Too Close To Call

MSU Spring football- Head Coach Mark Dantonio has a quarterback situation that any coach would love to have. Kirk Cousins (Green) and Keith Nichol (White) both performed very well in the Green & White spring scrimmage, both throwing 357 yards and 4 touchdowns each. Coach Dantonio was pleased with the quarterbacks leadership and how they responded when down. The White team was up 17-0 and Cousins (Green) brought them back. Both quarterbacks will have opportunities to play with the ones and slash in the twos.

The Spartans have lost starting quarterback Brian Hoyer who signed with the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent. Hoyer led the Spartans to sixteen wins over the past two seasons. Cousins and Nichol both played so well in the spring scrimmage that Coach Dantonio has not revealed whether he will use one QB or both. Both quarterbacks run well and show their toughness.

“I would like to see one get into a rhythm,” Dantonio said. “My expectation is for everyone to play well at every position. Our guys come to play and are not afraid to step in and challenge people.”

The other big lost to the Spartan offense is Javon Ringer. For the 2008 season Ringer had 390 carries for 1637 yards and a school record 22 touchdowns. Stepping up to the challenge for 2009 is Ashton Leggett, Caulton Ray, Andre Anderson, A.J. Jimmerson, and two incoming freshmen Larry Caper and Edwin Baker. Dantonio has several young running backs that will only become more beneficial to the team as they mature in the game. “Step one is consistency,” Dantonio said. “I think they are talented.”

The tight ends and wide receivers played very well also. Myles White made a great catch and the tight ends played strong against the line backers. Coach Dantonio’s wide receivers have a lot of potential. With this diverse talent, many players should see time on the field.

Although four secondary players were out of the scrimmage, the defense played well. Sophomore Trenton Robinson had a couple great tackles.

The one thing that Coach Dantonio didn’t like to see this spring was too many unforced errors. As this young football team’s maturity level grows, the unforced errors will decrease. Other than that, “spring went very well,” Coach Dantonio stated.

In 2008 the Spartans went 6-2 in the Big Ten and 9-3 in the regular season. On January 1, 2009 the Spartans lost 12-24 to the Georgia Bulldogs at Orlando, Florida, in the Capital One Bowl.

This young Spartan team needs to find a way to defeat the top teams in the Big Ten conference. The two conference loses in 2008 were to Ohio State 7-45 and Penn State 18-49. There were too many turnovers and mistakes in those games.

After losing players such as Brian Hoyer, Javon Ringer, and a few other starters, the Spartan coaching staff have a lot of work ahead of them in building this young team. As said before by Coach Dantonio, “Step one is consistency.” Yes, everyone knows that in order to win games players need to be consistent on the field. Consistency from the coaches is a must, something I believe Coach Dantonio is heading toward. He has high expectations and demands his players’ best. The question on the Spartan fans’ minds is how fast will this young team mature?

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