Read & React: Let's Talk MSU Football
Jim Comparoni • SpartanMag.com
@JimComparoni
EAST LANSING - This is a new feature in which we list some noteworthy quotes from Mark Dantonio’s press conference, you read them, and we react.
Dantonio on LJ Scott’s problems with fumbling last year:
“He's got to hold onto the football. He was very good really the two previous years. He had some hits, blocking assignments maybe not made, whatever the case. I think his knowledge of the game has improved over the course of time. I think he'll be ready to play. I think he's ready to play. I think he is looking forward to this season. There's a reason he came back and is looking forward to it.”
Reaction: I think LJ Scott is going to have a big game, Friday night. I think the Spartans are going to load up and test Utah State with heavy formations the way they did against Washington State, and I think Michigan State will succeed. Michigan State might not play it that way in its first two possessions, but by the third possession, I think we’ll see regular doses of 22 (two backs, two tights) or even 23 personnel (two backs, three tights).
I expect Scott to run with the tenacity he showed in the Holiday Bowl, something he hasn’t been able to harness week-in and week-out as a Spartan. He ran harder in the bowl game, into contact, through contact. He’s usually good when coming off a break, with something to prove, and both of those dynamics are in place this week.
The question is whether he will continue to play well, week-in and week-out. Does he have the durability, the ball security? Those are questions that can be the difference between an 8-4 season and a 10-2 season. If he can play eight or nine or 10 games like he did against Washington State, a tough Michigan State team becomes even tougher.
If he coughs up the ball as he did at times last year (three fumbles in the first three games), and in 2016 in the turning-point moment of a turning-point game against Wisconsin, then something south of 9-3 could happen.
Things develop quickly at tailback. By week two or three, we might be talking about Connor Heyward as a rising star in the conference, or one of the freshmen as a surprisingly effective weapon. That’s why August talk is limited in terms of body-of-work evidence. There are enough times when we as public and media don’t know what we’re talking about. In August, there are times when we don’t know what we don’t know. MSU’s back-up tailback situation fits that description. But so does the talented starter.
On senior linebacker Jon Reschke:
Jon Reschke pressures Indiana's Nate Sudfeld in 2015.
“He's been out of football for two years. I think he'll show up on some special teams, different areas. He's done what he's needed to do. Our football team feels as they do about him. We're going to play him as we play all of our players, really.
“Sort of continue to watch that situation. It sort of is what it is. The other two guys deserve an opportunity to play, the guys we talked about earlier (Tyriq Thompson and Brandon Randle). I'm sure he'll see the field.” - Dantonio
**
Reaction: Reschke has worked to try to regain favor with teammates after an inexcusable comment made in the winter of 2016/17, which caused his dismissal from the team. Then he petitioned to return to the team, and gained the apparent unanimous blessing of his teammates.
None of that stuff is any of my business.
As for football, I’m hearing that he is hustling around and playing well. Joe Bachie described him as an “energy bunny.”
Bachie was a true freshman in 2016 when Reschke last played for the Spartans. They shared the practice field in August and September of 2016 when Bachie was working his way up from scout team and into an emergency role as a reserve after Reschke went down with a foot injury and Riley Bullough battled a shoulder injury.
(Continued below)
Jim Comparoni • SpartanMag.com
@JimComparoni
EAST LANSING - This is a new feature in which we list some noteworthy quotes from Mark Dantonio’s press conference, you read them, and we react.
Dantonio on LJ Scott’s problems with fumbling last year:
“He's got to hold onto the football. He was very good really the two previous years. He had some hits, blocking assignments maybe not made, whatever the case. I think his knowledge of the game has improved over the course of time. I think he'll be ready to play. I think he's ready to play. I think he is looking forward to this season. There's a reason he came back and is looking forward to it.”
Reaction: I think LJ Scott is going to have a big game, Friday night. I think the Spartans are going to load up and test Utah State with heavy formations the way they did against Washington State, and I think Michigan State will succeed. Michigan State might not play it that way in its first two possessions, but by the third possession, I think we’ll see regular doses of 22 (two backs, two tights) or even 23 personnel (two backs, three tights).
I expect Scott to run with the tenacity he showed in the Holiday Bowl, something he hasn’t been able to harness week-in and week-out as a Spartan. He ran harder in the bowl game, into contact, through contact. He’s usually good when coming off a break, with something to prove, and both of those dynamics are in place this week.
The question is whether he will continue to play well, week-in and week-out. Does he have the durability, the ball security? Those are questions that can be the difference between an 8-4 season and a 10-2 season. If he can play eight or nine or 10 games like he did against Washington State, a tough Michigan State team becomes even tougher.
If he coughs up the ball as he did at times last year (three fumbles in the first three games), and in 2016 in the turning-point moment of a turning-point game against Wisconsin, then something south of 9-3 could happen.
Things develop quickly at tailback. By week two or three, we might be talking about Connor Heyward as a rising star in the conference, or one of the freshmen as a surprisingly effective weapon. That’s why August talk is limited in terms of body-of-work evidence. There are enough times when we as public and media don’t know what we’re talking about. In August, there are times when we don’t know what we don’t know. MSU’s back-up tailback situation fits that description. But so does the talented starter.
On senior linebacker Jon Reschke:
Jon Reschke pressures Indiana's Nate Sudfeld in 2015.
“He's been out of football for two years. I think he'll show up on some special teams, different areas. He's done what he's needed to do. Our football team feels as they do about him. We're going to play him as we play all of our players, really.
“Sort of continue to watch that situation. It sort of is what it is. The other two guys deserve an opportunity to play, the guys we talked about earlier (Tyriq Thompson and Brandon Randle). I'm sure he'll see the field.” - Dantonio
**
Reaction: Reschke has worked to try to regain favor with teammates after an inexcusable comment made in the winter of 2016/17, which caused his dismissal from the team. Then he petitioned to return to the team, and gained the apparent unanimous blessing of his teammates.
None of that stuff is any of my business.
As for football, I’m hearing that he is hustling around and playing well. Joe Bachie described him as an “energy bunny.”
Bachie was a true freshman in 2016 when Reschke last played for the Spartans. They shared the practice field in August and September of 2016 when Bachie was working his way up from scout team and into an emergency role as a reserve after Reschke went down with a foot injury and Riley Bullough battled a shoulder injury.
(Continued below)
