The 3-2-1 for Northwestern Week
Jim Comparoni | Editor
EAST LANSING - Three things we learned during Wednesday’s assistant coach interviews, two questions and one prediction:
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
1. Michigan State’s losing streak could be having a negative impact on special teams enthusiasm.
When co-defensive coordinator Mike Tressel was asked about specials teams - an area that he used to oversee, prior to 2015 - at first he said he didn’t “want to get into too much detail, being as that’s not my role right now.”
And then he proceeded to provide some interesting hypotheticals that apparently are being addressed this week.
“When things aren’t going perfect, maybe the effort in practice on special teams isn’t as good,” Tressel said, “or maybe your starters or star players don’t want to be on as many special teams.”
Special teams units under Mark Dantonio have often consisted of a mixture of reserves and starters, sometimes with star players contributing. After Jeremy Langford broke through as a feature running back in 2013, he was still being used on some of the special teams, often in a coverage role.
That type of selflessness is apparently lacking.
“We need to make sure the team mentality is: This is an area where we can change the game, and we’ve been preaching that this week,” Tressel said.
Michigan State ranks 13th in the Big Ten in kickoff return average, at 19.6 per attempt and 11th in punt return average.
The Spartans are a respectable sixth in net punting, at 38.1 allowing an average of 1.9 yards per return
MSU’s kickoff coverage ranks No. 2 in the Big Ten, with a net average of 43.3 yards.
Ironically, over-enthusiasm was a hinderance to Spartan special teams during the loss at Indiana on Oct. 1.
Drake Martinez’ personal foul for leaping onto the pile during a failed Indiana field goal in overtime gave the Hoosiers a second chance to kick it, which resulted in Indiana’s game-winning field goal.
Martinez also erred in failing to break down under control while covering a punt earlier in the game, which allowed Indiana punt returner Paige Mitchell to get free for a 31-yard return.
Freshman Justin Layne replaced Martinez as the left gunner on punt coverage against Brigham Young, with speed sophomore linebacker TJ Harrell remaining the right gunner.
“He needs to keep rolling as a runner and a special teams player,” Tressel said of Harrell, who has been unable to break into the regular playing group on defense. “He’s going to continue to get opportunities in practice at the ‘star’ linebacker spot, especially against a team like Northwestern.”
2. Tressel feels Michigan State’s problems with gap discipline might stem from the team’s lack of success in general.
Michigan State’s gap errors on defense against BYU didn’t start springing up in the second half, as Brigham Young drove for a 10-7 lead, then a 17-7 lead and more.
There were two common threads to this trend. One, Malik McDowell had just entered the game in the third quarter, after sitting out the first half due to a targeting suspension. Two, the Spartans lost their lead and began contemplating the reality of another game getting away from them.
McDowell was the most explosive defensive player on the field for the Spartans. But he was seen getting out of his gap, trying to make a play in someone else’s gap. On a few occasions, the BYU ball carrier cut back into the daylight left open in the gap that McDowell should have been manning.
The longer BYU held the ball and drove, the more unforced errors the Spartans made.
“A lot of times what happens when you’re pressing is you don’t sell out to do your job because you’re worried about trying to help somebody else out with their job,” Tressel said. “We need to make sure that we believe our job is absolutely critical and we trust other people to do their job.”
Trusting your teammate to do his job within Michigan State’s one-gap scheme is a commandment we’ve heard from Spartan coaches every year. Apparently, people along the defensive line need to be taught and re-taught this rule each season, especially freshmen and new players within the program.
Interestingly, these basic gap control problems weren’t an issue in other games this year. They sprung up in the second half the BYU game more so than at any moment all year, probably catching the coaches by surprise.
“A lack of discipline or a lack of attention to detail
makes you sick as a coach,” Tressel said “If it’s showing up there on film, then there’s something I need to do better. It makes you sick to your stomach. Gap discipline is something you preach. The bottom line is that attention to detail.
“We need to handle adversity better,” Tressel added. “We’ve played very, very very good football in the first half the last four games, but then when one thing goes wrong we’re not handling that great. That’s probably the biggest thing that we need to figure out.”
Tressel acknowledged that McDowell, who is otherwise having an All-America type season, was a bit over-amped due to having to sit out for two quarters.
“Yeah, that whole situation was hard on him,” Tressel said. “Getting ejected from a game when you feel like you did everything you could to stay low was hard on him. I mean that’s a 6-foot-7 dude trying to stay low, and he did a pretty good job of it. Then you sit out the first half, so that was something he’s never experienced before.
“He came in in the second half and he made some big plays, but … consistency. You’re hearing a common theme here in consistency and attention to detail. If we were to say, ‘Hey, this is where we’re going to be better,’ it’s consistency and attention to detail and handling adversity, because we have played some very good football, but certainly not 60 minutes.”
3. Ed Davis has made a little more progress.
Saturday’s game against BYU marked the first time since Michigan State’s victory over Baylor in the Cotton Bowl Classic in 2014 that Ed Davis has played ‘money’ linebacker as part of the regular defense.
Davis missed last year with a knee injury. He played one snap in the nickel defense against Notre Dame. Then he played a bit more against Wisconsin. He didn’t look nearly as fast as the old second-team All-Big Ten Davis in those game.
Then against Indiana, he began to show a little better speed.
And against BYU, he increased his speed a bit more, and learned he could withstand cut blocks and crackback blocks again.
“It’s been a slowly but surely thing in terms of getting Ed mentally healthy,” Tressel said. “Last week was the first time he played a lot of base defense and he had people throwing on his legs multiple times and had to play through that. He had to take on linemen free-releasing up to him and play very physical, and really plant off of both legs.
“I think he came out of the game, for the first time, saying, ‘I got a lot of reps, people throwing at my legs, and I feel good.’ So there hasn’t been any hesitation or any times where he has sat out of practice this week. It’s been 100 percent taking tons and tons of reps. So I’m excited.”
TWO QUESTIONS:
1. Why is wide receiver route running suddenly an issue?
The simple answer is youth. But Dantonio probably doesn’t accept that explanation.
Dantonio mentioned in press conferences last week that a receiver ran a route at 13 yards when it was supposed to be a 17-yarder against Indiana. He mentioned another time a receiver was in run blocking when he was supposed to be out on a route.
If there were route errors in the BYU game, we weren’t made aware of them. But receivers had trouble getting open on some third-down plays against the Cougars, and that led to one of Tyler O’Connor’s two sacks on third-and-six situations in the third quarter.
“We need to run harder,” wide receivers coach Terry Samuel said of his players. “We need to make more plays for our quarterbacks and make things easier.
“Some guys go out there and sometimes they just float and they really don’t understand the why, the sense of urgency, the reason why you call a certain play.
“The more they experience it, the more they get better and they started making more plays and then the confidence comes.
“I think some older guys are playing okay and some younger guys are just coming.”
Freshman Donnie Corley has turned in outstanding plays. He ranks second on the team in catches with 16. He served as a reliable target on a fourth-and-two conversion against BYU on a short hitch during Michigan State’s opening drive of the game.
However, he dropped a deep pass against Indiana, and accidentally took a deep route too far wide, and out of bounds, in the first half of the BYU game - negating a terrific catch he made in the end zone.
“(Don’t) get pushed wide,” Samuel said. “(He should) stay vertical, attack the DBs. That’s the learning curve. He made a great catch on it. Just didn't count.”
It’s unclear which other young receivers have also been guilty of subtle mistakes, but Samuel says it’s an area of emphasis.
“They’re going to make mistakes and you’ve got to coach them through it,” Samuel said.
The art of reading defenses is a new task for the young receivers.
“There’s going to be mistakes and teams are being smart in how they’re trying to show some things to my young wide receivers. My older guys are fine. They’re making their adjustments but younger guys are going to do that. I’ve just got to teach them better. Me, as a coach, I’ve got to do a better job of getting guys prepared, and they’ve got to get themselves prepared as well.”
Is this something that should have been recognized and corrected a few weeks earlier?
“It’s no different than what we were at in 2012,” Samuel said. “We’re just trying to coach the guys through it (and) make sure they understand the why. When you execute in your little world, then you let everything kind of fall into place.”
In 2012, Michigan State had a host of talented wide receivers who went on to play in the NFL, but they had severe problems with dropped passes in 2012. However, getting open, and running the proper routes didn’t emerge as a point of criticism from the head coach that year.
2. Will the pass rush ever improve?
Michigan State has five sacks on the season, ranking 14th in the Big Ten.
Demetrius Cooper showed some life on Saturday, with a pair of QB hits - including one that resulted in a hurried, inaccurate pass on third down and a punt.
But Cooper also missed a tackle in a non-pass rush situation, on a third-down zone read QB keeper, that resulted in a converted third down during BYU’s opening drive of the second half. BYU went on to score on that drive, taking the lead for good at 10-7.
Against the Cougars, Spartan defensive ends, from Cooper to Evan Jones and Josh King, and blitzing linebackers Chris Frey and Andrew Dowell, gave good effort and brought quick take-offs. But Spartan players are losing once the opposing blockers begin to engage. No one is separating, winning with their hands, creating shock, or making themselves small with dip-and-rip moves. When blockers engage, MSU pass rushers seem to become paralyzed.
Cooper's missed tackle on third-and-2 prevent MSU from getting the ball back with 4:30 left, down 24-14.
One exception was a decent spin move by Cooper, which resulted in the quarterback hurry on third down.
“Mainly it is individual battles that need to be won,” Tressel said. “You look at a Cooper for example, he’s a very good pass rusher and hasn’t got home yet. He’s gotten hits.
“It will come in bunches. Malik McDowell, he’s gotten hits on the quarterback but people are getting rid of the football.”
Like every other problem with this team this season, the pass rush problems have a cumulative component as well.
“If our coverage could make him hold on to the ball for one more count, all of a sudden instead of five it’s 15 sacks,” Tressel said. “But the bottom line is this: our d-line right now is putting pressure on themselves to get home. It’s been a big emphasis. (It was) last week too and we didn’t come up with any sacks.
“I feel pretty good that we’re putting together a plan that will allow all those guys to cut it loose.”
ONE PREDICTION:
1. Justin Layne’s role will continue to increase.
The freshman first saw the field at wide receiver against Wisconsin. Last week, he saw the field on special teams, and also changed his number to 39 and replaced Tyson Smith at field cornerback.
Smith took the starting role with senior Darian Hicks sitting out after sustaining an upper body injury against Indiana.
Layne replaced Smith at the outset of the fourth quarter against BYU and played the rest of the game. On his second snap, BYU tested him with a deep skinny post into the end zone. He covered it well for an incompletion.
Coaches say he is showing excellent ability at a corner. We saw a little bit of it against BYU.
His background as a terrific wide receiver might enable him to play the ball in the deep part of the field better than Hicks and Smith. Hicks has struggled in that area throughout his career, and was hoping for finish strong as a senior. Smith is a promising player, but looked a little bit like Hicks in giving up a 41-yarder against Indiana.
Samuel would like to keep Layne in his wide receiver corps, but he is understanding of the situation.
“I’m always trying to keep my wideouts, I'm not exactly trying to share them over there,” Samuel said. “It's all hands on deck. If he can go out there and make plays, he needs to be on the field making plays. I knew how good of an athlete he was on both sides of the ball. So it was something we always kind of talked about.”
Is Layne mostly practicing with a defensive emphasis now?
Samuel said it’s not quite 50-50.
“We're just trying to soak him enough where he's functional,” Samuel said.
DEVELOPMENTAL UPDATES
* Tressel on Andrew Dowell: “He’s a young football player, first year starting, we are preaching the attention to detail. There’s a couple of third-and-mediums his eyes drifted a little bit, and on third-and-medium against a good player the quarterback only needs a little window (to beat you). So we’re making sure he understands, no you don’t have to be perfect, but the little things, they’re critical.”
* Tressel on TJ Harrell: “It’s pretty similar to what I just said about Andrew Dowell: Hey, let’s do the little things perfect. I know you guys can run. I know you guys can make big plays. But play-in and play-out, the ones where you don’t have opportunities for a big play, are you doing the little things right?”
* Tressel on Josh King, and Auston Robertson: “We’re still trying to work Auston in, but Josh King is really coming along. Josh King has the tools. He’s starting to learn the defense. And now he needs to gain confidence in terms of going full speed ahead, that he can go full speed ahead and still know what to do.
“If you turned on the tape and focused on him, you’d see plays where he is playing 100 miles an hour, and you would also see plays when you could tell he was trying to analyze and think before he went. So we get him to use all of his tools every play, he will get more and more opportunities.”
* Samuel on WR blocking: "It's up and down. I think Monty’s blocking really well. RJ could be better blocking but the young guys, Donnie attacks people. He really attacks people but technique-wise you’ve got to understand how to do it, when to do it, so that’s what those young guys have got to understand. Sometimes it’s not a matter of attacking it. It’s just being in a position to take away his leverage, his responsibility and then using that against him. But the willingness, the effort is there. They’ve just got to fine-tune how to do it."
* Samuel on Felton Davis: "I want to see as good of an athlete as he is. I want him to play aggressive. He is, quite frankly, one of the best athletes I've seen as far as height, speed. He may be the second fastest guy, with RJ. just might be the fastest guy. We need to see that. He's been nursing some things, just coming back. Now it's time to start playing fast."
* Samuel on Darrell Stewart no longer returning punts: "I think the biggest thing is comfort. Darrell is very explosive but he's got to be able to execute on time. If he's nervous, if he's uncomfortable with things, he's one of those guys that feels everything. He's really a genuine, caring, loving kid. He cares. Sometimes when he cares he doesn't let it go. Certain mistakes he has, he just has to learn how to let it go. He has to learn how to control those things, put it in the moment and take care of his job."
* Samuel on Cam Chambers: "The only reason why he's not in the mix is because I have a big 6-4 wide receiver at the position. I got Monty playing well at the same position, and like I said about Darrell. You got guys. That body type that he has, he could play right now. It's not even a question. The question is do you need him. I don't want to burn a guy's redshirt when you dont need him."
WHO’S HOT, WHO NEEDS TO GET HOT:
Hot: Brandon Clemons.
He was more than serviceable as an emergency replacement defensive tackle on Saturday, with Raequan Williams out with an arm injury and McDowell missing the first half with a suspension.
Clemons was solid against double-teams most of the day, with one or two exceptions. And he made a couple of plays in the backfield off of penetration.
When Brian Allen and Kodi Kieler were lost to what appear to be minor injuries, Clemons moved back over to offense and played right guard during Damion Terry’s TD drive. Then he went right back on the field for a handful of defensive snaps.
“As much as you could ask out of somebody who hasn’t been a full-time defensive lineman for a long time, (he did really well. Really well,” Tressel said. “He did some things that needed to be corrected but in general he was physical, he had knock-back. Considering how many reps he has had on d-line, he was very good.”
Needs To Get Hot: Junior LB Shane Jones.
Jones is giving good effort, doing his best. He has improved himself by improving his speed for the 2016 season. He’s having to play every healthy down that he can at Mike linebacker with Riley Bullough out due to an upper body injury.
Jones missed some time against BYU with an injury as well. But his replacement, Byron Bullough, had some struggles, and had to leave the game with an injury of his own.
So Jones came back in and played hurt and did what he could. But he was victimized with at least four missed tackles, which is too costly for his position. One, in the open field, allowed QB Taysom Hill to get first-down yardage, which stopped the clock and enabled a field goal attempt late in the first half. Another missed tackle could have stopped a drive on fourth down. And there were others.
“There’s no doubt our defense misses a senior captain who’s run that show, and that’s a challenge for Shane or anyone else who steps into that mike backer spot,” Tressel said. “You have to bring the heart and soul and leadership that the captain used to have as well. We’re working on that.
“Just having the experience of being in there, he’s getting better and better. But there’s no doubt that’s hard.”
* Who else needs to get hot? Cooper and the entire pass rush. And of course Tyler O’Connor at the QB position.
Jim Comparoni | Editor
EAST LANSING - Three things we learned during Wednesday’s assistant coach interviews, two questions and one prediction:
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
1. Michigan State’s losing streak could be having a negative impact on special teams enthusiasm.
When co-defensive coordinator Mike Tressel was asked about specials teams - an area that he used to oversee, prior to 2015 - at first he said he didn’t “want to get into too much detail, being as that’s not my role right now.”
And then he proceeded to provide some interesting hypotheticals that apparently are being addressed this week.
“When things aren’t going perfect, maybe the effort in practice on special teams isn’t as good,” Tressel said, “or maybe your starters or star players don’t want to be on as many special teams.”
Special teams units under Mark Dantonio have often consisted of a mixture of reserves and starters, sometimes with star players contributing. After Jeremy Langford broke through as a feature running back in 2013, he was still being used on some of the special teams, often in a coverage role.
That type of selflessness is apparently lacking.
“We need to make sure the team mentality is: This is an area where we can change the game, and we’ve been preaching that this week,” Tressel said.
Michigan State ranks 13th in the Big Ten in kickoff return average, at 19.6 per attempt and 11th in punt return average.
The Spartans are a respectable sixth in net punting, at 38.1 allowing an average of 1.9 yards per return
MSU’s kickoff coverage ranks No. 2 in the Big Ten, with a net average of 43.3 yards.
Ironically, over-enthusiasm was a hinderance to Spartan special teams during the loss at Indiana on Oct. 1.
Drake Martinez’ personal foul for leaping onto the pile during a failed Indiana field goal in overtime gave the Hoosiers a second chance to kick it, which resulted in Indiana’s game-winning field goal.
Martinez also erred in failing to break down under control while covering a punt earlier in the game, which allowed Indiana punt returner Paige Mitchell to get free for a 31-yard return.
Freshman Justin Layne replaced Martinez as the left gunner on punt coverage against Brigham Young, with speed sophomore linebacker TJ Harrell remaining the right gunner.
“He needs to keep rolling as a runner and a special teams player,” Tressel said of Harrell, who has been unable to break into the regular playing group on defense. “He’s going to continue to get opportunities in practice at the ‘star’ linebacker spot, especially against a team like Northwestern.”
2. Tressel feels Michigan State’s problems with gap discipline might stem from the team’s lack of success in general.
Michigan State’s gap errors on defense against BYU didn’t start springing up in the second half, as Brigham Young drove for a 10-7 lead, then a 17-7 lead and more.
There were two common threads to this trend. One, Malik McDowell had just entered the game in the third quarter, after sitting out the first half due to a targeting suspension. Two, the Spartans lost their lead and began contemplating the reality of another game getting away from them.
McDowell was the most explosive defensive player on the field for the Spartans. But he was seen getting out of his gap, trying to make a play in someone else’s gap. On a few occasions, the BYU ball carrier cut back into the daylight left open in the gap that McDowell should have been manning.
The longer BYU held the ball and drove, the more unforced errors the Spartans made.
“A lot of times what happens when you’re pressing is you don’t sell out to do your job because you’re worried about trying to help somebody else out with their job,” Tressel said. “We need to make sure that we believe our job is absolutely critical and we trust other people to do their job.”
Trusting your teammate to do his job within Michigan State’s one-gap scheme is a commandment we’ve heard from Spartan coaches every year. Apparently, people along the defensive line need to be taught and re-taught this rule each season, especially freshmen and new players within the program.
Interestingly, these basic gap control problems weren’t an issue in other games this year. They sprung up in the second half the BYU game more so than at any moment all year, probably catching the coaches by surprise.
“A lack of discipline or a lack of attention to detail
makes you sick as a coach,” Tressel said “If it’s showing up there on film, then there’s something I need to do better. It makes you sick to your stomach. Gap discipline is something you preach. The bottom line is that attention to detail.
“We need to handle adversity better,” Tressel added. “We’ve played very, very very good football in the first half the last four games, but then when one thing goes wrong we’re not handling that great. That’s probably the biggest thing that we need to figure out.”
Tressel acknowledged that McDowell, who is otherwise having an All-America type season, was a bit over-amped due to having to sit out for two quarters.
“Yeah, that whole situation was hard on him,” Tressel said. “Getting ejected from a game when you feel like you did everything you could to stay low was hard on him. I mean that’s a 6-foot-7 dude trying to stay low, and he did a pretty good job of it. Then you sit out the first half, so that was something he’s never experienced before.
“He came in in the second half and he made some big plays, but … consistency. You’re hearing a common theme here in consistency and attention to detail. If we were to say, ‘Hey, this is where we’re going to be better,’ it’s consistency and attention to detail and handling adversity, because we have played some very good football, but certainly not 60 minutes.”
3. Ed Davis has made a little more progress.
Saturday’s game against BYU marked the first time since Michigan State’s victory over Baylor in the Cotton Bowl Classic in 2014 that Ed Davis has played ‘money’ linebacker as part of the regular defense.
Davis missed last year with a knee injury. He played one snap in the nickel defense against Notre Dame. Then he played a bit more against Wisconsin. He didn’t look nearly as fast as the old second-team All-Big Ten Davis in those game.
Then against Indiana, he began to show a little better speed.
And against BYU, he increased his speed a bit more, and learned he could withstand cut blocks and crackback blocks again.
“It’s been a slowly but surely thing in terms of getting Ed mentally healthy,” Tressel said. “Last week was the first time he played a lot of base defense and he had people throwing on his legs multiple times and had to play through that. He had to take on linemen free-releasing up to him and play very physical, and really plant off of both legs.
“I think he came out of the game, for the first time, saying, ‘I got a lot of reps, people throwing at my legs, and I feel good.’ So there hasn’t been any hesitation or any times where he has sat out of practice this week. It’s been 100 percent taking tons and tons of reps. So I’m excited.”
TWO QUESTIONS:
1. Why is wide receiver route running suddenly an issue?
The simple answer is youth. But Dantonio probably doesn’t accept that explanation.
Dantonio mentioned in press conferences last week that a receiver ran a route at 13 yards when it was supposed to be a 17-yarder against Indiana. He mentioned another time a receiver was in run blocking when he was supposed to be out on a route.
If there were route errors in the BYU game, we weren’t made aware of them. But receivers had trouble getting open on some third-down plays against the Cougars, and that led to one of Tyler O’Connor’s two sacks on third-and-six situations in the third quarter.
“We need to run harder,” wide receivers coach Terry Samuel said of his players. “We need to make more plays for our quarterbacks and make things easier.
“Some guys go out there and sometimes they just float and they really don’t understand the why, the sense of urgency, the reason why you call a certain play.
“The more they experience it, the more they get better and they started making more plays and then the confidence comes.
“I think some older guys are playing okay and some younger guys are just coming.”
Freshman Donnie Corley has turned in outstanding plays. He ranks second on the team in catches with 16. He served as a reliable target on a fourth-and-two conversion against BYU on a short hitch during Michigan State’s opening drive of the game.
However, he dropped a deep pass against Indiana, and accidentally took a deep route too far wide, and out of bounds, in the first half of the BYU game - negating a terrific catch he made in the end zone.
“(Don’t) get pushed wide,” Samuel said. “(He should) stay vertical, attack the DBs. That’s the learning curve. He made a great catch on it. Just didn't count.”
It’s unclear which other young receivers have also been guilty of subtle mistakes, but Samuel says it’s an area of emphasis.
“They’re going to make mistakes and you’ve got to coach them through it,” Samuel said.
The art of reading defenses is a new task for the young receivers.
“There’s going to be mistakes and teams are being smart in how they’re trying to show some things to my young wide receivers. My older guys are fine. They’re making their adjustments but younger guys are going to do that. I’ve just got to teach them better. Me, as a coach, I’ve got to do a better job of getting guys prepared, and they’ve got to get themselves prepared as well.”
Is this something that should have been recognized and corrected a few weeks earlier?
“It’s no different than what we were at in 2012,” Samuel said. “We’re just trying to coach the guys through it (and) make sure they understand the why. When you execute in your little world, then you let everything kind of fall into place.”
In 2012, Michigan State had a host of talented wide receivers who went on to play in the NFL, but they had severe problems with dropped passes in 2012. However, getting open, and running the proper routes didn’t emerge as a point of criticism from the head coach that year.
2. Will the pass rush ever improve?
Michigan State has five sacks on the season, ranking 14th in the Big Ten.
Demetrius Cooper showed some life on Saturday, with a pair of QB hits - including one that resulted in a hurried, inaccurate pass on third down and a punt.
But Cooper also missed a tackle in a non-pass rush situation, on a third-down zone read QB keeper, that resulted in a converted third down during BYU’s opening drive of the second half. BYU went on to score on that drive, taking the lead for good at 10-7.
Against the Cougars, Spartan defensive ends, from Cooper to Evan Jones and Josh King, and blitzing linebackers Chris Frey and Andrew Dowell, gave good effort and brought quick take-offs. But Spartan players are losing once the opposing blockers begin to engage. No one is separating, winning with their hands, creating shock, or making themselves small with dip-and-rip moves. When blockers engage, MSU pass rushers seem to become paralyzed.
Cooper's missed tackle on third-and-2 prevent MSU from getting the ball back with 4:30 left, down 24-14.
One exception was a decent spin move by Cooper, which resulted in the quarterback hurry on third down.
“Mainly it is individual battles that need to be won,” Tressel said. “You look at a Cooper for example, he’s a very good pass rusher and hasn’t got home yet. He’s gotten hits.
“It will come in bunches. Malik McDowell, he’s gotten hits on the quarterback but people are getting rid of the football.”
Like every other problem with this team this season, the pass rush problems have a cumulative component as well.
“If our coverage could make him hold on to the ball for one more count, all of a sudden instead of five it’s 15 sacks,” Tressel said. “But the bottom line is this: our d-line right now is putting pressure on themselves to get home. It’s been a big emphasis. (It was) last week too and we didn’t come up with any sacks.
“I feel pretty good that we’re putting together a plan that will allow all those guys to cut it loose.”
ONE PREDICTION:
1. Justin Layne’s role will continue to increase.
The freshman first saw the field at wide receiver against Wisconsin. Last week, he saw the field on special teams, and also changed his number to 39 and replaced Tyson Smith at field cornerback.
Smith took the starting role with senior Darian Hicks sitting out after sustaining an upper body injury against Indiana.
Layne replaced Smith at the outset of the fourth quarter against BYU and played the rest of the game. On his second snap, BYU tested him with a deep skinny post into the end zone. He covered it well for an incompletion.
Coaches say he is showing excellent ability at a corner. We saw a little bit of it against BYU.
His background as a terrific wide receiver might enable him to play the ball in the deep part of the field better than Hicks and Smith. Hicks has struggled in that area throughout his career, and was hoping for finish strong as a senior. Smith is a promising player, but looked a little bit like Hicks in giving up a 41-yarder against Indiana.
Samuel would like to keep Layne in his wide receiver corps, but he is understanding of the situation.
“I’m always trying to keep my wideouts, I'm not exactly trying to share them over there,” Samuel said. “It's all hands on deck. If he can go out there and make plays, he needs to be on the field making plays. I knew how good of an athlete he was on both sides of the ball. So it was something we always kind of talked about.”
Is Layne mostly practicing with a defensive emphasis now?
Samuel said it’s not quite 50-50.
“We're just trying to soak him enough where he's functional,” Samuel said.
DEVELOPMENTAL UPDATES
* Tressel on Andrew Dowell: “He’s a young football player, first year starting, we are preaching the attention to detail. There’s a couple of third-and-mediums his eyes drifted a little bit, and on third-and-medium against a good player the quarterback only needs a little window (to beat you). So we’re making sure he understands, no you don’t have to be perfect, but the little things, they’re critical.”
* Tressel on TJ Harrell: “It’s pretty similar to what I just said about Andrew Dowell: Hey, let’s do the little things perfect. I know you guys can run. I know you guys can make big plays. But play-in and play-out, the ones where you don’t have opportunities for a big play, are you doing the little things right?”
* Tressel on Josh King, and Auston Robertson: “We’re still trying to work Auston in, but Josh King is really coming along. Josh King has the tools. He’s starting to learn the defense. And now he needs to gain confidence in terms of going full speed ahead, that he can go full speed ahead and still know what to do.
“If you turned on the tape and focused on him, you’d see plays where he is playing 100 miles an hour, and you would also see plays when you could tell he was trying to analyze and think before he went. So we get him to use all of his tools every play, he will get more and more opportunities.”
* Samuel on WR blocking: "It's up and down. I think Monty’s blocking really well. RJ could be better blocking but the young guys, Donnie attacks people. He really attacks people but technique-wise you’ve got to understand how to do it, when to do it, so that’s what those young guys have got to understand. Sometimes it’s not a matter of attacking it. It’s just being in a position to take away his leverage, his responsibility and then using that against him. But the willingness, the effort is there. They’ve just got to fine-tune how to do it."
* Samuel on Felton Davis: "I want to see as good of an athlete as he is. I want him to play aggressive. He is, quite frankly, one of the best athletes I've seen as far as height, speed. He may be the second fastest guy, with RJ. just might be the fastest guy. We need to see that. He's been nursing some things, just coming back. Now it's time to start playing fast."
* Samuel on Darrell Stewart no longer returning punts: "I think the biggest thing is comfort. Darrell is very explosive but he's got to be able to execute on time. If he's nervous, if he's uncomfortable with things, he's one of those guys that feels everything. He's really a genuine, caring, loving kid. He cares. Sometimes when he cares he doesn't let it go. Certain mistakes he has, he just has to learn how to let it go. He has to learn how to control those things, put it in the moment and take care of his job."
* Samuel on Cam Chambers: "The only reason why he's not in the mix is because I have a big 6-4 wide receiver at the position. I got Monty playing well at the same position, and like I said about Darrell. You got guys. That body type that he has, he could play right now. It's not even a question. The question is do you need him. I don't want to burn a guy's redshirt when you dont need him."
WHO’S HOT, WHO NEEDS TO GET HOT:
Hot: Brandon Clemons.
He was more than serviceable as an emergency replacement defensive tackle on Saturday, with Raequan Williams out with an arm injury and McDowell missing the first half with a suspension.
Clemons was solid against double-teams most of the day, with one or two exceptions. And he made a couple of plays in the backfield off of penetration.
When Brian Allen and Kodi Kieler were lost to what appear to be minor injuries, Clemons moved back over to offense and played right guard during Damion Terry’s TD drive. Then he went right back on the field for a handful of defensive snaps.
“As much as you could ask out of somebody who hasn’t been a full-time defensive lineman for a long time, (he did really well. Really well,” Tressel said. “He did some things that needed to be corrected but in general he was physical, he had knock-back. Considering how many reps he has had on d-line, he was very good.”
Needs To Get Hot: Junior LB Shane Jones.
Jones is giving good effort, doing his best. He has improved himself by improving his speed for the 2016 season. He’s having to play every healthy down that he can at Mike linebacker with Riley Bullough out due to an upper body injury.
Jones missed some time against BYU with an injury as well. But his replacement, Byron Bullough, had some struggles, and had to leave the game with an injury of his own.
So Jones came back in and played hurt and did what he could. But he was victimized with at least four missed tackles, which is too costly for his position. One, in the open field, allowed QB Taysom Hill to get first-down yardage, which stopped the clock and enabled a field goal attempt late in the first half. Another missed tackle could have stopped a drive on fourth down. And there were others.
“There’s no doubt our defense misses a senior captain who’s run that show, and that’s a challenge for Shane or anyone else who steps into that mike backer spot,” Tressel said. “You have to bring the heart and soul and leadership that the captain used to have as well. We’re working on that.
“Just having the experience of being in there, he’s getting better and better. But there’s no doubt that’s hard.”
* Who else needs to get hot? Cooper and the entire pass rush. And of course Tyler O’Connor at the QB position.
