Spartan Offense Continues to Roll Against Wyoming
9/27/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Steve Grinczel, MSUSpartans.com Online Columnist | @GrinzOnGreen
EAST LANSING, Mich. - All of Michigan State's cards are on the table with the Big Ten about to join the game.
The Spartans even flipped a few more face-up in Saturday's 56-14 romp over Wyoming when they could have most certainly won going away by holding them close to their vest.
Might MSU have been better off retaining an element of surprise when Nebraska visits Spartan Stadium next Saturday night, or is giving the Cornhuskers a lot more to think about in the coming days a good thing?
Quarterback Connor Cook, who for the third time in four non-conference games punched out after about a half's worth of work, responded with a resounding yes.
With the way the Spartans are humming on offense and continuing to make plays on defense, only one thing matters.
"We wanted to come out and score points because we can," said Cook. "I think we know what we're capable of, I think our opponents know what we're capable of, obviously, by scoring (73) points last week and a bunch this week.
"We just want to go out there and have fun."
Michigan State's carnival ride continued with seven different players scoring eight touchdowns. Cook's touchdowns-to-completion ratio continued to fly off the charts with an 8-for-12 passing effort that produced 126 yards and a pair of 19-yard scores to silky wideout Tony Lippett and, after two disorienting play fakes, to tight end Josiah Price.
Tailback Jeremy Langford got back into the groove with 16 carries for 137 yards, his first 100-yard game of the season and one touchdown. His 29-yard run to the end zone in the third quarter brought back memories of last season when he delivered such a knockout punch in the final five Big Ten games, including the championship matchup against Ohio State.
Langford led a ground game that attacked the Cowboys from every conceivable angle for 338 yards. The Spartans ran power, tailback sweeps, jet sweeps, counters and misdirection with 10 different ball-carriers. One such wrinkle netted R.J. Shelton 15 yards in the red zone after he went into motion from his flanker position, stopped at a halfback spot and took an inside handoff up the middle.
With its speed on the edges, MSU's offense features play-action passing and play-action running with the likes of wideout Keith Mumphery who ran for a 33-yard touchdown on a flanker-around play in addition to catching one pass for a 6-yard score.
Co-offensive coordinator Dave Warner readily admitted that he's never had so many weapons with so much potential at his disposal. The importance of seeing aspects work in the heat of battle was greater than keeping Nebraska in the dark.
"We've got a lot of guys back from last year," Warner said. "We've got some little tweaks, but for the most part these guys have been in this offense for two, three, four years. So when you talk about some of the misdirection and motions and things we try to do as far as window dressing, they've done it over and over and over so it should be smooth.
"There are two sides to it when you get into a game like this. Do I save some of these things we have in the game plan and not show them, or do you show them and make other teams prepare for them. I guess we did a little bit of both today, but I felt coming into today we were going to have to run our offense and not hold anything back."
Unlike a year ago when the Spartans couldn't tell if they were dealing from a full deck even after four games - the running back position was still undefined, the quarterback spot was still unsettled, tight ends were unidentified and the wide receiving corps was still an unknown - they are flush with a program four-game high of 50.3 points per game.
"We have gotten to this point (in the past) but we've never exploded like this out of the gate with our offense in the years before," said head coach Mark Dantonio. "I think all those things were solved over the course of last year and we developed a lot of confidence. It's a great advantage, especially when you're not turning it over, when you're able to run the ball and throw it.
"I think our offensive staff has installed some (new) things, but probably 70-75 percent of what we are is what we've always been. But I believe our football players - our wide receivers, our quarterback, our running backs, our offensive line - are all in sync. Everybody knows the system. We're playing very confident and fast, and the guys know each other. All those things help with our success."
Although starting center Jack Allen was dressed for battle, he was held out for precautionary reasons with an undisclosed injury, Dantonio said. The line got a boost, however, with the return of Connor Kruse, and the Spartans should be back to full strength in time for the Cornhuskers.
Because of MSU's dominance on the scoreboard, the passing attack has been kept under wraps for three second halves. But, left offensive tackle Jack Conklin said the beauty of this offense is that it's as diverse as it needs to be.
The running game opens up the passing attack, and outside running opens up the inside rushes.
"Everything's just starting to roll together," Conklin said. "We've been able to get our regular plays down so pat now we can start opening our playbook and running these harder players a little bit. We're getting out in space and moving and getting guys down on the ground and that's opened up the run game huge. We can bring a guy in motion, either handing off or not handing off and keeping the defense very confused.
"It's easier all the away around because we're not in those situations where we have to throw the ball. Our offense is miles ahead of where we were last year. When's the last time you saw Michigan State score over 50 points in back-to-back games?"
It was 36 years ago when the 1978 Big Ten co-champs buried Wisconsin 55-2 and Illinois 59-19 with the most prolific offense in conference history.
As impressive as the scoring frenzy has been, it hasn't deluded the Spartans into thinking Jacksonville State, Eastern Michigan and Wyoming compare to what they'll confront in Nebraska, which Conklin said will "be a big test for us."
Even so, it won't be Michigan State's first experience with that level of talent this season, either.
The way the Spartans hammered No. 2 Oregon on the road for a half is still fresh, despite being on the losing end of a 46-27 score. Cook also has an ace up his sleeve - he has the memory of completing 29 of 47 passes for 343 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions against the Ducks' talented defense.
"Autzen Stadium is a hard place to play against the (then) third-ranked team in the country and (strength and conditioning coach Ken) Mannie said after that game, `You know what, although we didn't win and it didn't go the way we wanted it to, it's going to help us out down the road,' " Cook said. "Doing what we did out there is going to help us play Nebraska here at home under the lights in another prime-time game."
