Michigan State University Athletics
Spartans Look to Slow Down Potent Husker Rushing Attack
10/1/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Steve Grinczel, MSUSpartans.com Online Columnist | @GrinzOnGreen
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State defensive end Shilique Calhoun and Nebraska running back Ameer Abdullah became fast friends at the Big Ten Football Media Days last July in Chicago.
So fast, in fact, Calhoun challenged the current national leader in all-purpose yards to a 40-yard dash, which the preseason Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year hopes to play out in MSU's conference opener in Spartan Stadium.
"Yeah, I challenged him," Calhoun said. "I'm always up to give someone a run for their money. I'm still ready. Whenever he wants to lace those cleats up, I'm ready to go. It could happen Saturday night, a race to the ball if their quarterback fumbles.
"That's what I look forward to. That's my mindset."
Calhoun and Abdullah have stayed in touch the past few months, and earlier this week engaged in some good-natured banter via Twitter.
"I asked for a picture and he asked for an autograph," Calhoun said. "He's definitely a respectful young man and I've gotten to know him over time. I definitely respect him as a player and we talk back and forth, but we have the agreement that when it comes to the field, no holds barred.
"When it comes to the game, we can't be friends and I can't talk nice about him. We don't have a nice friendship right now. We have an understanding that we're on two separate teams, and we both want to win."
A successful defense of the Spartans' Big Ten title could begin with how well they defend against Abdullah, who is second in the league in rushing with 166.6 yards per game and fourth among league leaders at 7.3 yards per carry. Abdullah also has 108 receiving yards and 119 on kickoff returns for an all-purpose total of 1,060.
Although Abdullah rushed for 123 yards on 22 carries against MSU last season as a junior, the Spartans picked up their first victory against the Cornhuskers in eight meetings, 41-28, thanks in large part to five Nebraska turnovers in Lincoln.
No other team has moved the ball on the ground against Michigan State in recent seasons as well as the Cornhuskers. They are averaging 228 rushing yards against the Big Ten's top defense against the run since 2011. Last season, Nebraska ran for 182 of its opponent-high 392 total yards against MSU and in the 2012 game, which hung in the balance through the fourth quarter, it had 313 yards on 40 rushes.
"We've run the football on them for three years," Cornhusker coach Bo Pelini said in the wake of last season's loss to the Spartans. "They're a quality football team, but we've run the ball on them before, and we'll run it on them again."
Not, asserted Calhoun, if MSU's defenders play with rigid discipline and the utmost confidence in each other.
"We have to play solid Spartan-dog defense," he said. "We have to be aggressive, gap-sound and make sure that you're in your gap and understanding where your help is. If we do that and we play our gaps the correct way, our jobs will be done."
Earlier this week, Calhoun pored over the film of last year's game because he was still puzzled about how the nation's No. 2 rushing defense could have given up so much yardage.
"I was wondering the same thing because they did a great job of getting upfield," he said. "We weren't gap-sound. A lot of guys missed assignments, were stepping in the wrong direction, not getting the call. It was a lot of things we did wrong. I'm not taking anything away from them, because they do have a great offensive scheme, but a lot of it was us - we weren't stepping in the right direction, using good hand-placement, being in the right gap.
"A lot of their explosive plays were off our mistakes. Little things we could have corrected. Now we better understand it."
The Cornhuskers look much the same this season while leading the Big Ten with 354.8 rushing yards per game to the MSU defense. Conversely, the Spartans are second against the run with 78.2 yards allowed.
"They're high-powered, they have a back that's going to make you miss and a quarterback (Tommy Armstrong Jr.) with a lot of confidence who's ready to come out and prove himself," Calhoun said. "The biggest thing is their offensive line will really knock you off the ball if you don't use your hands and be as aggressive as they are."
Abdullah has rushed for 100 yards 21 times in his career, which is the most among active Football Bowl Subdivision players. What makes him so difficult to stop is his penchant for accelerating quickly after finding an opening.
"It's his downhill running ability," Calhoun said. "He takes a different approach to it. As soon as the ball is in his hands, he does a great job of getting north and south. The biggest thing is making sure he goes east and west - don't allow him to get through a gap and make you miss, bring your hips when you come to tackle and get him down.
"He does a great job of correcting their offensive line's mistakes. Even if they are out of place and we are in great position, he does a great job of finding the hole. We have to be very gap sound because that's the biggest thing about containing Abdullah."
Nebraska also does a good job of taking advantage of a defense's aggressive nature.
"The biggest thing is focusing on our assignments," Calhoun said. "They have had success running on us, but we haven't played our best, solid football against Nebraska. It's going to be a test to step up this year and play as well as we can and make plays when we have the opportunity.
"I feel like sometimes people will try to do extra on our defense, try to over-shoot things and try to help someone else out when they should play their own gap. I feel like that's what a lot of teams do against them."
Help could be on the way with the potential return of veteran defensive tackles Damon Knox and James Kittredge from injury.
"We like to rotate as many guys as possible through there that we think can be effective against this quarterback and this tailback," said defensive line coach Ron Burton. "Defense is knowing where your help is. There are 11 people on the field and we have six or seven gaps up front, and it starts up front.
"They're going to expose when a position guy is out of his gap and a running back that's dynamic like (Abdullah) is going to find that. The key to the game is gap control and pursuit of the ball."
The showdown across the ball by two of the Big Ten's marquee players is compelling, but Calhoun will also have his eyes on Cornhusker defensive end Randy Gregory, who leads the league with 4.5 quarterback sacks in four games to Calhoun's two in four games.
"I pretty much want to out-do any and every defensive end. That's my goal this year," said Calhoun, who tied for second in the Big Ten last season with 7.5 sacks. "It's nice to go up against someone who's a great competitor."
Lace up the cleats.
