Motivated Spartans Eye Big Ten Championship & Playoff Berth

March 24, 2015

By Steve Grinczel, MSUSpartans.com Online Columnist | @GrinzOnGreen

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Motivation shouldn't be a problem for a football team that looks back at four consecutive bowl championships and a recent Big Ten title as points of reference instead of crowning achievements.

By doing that, senior outside linebacker Darien Harris said Tuesday after Michigan State's first spring practice of 2015, the Spartans can compare what they're doing in pursuit of even loftier goals to what's been done in the past.

The team is in a far better position than it was before winning the league and the Rose Bowl in 2013 and coming back from a 20-point deficit to beat No. 4 Baylor in last season's Cotton Bowl Classic, but it's still not where it wants to be.

"If we see what we did those years, then we understand that we want to build on that," Harris said. "Having a platform or foundation to build on is what those years give us, and we know that we can't do the same things or else we're going to get to the same place.

"And, the only place we're trying to go is up right now, so we're going to have to do something we've never done before and that means working harder than the last couple years. That's the only way we're going to get there."

With 17 starters and 52 letterwinners returning - including major award candidates such as three-year starting quarterback Connor Cook, defensive end Shilique Calhoun, offensive tackle Jack Conklin and center Jack Conklin - MSU will go into Mark Dantonio's ninth season as head coach with expectations at a 49-year high.

The Spartans' hunger is fueled by knowing that had they just held on to a first-half lead against Ohio State in the fourth-to-last regular-season game, it might have been them winning the Big Ten Championship Game and advancing to the first College Football Playoff instead of the Buckeyes, who went on to capture the National Championship.

Unseating Ohio State in the Big Ten East, which Dantonio said is as tough as any division in the nation, will take even more effort, based simply on past results, beginning this spring.

"You preach to the team that everybody else in the country is working, that we always have a target on our back, and at the same time we didn't necessarily accomplish all that we wanted to last season in terms of not making it into the playoff," Harris said. "There are always areas to improve, there are always new place we can go and we cannot afford to go down at all.

"So, it's making sure the team understands that and knowing that we have not arrived, we never will arrive, never becoming complacent and understanding that we win games in the fall starting now."

In the Big Ten, only Michigan and Ohio State have won 11 games or more four times in a five-year span, as MSU has from 2010-14. That may be a great for those teams, but this Spartan edition has entered spring with a clean slate.

"We want to start at ground zero, see how they're doing, weight and strength," Dantonio said. "Find out are we really playing the best players based on the season before? Critique what we've done, try and work out any issues, kinks, and experiment with new things.

"We've never been a complacent group of people. (Michigan State is) 16-1 in the Big Ten the last two years. We've done some very, very good things. I think we're approaching some very high standards here. But there's still room to grow, and I think that's what we're trying to do, continue to grow."

As far as Dantonio is concerned, the Spartans are only as good as their next game.

"We're here to stay," he said. "And I think something we've got to constantly say to our football team and preach to it is you're going to be measured on what you do next. And there are basic expectations now from our players who have left. We need to continue to raise our level of play."

For as much as Calhoun contributed to the successes of the previous two seasons, he passed up a chance to leave early for the NFL to put his stamp on the program.

"What happened the last two years belongs to the seniors that came before us," he said. "This is our senior season and this is going to be what we make of it. Those banners that have been hung up, we were a part of those teams, but now it's our seniors' time to make our mark.

"As a group, we're coming in with the mindset that we have to prove ourselves each and every year. That's something that's been everlasting here at Michigan State, and there's that constant chip on our shoulder that keeps us driving for greater success."

Although there are a handful of players whose job security probably isn't going to be threatened this spring, "there's a lot of depth at each position, and that will create a lot of great competition," Calhoun added. "It will make sure our guys won't be complacent, not saying that they would be, but it will insure that we'll come out each and every day working hard to maintain our spot."

Cook, for example, is in a personal competition to improve his footwork from last season when he threw for 24 touchdowns (second in school history) and a Big Ten-best 3,214 yards (third).

"I think from the shotgun and under center, I just want my footwork to be consistent no matter what," Cook said. "I want it to look the same every single time because from watching the film, when my footwork was quicker and consistent, and it went in with the route, the throw is on the money."

As a team, Cook likes the way the Spartans are carrying themselves coming off an 11-2 finish and No. 5 ranking.

"You can see that confidence in everyone," he said. "You can see it in the O-line, the running backs, the receivers, quarterbacks, all the guys on defense, the D-line especially. Winning the Cotton Bowl against a great Baylor team, winning the Rose Bowl and the Big Ten Championship, it's obviously going to give you a boost of confidence.

"But, we've always been confident. What you see, too, are guys being hungry, not being satisfied. If we would have won our conference, guys would be happier and more satisfied, but I think that's the reason why we were a little bit disappointed. We're confident, but then Coach D is still harping on it, the coaches harp on it, and we as players, it's kind of obvious, we want more. We want to win the Big Ten Championship and we want to make that playoff."

What Michigan State has going for it this spring, compared to others, is its starting point - with the offensive line in particular.

"I would say we're farther along than I would have thought," Allen said. "Usually, the twos (second unit) rack up a good amount of mental mistakes, and today there weren't many. Usually guys are jumping offsides or going to the wrong places, and I want to say there were maybe two or three of those."

Allen prefers to concentrate on short-range goals for the time being.

"These first couple weeks, I think you need to just focus on getting better at your specific position and having your group come together," he said. "The O-line is just worried about getting everybody on the same page and everybody blocking the right way. Once we get that we can start worrying about the other things.

"I like not being talked about. We'll surprise people like we always do, and hopefully, we've got a surprise coming this next year."