Michigan State University Athletics
Spartans Post Season-Opening Win; Now Focus on Improvement
9/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Steve Grinczel, MSUSpartans.com Online Columnist | @GrinzOnGreen
KALAMAZOO, Mich. â€" At times, it looked like Michigan State running back Madre London could run from Madrid to London. There were instances when quarterback Connor Cook threw with uncanny precision while the Spartan defense often appeared as though it had just swallowed the Western Michigan offense â€" whole.
But then, there were the other times.
Like when special-team miscues, overthrows and leaky pass defense in the fifth-ranked Spartans' Mid-American Conference neighbor's back yard underscored the work they need to get done before No. 7 Oregon, last season's National Championship runner-up, visits East Lansing next Saturday night.
Oh, Michigan State drove up Interstate 69 with their eighth victory in nine openers under Coach Mark Dantonio, but the 37-24 result wasn't nearly as impressive as the preseason buildup suggested it should be.
And, until red-shirt freshman cornerback Vayante Copeland, in his Spartan debut, grabbed his first career interception â€" of Bronco quarterback Zach Terrell's pass on first-and-goal from the 7 â€" in the end zone with 1:36 remaining, an improbable upset bubbled toward the boiling point in Waldo Stadium.
Even Dantonio wasn't immune from making a first-game misstep, stopping to begin his postgame press conference behind a podium a few feet away from a table where a sizeable collection of microphones and voice recorders awaited his comments.
But, Dantonio finessed his way through the awkward moment just as the Spartans did against Western Michigan.
"I'm sure you got a picture of that," he said with a smile while ending up where he was supposed to be.
Then he proceeded to explain how a game MSU led by 24 points until late in the third quarter got a little wobbly in the final 16 1/2 minutes. While the Spartans dominated in some areas, they had several players on the field for the first time or cast in new positions.
The up-and-down nature of the game became evident on the opening kickoff, which Western's Darius Phillips returned 70 yards to the Michigan State 30-yard line. The MSU defense responded by surrendering just 6 more yards, and breathed easier after a 41-yard field-goal attempted missed to the left.
However, after London scored his first career touchdown on a 24-yard sweep for a 7-0 lead, Phillips tied it up with a 100-yard return of the ensuing kickoff. Then, after the Spartans regained the lead on London's 7-yard touchdown run, a trick play for a two-point conversion failed to reach the goal line and that missed point started to haunt MSU in the final two minutes of the game.
Through it all, Dantonio maintained his equilibrium, as he almost always does.
Yes, Terrell passed for 365 yards and two touchdowns but the Michigan State defense held the Broncos to 18 rushing yards while sacking Terrell seven times. In this age of prolific passing attacks, there's still some truth to the adage that the team that stops the run will win more often than not. It wasn't unlike the Cotton Bowl in which the Spartans gave up an opponent record 603 yards through the air, but minus-20 on the ground while pulling out a remarkable 42-41 victory over Baylor.
"We stopped the run and we sacked the quarterback," Dantonio said. "That's what we do. We kept playing. We made some mistakes that have got to be cleaned up. It happens in the first game. We played very, very well against the run."
In the end, Michigan State could be better served by having areas in need of improvement exposed in a win over a quality mid-major team that won eight games and went to bowl last season, than to have them lay dormant during an easy blowout, waiting to be exploited by a powerhouse like Oregon.
Dantonio almost sounded thankful for the coaching points his staff will stress in practice next week.
"I'm very confident," he said. "We have good players. We had guys playing for the first time. Vayante Copeland was playing for his first time; I thought he did a nice job. Demetrious Cox was playing full-time corner, probably for the second time. (Defensive backs) Arjen Colquhoun was playing, Jermaine Edmondson played. We had a lot of guys out there playing and they're all going to get better.
"They got the opportunity to play, so they're going to prepare even more and they'll know what to work on. That's usually the way it goes, you get more confident."
The running back trio of London, Gerald Holmes and true freshman LJ Scott already appear to be headed in that direction. Scott led the way with 13 carries for 77 yards, 43 of which came on MSU's third-to-last drive that ended with a critical 21-yard Michael Geiger field goal that ended a 14-0 Western Michigan run. Scott added 16 more yards and a first down to ice the game after Copeland's interception. London had 59 yards on 13 attempts, and Holmes picked up 54, and his first career touchdown, on nine carries.
Scott looked at his baptism under fire, in front of a festive crowd of 30,885 that turned out for what was billed as the biggest sporting event in Kalamazoo history, as an important learning experience.
"We knew they were coming at us and we had to keep pounding," said Scott, who didn't mind being tested by the Broncos. "I never underestimate anyone no matter what. This was their Super Bowl game for them.
"It's just getting better every day. We've got a huge game coming up next week. From a football standpoint, we've just got some things we've got to clean up and we should be good."
Afterward, the Spartans as a whole took to heart another adage: a team makes its biggest improvement between the first and second games. Fifth-year senior All-America defensive end Shilique Calhoun, who aside from a fourth-quarter sack was most effective when he was drawing holding and hands-to-the-face penalties, was thankful for the way the Broncos gave MSU a realistic idea of what to expect from the potent Ducks offense.
"We definitely need to play up a lot more," he said in anticipation of facing Oregon. "There are a lot of things we need to work on, but this is the first game. This is when you work the kinks out and get a better understanding of where your football team is at.
"Right now, we have a lot of things to fix, and this game showed it. We're happy we had this opportunity to play against a good team like Western Michigan. There are a lot of things we need to clean up but that's what this first game is for. I wasn't disappointed in my teammates because they played hard, they played fast and they were relentless. I commend them for what they did tonight."
Middle linebacker Riley Bullough, who established a career-high with nine tackles, as did first-time starting outside linebacker Jon Reschke, wasn't concerned with how the Spartans' performance may be interpreted across the country.
"In my mind, they don't need to be concerned," he said. "I just think we need to play better. We've got the guys who can do it. We're going to have a big week of practice. After every first game there's always skeptics somewhere, but we're just ready to bounce back and we'll be ready for Oregon."
In the end, the game was about finding silver linings in the negatives.
"Positive surprises?" Dantonio asked "I went to the wrong podium."
But he still wound up in the right place.
