance to finish the regular season with a 9-3 record. Mark Dantonio has been preaching the mantra “Flip It” this week, motivating his players to finish a complete mirror flip of last year’s 3-9 season.
In speaking with players this week, I think there is momentum behind that movement. I think the players are eager to finish the “Flip.” There seems to be a sense of accomplishment in the making, and there should be. This has been a terrific bounce-back season for the Spartans, with a solid chance to secure a bid to the Outback Bowl with a victory.
THREE THINGS:
1. The Michigan State football community, fans included, are back to EXPECTING a win and a 9-3 season and a chance for a share of the Big Ten East Division championship (if Michigan beats Ohio State).
2. The Michigan State football community, fans included, are back to EXPECTING quality football to be played this weekend.
Despite going 8-3 to the point in the season, there haven’t been a lot of occasions this year when we (observers) have gone into a game EXPECTING a quality performance in all areas. I think fans were hopeful, but needed to see it to believe it.
Now, after the workmanlike victory over Maryland last week, and enough evidence throughout the year that this football team is pretty good, Spartan fans can expect a strong finish on Saturday in New Brunswick, N.J.
3. Now, it’s time for the build to continue, and that’s what’s so healthy about MSU’s situation. They can improve to 9-3, complete The Flip, AND improve as a team and program.
“I think we still have not peaked yet as a complete football team,” Dantonio said.
We would all agree with that.
“I think maybe we'll peak in our 12th game, maybe our 13th,” he said.
The build continues.
WHERE MSU IS IMPROVING:
1. Last week, Collin Lucas, Demetrius Cooper and Antjuan Simmons played, in my opinion, the best games of their Spartan careers to this point.
That’s a strange mix. That’s a fifth-year senior, a true freshman, and a junior walk-on in that group.
* Cooper, the senior, was a major disappointment last year. He has bounced back with a decent season this year, and last week played a good all-around game. More on that later.
* Lucas, the walk-on junior, has been a functional blocking back this year. Against Maryland, he went from functional to physical. He played with pop, a little more RPM. He was a factor. It’s the first time I would consider him a plus fullback.
* Simmons, the true freshman, is covering ground with more and more quickness, the more he learns the game and this system. He is improving more rapidly than the second-year starter, Andrew Dowell. And if the trends continue in this direction, Dowell had better be careful about being overtaken by the bowl game.
2. The run game. It’s been inconsistent, and often ineffective, this year.
Now, Michigan State is into the soft portion of the schedule. The Spartans rushed for 271 yards last week.
For example, Michigan’s run game took off in weeks eight to 10 when playing Rutgers, Minnesota and Maryland.
Now the Spartans get Maryland and Rutgers in back-to-back weeks, and MSU’s run game should end the season feeling good about itself.
Should it?
3. Yes. Every member of the offensive line and blocking unit had good moments in the run game last week. They weren’t play the ’85 Bears, but the Spartans did what they are supposed to do against a fading opponent, and that’s put a dent in them.
In the process, the Spartans even converted on two occasions on third-and-three with conventional run plays. Plant a flag.
The Spartans were close to going up 21-0, and more, but let the Terps off the ropes and the game remained a game for 60 minutes. But Michigan State won a high, high percentage of the snaps. If that game is a boxing match, Michigan State win a unanimous decision, 10 rounds to 2. That doesn’t do anything for their credibility as a team, but in terms of winning snaps, the trends are good for the Spartans.
4. Defensive ends. Michigan State is improving at defensive end. Cooper was good against the run, good in playing leverage, playing angles, taking on blocks. Kenny Willekes played the zone read option well.
5. Matt Morrissey had some good snaps in the nickel defense. He supported the run smart, quick and physical.
Morrissey, a junior, began the year as a starter. He had some struggles. He spent some weeks out of the playing group. Last week, he was back, and he was better. He’s more decisive. He has grown.
6. The package is expanding.
Michigan State played a 3-4 defense on second-down situations throughout most of the game.
The Spartans stood up Cooper as an OLB on the first second-down situation of the game.
The rest of the game, they stood up Willekes as an inside linebacker, in the middle with Bachie.
The look might have confused Maryland’s blockers a little bit, but probably not all that much once the game was underway.
I haven’t had a chance to ask Michigan State coaches what they wanted to accomplish with the 3-4. Sometimes, it’s a matter of getting one lineman out of the wash, and able to be up and pursuing sideline-to-sideline more freely. Willekes has the quickness to play inside linebacker to an extent. He’s a former walk-on linebacker, but at his current weight, you wouldn’t want him chasing JK Dobbins from sideline to sideline. But there was something about Maryland’s schemes that made Michigan State compelled to expand the package to include some legit 3-4 concepts.
And it wasn’t just a nickel 30 third-down type of look. It was a legit 3-4, although it remained a one-gapping 3-4. It wasn’t a two-gapping, Alabama style 30 with a middle guard.
The usage of the 3-4 goes along with a defensive package that has been updating and expanding all season. In pass defense, Michigan State has played more cover-two (halves) coverage than in the past, maybe the most ever under Dantonio. And they played more man-to-man in the first half of the season than in past years.
Michigan State is still a base quarters coverage team. But instead of playing base quarters on 90 pct of non-blitz downs (as has been the case in the past), I would estimate that Michigan State has been base quarters maybe 45 percent of the time in non-blitz situations. There have been some games when Michigan State has been back to its base quarters for 80 to 90 percent of its non-blitz downs, and other games (earlier in the year) when it has played base quarters less than 33 percent of the time.
Mike Tressel and Harlon Barnett have said they wanted to be less predictable on defense, and prevent opposing offensive coordinators and quarterbacks from anticipating with certainty where defenders are going to be. They’ve achieved that this year, and they’ll look to build on that as this defense continues to mature in the weeks and months ahead.
BACK TO LUCAS, SIMMONS, COOPER
* Cooper has taken a step of improvement late in his career - late this season, actually - in defeating blocks in the run game.
He has only 1.5 sacks on the year and just 23 tackles. But last weekend, he had a couple of physical plus plays.
+ On the second play of the game last week, Maryland left Cooper unblocked, and tried to draw him upfield for a trap block.
Cooper didn’t take the bait. He came upfield but remained tight to the formation and anticipated a trap block from the pull guard.
The guard charged at Cooper, full-blast. Cooper got low and blasted his right shoulder into the pull guard. The guard, running at full-speed into a stand-still Cooper, got zero movement on Cooper. Cooper kept the gap tight, zero daylight, and Khari Willis came in for a near-leg tackle. It was a gain of a yard, but a painful play for Maryland. The guard found, as we all did, that Cooper can be tougher and more firm than his slender (but muscular) frame would indicate. And the RB whom Willis tackle hobbled off the field.
+ On Maryland’s second drive, Cooper made the transition from pass rush to run defense on a draw play, making the tackle and holding it to a gain of one. Looked like a vet.
+ On second-and-10 in the second quarter, Michigan State went with the 3-4 defense. Maryland tried a WR screen. (Perhaps MSU’s reason for going with a 3-4 on second-and-long was a Maryland tendency to throw short to the perimeter in those situations.)
On this play, Cooper read the screen action quickly and pursued to the sideline like an athlete.
Willis bounced the play, and Cooper made the tackle for a loss of three.
A d-end making a TFL on a WR screen? That’s the kind of day Cooper had, again, as an all-around player.
+ On the first play of the second half, Cooper took on the right tackle on an outside zone run right at him. He put two hands on the right tackle, controlled him, disengaged and made FAST convergence for a TFL.
He showed knowledge, technique, strength, ability to disengage and short-area quickness on that play.
That was perhaps the best I’ve ever seen him play the run. It’s hard to play that play better than he did.
If you didn’t know better, you’d think he was an NFL prospect on that play.
+ In the third quarter, Maryland tried that trap play again. Again, he took on the pulling guard, who was running right at him at a good rate of speed. Cooper got low and once again blasted his inside shoulder into the guard. He hit the guard so hard that the guard bounced off of him like one of those inflatable sumo wrestler outfits that you see at halftime shows. The guard, at about 300 pounds, bounced off of Cooper and back into the running back with force that knocked the RB to the ground for no gain. Seriously. This was comical.
Cooper? Was that really Cooper.
**
So what does Cooper’s strong play mean for the team and the program? Maybe not much at this late stage. But he played plus football last week and seems to be improving rather than playing out the string.
He’s always been a lean, high-ceiling, slow-improvement guy. Maybe he’s a guy that keep maturing into his 20s, like Lemar Marshall. I’m not saying he’s an NFL guy, but any NFL scout who watched the Michigan State-Maryland game came out of it with Cooper as a name to keep an eye on at the combines.
And feel free to root for him. He had some off-field trouble last off-season, that’s not who he is.
It’ll be interesting to see if he continues this upward trend into bowl practice and the postseason. Michigan State could use that from him.
ANTJUAN SIMMONS PLUS PLAYS
* Simmons played a career-high 26 snaps against Ohio State. I don’t have his snap count against the Terps, but I charted him with more plus plays than ever before.
++ On a second-and-17 in the second quarter, Michigan State went with a two-DL look, a sub-nickel type of look. They had 4-3 personnel on the field, but only had two of the four defensive linemen down in a three-point stance. Michigan State had Willekes and Dillon Alexander standing up.
Maryland surprised Michigan State with a counter run. Michigan State needed its front seven to convert to run defense, and Simmons more than filled the bill.
Simmons came forward and took on the lead-blocking H-back. Simmons not only took on the H-back, he took him on low, in Pat Narduzzi fashion, and flat-out sawed off that guy at the knees.
Simmons’ play cleared the way for Morrissey to come forward and make a clean tackle and hold what looked like a promising play to a gain of 2.
+ Simmons had a TFL on a read option counter. Maryland optioned Willekes, leaving him unblocked. Simmons showed QUICK FEET, agile, in coming up to the edge, playing it outside-in, correctly, athletically, and strong tackling ability. Terrific play by a freshman. He looked mature, smart and showed short-area quickness.
(Gerald Owens also played it with quickness, too, converging from outside-in).
+ In the second quarter, Willekes was firm against a point-of-attack blocking. Simmons played behind him, shuffled with quickness and stopped the RB for no gain. Good quickness in playing square. He’s there on time, perhaps gaining more trust and consistency in doing that than Dowell has established.
+ Good tackle, reading and CLOSING QUICKLY to lay out to stop a ball carrier after a gain of 7. Joe Bachie had gotten out of his gap on a third-and-two play, and Simmons cleaned it up before it got out to the third level.
(Bachie had a good game. This was an isolated incident for him).
COLLIN LUCAS PLUS PLAYS
Lucas (6-1, 232, Jr., Avon Lake, Ohio) has been a functional FB most of the season. But he had never been what I would call a forceful fullback - until last Saturday.
Some notable ones:
+ On LJ Scott’s 14-yard run on the opening drive, Lucas put a physical block on the MLB. (David Beedle controlled the d-end and mvoed him two yards).
+ On Scott’s 2-yard TD run in the first quarter, Lucas put a lead block on the outside linebacker. Physical hit.
+ On MSU’s third drive of the game, Lucas hammered an inside linebacker and won the collision. Scott gained eight yards (Higby pulled and executed a physical kickout block).
Over the course of the game, this was the hardest I’ve ever seen Lucas hit people. He wasn’t a crusher. But he was forceful. It’s as if he has an improved mental grasp on where to be and how to do it, so now he’s loading up with more power. This is a great development for the run game.
ONE MORE THING …
Michigan State did a good job of establishing the inside zone run last week.
Off of that, they made the defense bite on the inside zone, and QB Brian Lewerke was able to fake the zone and keep it as part of the zone read option for a 25-yard TD (and a 12-yard keeper earlier in the drive).
After those plays, Lewerke said he noticed the d-end staying wider to honor the QB keeper, which kept things a little cleaner for the RB to run inside.
Example: On a third-and-four in the third quarter, Michigan State ran an inside zone out of the shot gun.
But it wasn’t just any zone read. It was a zone read option. But the DE stayed home to honor Lewerke. So he handed it to Holmes.
Holmes broke out for a gain of 15 on the play, getting a good double-team block from Kevin Jarvis and Luke Campbell on the right side. They destroyed a Maryland defensive tackle, moving him back three yards.
**
Michigan State wasn’t perfect last week, left some points on the field, and allowed Maryland to get back into the game in the last five minutes - similar to the Minnesota game in some respects.
The challenge this week is to gain control early - like the Spartans did against Minnesota and Maryland - and (this time) finish the job with a TKO before the fourth quarter.
KICK IT OFF
An abbreviated (compared to the usual Pre-Snap Read) look at the opponent:
RUTGERS THIS YEAR:
L Washington 30, Rutgers 14
L Eastern Michigan 16, Rutgers 13
W Rutgers 65, Morgan State 0
L Nebraska 27, Rutgers 17
L Ohio State 56, Rutgers 0
W Rutgers 35, Illinois 24
W Rutgers 14, Purdue 12
L Michigan 35, Rutgers 14
W Rutgers 31, Maryland 24
L Penn State 35, Rutgers 6
L Indiana 41, Rutgers 0
“Three Big Ten wins in your second year and a chance to get a fourth is a step in the right direction,” said Rutgers offensive coordinator Jerry Kill. “The one we really messed up was Eastern Michigan. You have to win that game. And I think Indiana is a lot better team than their record shows because of their schedule. They had some really good skill players.”
LAST WEEK: Indiana 41, Rutgers 0
That was Indiana’s first Big Ten shutout since 1993, and is the largest margin of victory in a Big Ten game since 1990.
* Indiana out-rushed Rutgers 267-87.
* Indiana had two running backs rush for more than 100 a yards - Morgan Ellison rushed for 148 yards and Cole Gest rushed for 104.
Rutgers coach Chris Ash was asked what message he would want to send to Rutgers fans after that game:
“That we’re better than this,” he said. “We’ve been better than this, we’ve played better than this. We’ve come too far to play a game like this. It’s on me. Gotta find a way to coach better. It’s a 41-0 ass kicking. We have improved, we’ve done a lot of good things this year, this wasn’t a good day.”
So that’s the challenge for Rutgers. Are they playing out the string? Do they have anything to pay for?
Rutgers is looking for a fourth Big Ten win, which would be the most the Scarlet Knights have had in a season since joining the conference. Ash is trying to use that, along with Senior Day, as motivation.
We’ll see if any of it works. If it doesn’t work, Rutgers is likely headed for another blowout, shutout loss, or something similar.
THE MACRO ON RUTGERS:
* They are a run-oriented team, without much run-game power.
They have a pair of pretty good running backs, and Rutgers does some good things with inside zone blocking. But they don’t have enough balance to spread a defense out.
They don’t have a pass game to back the defense off.
And their run game is not varied. I saw them pull a lineman only once in the first three quarters against Penn State.
They run the inside zone well. But if that’s ALL that you do, and you don’t have a pass game to balance it out, the end results aren’t going to be good. And that’s Rutgers’ offense.
* Rutgers is dead last in the Big Ten in total offense and 13th in scoring offense.
* Rutgers is No. 6 in the Big Ten in rushing offense at 159 yards per game (Michigan State is No. 7 at 158 per game).
* Rutgers averages 4.1 yards per carry, Michigan State averages 4.0 yards per carry.
* Rutgers has thrown only six TD passes all year, against nine INTs.
* Rutgers is averaging only 117 yards passing per game.
* Rutgers has allowed the fewest sacks in the Big Ten at 16, partly because they rarely throw the ball (Only Minnesota has attempted fewer passes this year in the Big Ten).
But their pass protection honestly looks pretty good when I watched them closely against PSU two weeks ago. Pretty good and QB Giovanni Rescigno is elusive in the pocket.
RUTGERS DEFENSE:
* Rutgers ranks No. 11 in the Big Ten in rushing defense at 179 yards per game, and is No. 13 in the Big Ten in yards allowed per carry (4.7), trailing only Nebraska’s 5.4.
* Pass defense isn’t any better. Rutgers is allowing 7.2 yards per pass attempt which is tied for worst in the Big Ten.
* Does Rutgers do anything well on defense? Not really, but they rank No. 4 in the Big Ten in interceptions with 12 (Michigan State is No. 5 with 11).
* Rutgers is tied for last in the Big Ten in sacks with just 14 on the year.
* They run a 3-4 defense, if you were wondering.
* 6 MLB DEONTE ROBERTS is a captain and shows up on film a little bit, including a big hit on PSU’s Barkley in the 3q vs a speed option pitch.
* Player of Note: No. 58 d-end KEMOKO TURAY (6-5, 247, Sr., Newark, NJ).
Turay has a team-high 2.5 sacks on the year.
Turay was honorable mention All-Big Ten by media as a freshman in 2014, with 7.5 sacks and no starts. Media voted him in despite not being a starter and being a passing down specialist.
He’s had a pretty good senior year with 53 tackles, ranking fourth on the team.
* DT 95 JON BATEKY (6-3, 300, Jr.)
+ Had a sack against PSU in the first quarter, grabbling the PSU left guard, pulling him forward off-balance, and going around him, running the hoop fairly decently.
They have some guys that are good once in awhile but, as a defense, they have trouble stringing plays and series together (like Maryland).
* S 2 KIY HESTER (6-0, 208, Jr., Plainfield, NJ), you may remember him. Michigan State recruited him, probably came in second.
* I watched him a little bit in a couple of games, arrived at no opinion.
OTHER STUFF:
* Rutgers went with Louisville grad transfer Kyle Bolin as the starting QB for the first half of the season.
Then Rutgers replaced him with Giovanni Rescigno, who had started a little bit last year.
Last week, Rescigno was replaced by freshman QB JOHNATHAN LEWIS (6-3, 240). Lewis had a team-high 36 yards rushing on six carries.
Rescigno took some hard shots last week, “I’m surprised he got up a couple of times,” said o-coordinator Jerry Kill. “It’s a unit thing. He needs guys to get open.”
So the QB controversy continues at Rutgers. Ash indicated that Rescigno is likely to remain the starter but said it would be evaluated this week in practice.
Evaluating practice in week 12 to make a QB decision is … not ideal.
TWO WEEKS AGO VS PENN STATE (a 35-6 loss):
* Rutgers had won three out of four games heading into this bout at Happy Valley. And Rutgers played real well for two quarters.
* Through the first 18 minutes of the game, Rutgers had out-rushed Penn State 90-11, thanks to two or three chunk plays. Rutgers kicked a pair of early field goals to go up 6-0 (thanks to a fumbled opening kickoff on one; but Rutgers drove and earned the second field goal).
* PSU had trailed for only 15 minutes all season in the first nine games of the year, prior to the Rutgers game. Then Rutgers went out and led against PSU for 20 minutes in the first half of that game.
Then PSU dominated the last few minutes of the first half and the entire second half.
RUTGERS PERSONNEL TO KNOW
* QB Giovanni Rescigno (6-3, 228, Jr.)
* Was 0-5 as a starter last year. Had a 3-1 streak as a starter this year prior to losing the last two games.
Is completing 48.5 pct of his passes. Has 2 TDs and 1 INT on the year. He has started six games and played in eight.
* Rescigno replaced Louisville transfer Kyle Bolin as the starting QB midway through the season.
* Bolin started five games. He completed 55 pct of his passes with 3 TDs and 6 INTs.
* Rescigno isn’t much of a passer but he provides more lively legs than Bolin.
* Rescigno runs with quick feet, almost as quick as Brian Lewerke. Kind of similar that way. But he is erratic as a passer.
* WR Janarion Grant (5-10, 178, Sr., Trilby, Fla.) was slowed by an ankle injury this year. He is listed as questionable this weekend. He didn’t crack the box score last week. He has seen action in only seven games and has just 16 catches this year after considering a jump to the NFL after last year.
+ Grant had a 65-yard TD run against Michigan off an direct snap.
* Their leading pass catcher is tight end Jerome Washington (No. 88, 6-4, 258, Elizabeth, NJ), who has 27 catches and 1 TD. He is averaging 24.8 yards receiving per game.
He was a four-star recruit. He signed with Miami but was given a release after Miami changed coaches.
IS RUTGERS A THREAT?
Probably not - unless you fumble kickoffs like Penn State once.
Rescigno is erratic, but - if healthy - Janarion Grant is a game-breaker. The combination of an erratic QB and a game-breaking WR is essentially what Minnesota had in successfully rolling the dice a few times late in its game against Michigan State.
Can Rutgers duplicate that? It’s doubtful.
* RUTGERS RUN GAME
* Very, very basic inside zone run game from the shot gun and some pistol. They didn’t run anything but zone vs PSU until they ran a power late in the 3q. Then it was back to zone.
Rescigno has good foot quickness, very good, but I didn’t see them run zone read option keepers for the QB at all vs PSU. Maybe they’re trying to keep him healthy.
But I don’t remember Jerry Kill running any zone read option while at Minnesota. They were primarily a designed-give team, although playing in shot gun with a zone read type of mesh. It wasn’t often an actual read, from what I could gather.
They are shot gun inside zone team. Over and over. It’s strange to do that as your primary look without incorporating the read/keeper.
Michigan State’s defense, if it does ONE thing especially well, it’s stopping the basic inside zone.
I would expect Michigan State to stifle the Rutgers run game, unless Rutgers has some broad new wrinkles, which I don’t expect.
THE RUTGERS RUN GAME
* RB Gus Edwards (6-1, 235, Sr., Staten Island, NY) has 703 yards on the year, averaging 63 per game and 4.4 per carry with six TDs. He broke the 100-yard mark once this year with 109 yards on 21 carries three weeks ago against Maryland.
* Good inside runner.
Last week, he had seven carries last week for 30 yards.
Two weeks ago against Penn State, he had 13 carries for 43 yards.
* 80 percent of their play calls in the red zone this year are run plays.
* RB Robert Martin (5-11, 212, Sr.)
* Led team with 625 yards last year.
* RB Raheem Blackshear (5-9, 185, Warminster, Pa.) rushed for 87 yards against Illinois.
* Good speed to the outside. Good future.
You may remember that he visited Michigan State last January and was a silent verbal at one time. It’s unclear whether he backed off on Michigan State, or the other way around. But an impending commitment was broken at some point.
Rutgers might not be the most motivated team in the world on Saturday, but Blackshear will be.
INTERESTING QUOTE
* O-Coordinator Jerry Kill on the state of the Rutgers program: “I was fortunate to have the same people, most of them for 16 to 20 years. Continuity, when you’re turning around a program is very, very important. I’ve done this five different times and this isn’t any different than the other five - we had the same questions about quarterback and this and that. In some ways, this is Coach Ash’s first year because when you take over the job late, it’s tough. But we’ve made some progress. I think that’s evident in some areas. We just haven’t got everything fixed yet and that only comes through recruiting and continuity.
“We have two or three guys playing both ways. We just don’t have the depth. That comes with recruiting.
“This job wouldn’t have been open if it was a great job at the time. Most of the time the job is open because there are issues, and a lot of them. You just can’t take care of all of them all at once.
“I think getting three Big Ten wins was important. We need to get a fourth one.
“Why we played the way we did against Indiana, I don’t know. I asked all five quarterbacks that, and we talked about it. We just didn’t play like we’ve been playing. Even in the loss to Penn State, I thought we played hard and did some good things.
“Against Indiana, I think they got up so fast and emotionally our kids didn’t respond. They got on us so quick and I think our kids were culture shocked. I think that’s a sign of a team that hasn’t been there. Maybe they were nervous because they were playing to have a chance to go to a bowl game and they haven’t been used to that for awhile. Those are the million-dollar questions. If you get ‘em answered, send them to me.”
SPECIAL TEAMS
* Their punter ranks No. 1 in the Big Ten at 44.6 per attempt, and No. 1 in the Big Ten in kickoff net average.
* Rutgers opened the Penn State game two weeks ago with a pooch kickoff (to avoid Barkley), and Rutgers recovered it. Michigan State doesn’t have a Barkley, but Rutgers is in need of some life, and has little to lose, so something tricky on the opening kick is possible.
* Trailing 21-6 late in the 3q, Rutgers faked a punt at PSU and failed. They snapped it to one of the punt protectors and tried to run straight into the line. Didn’t work. But this is a team with nothing to lose.
ADD IT ALL UP
If MSU has a motivational edge over Rutgers in this game, the Spartan run game SHOULD put a hole in these guys, any way they choose. With good weather, facing a team that doesn’t specialize in stopping the run, or the pass or rushing the passer, Michigan State SHOULD finally (for the first time in the conference season) establish some offensive balance - perhaps in impressive form.
Michigan State has as much offensive balance POTENTIAL as any team in the Big Ten (with the possible exception of Ohio State and maybe Penn State). That potential hasn’t been met this year, but it could come to fruition in this game, with Lewerke, his receivers, and MSU’s running backs sharing the ball with good productivity.
On defense, Rutgers isn’t difficult to solve, and Michigan State specializes in stopping what Rutgers tries to do well.
I wouldn’t expect Rutgers to pull a page out of the Pitt Panthers playbook and play inspired, physical football in this game.
