Grinz on Green: Spartans Looking Ahead to 2017

Nov. 27, 2016

By Steve Grinczel, MSUSpartans.com Online Columnist

Even with its modest three-win record, Michigan State made a strong opening bid to be a player on the national scene just as it did with great regularity from 2010-15 under 10th-year head coach Mark Dantonio.

The Spartans kept their distinction of holding a lead in every game this season alive by scoring first, on a 28-yard Michael Geiger field goal, against No. 7 Penn State at Beaver Stadium Saturday afternoon.

But then sixth-year senior guard Brandon Clemons left the game with an injury. And then, sophomore tailback LJ Scott limped to the locker room with a knee injury. And then fifth-year senior right offensive tackle Kodi Kieler, who soldiered on through injuries all season long, couldn't continue one last time.

And then, redshirt junior Damion Terry, the Erie, Pennsylvania, native making his first-ever start at quarterback (with fifth-year senior quarterback Tyler O'Connor starting the game as a wide receiver) in his home state, was sidelined for the remainder of the game after sustaining a concussion from a non-penalized helmet-to-helmet hit in the second quarter.

Michigan State hung tough, holding the Nittany Lions at bay with three more Geiger field goals of 36, 33 and 21 yards. The Spartans even held a 12-10 halftime lead, which had it held up would have knocked Penn State out of the Big Ten Championship Game and College Football Playoff consideration and sent Ohio State, which earlier in the day defeated Michigan in double-overtime, to Indianapolis to play Wisconsin for the league title and a CFP spot.

In football, it's often been said that teams didn't really lose the game, it just ran out of time.

In this case, Michigan State just ran out of players as the season came to an end with a 45-12 loss.

Or, more indicative of MSU's unprecedented situation, it ran out of the kind of well-developed, game-tested players a team needs to beat a contender on its own field.

Even in defeat, the Spartans played a major role in throwing the college football landscape into chaos. It's just not the one they envisioned doing when they opened the season under the banner of "back to back," as in defending their 2015 Big Ten Championship and first CFP appearance.

What does the CFP selection committee do with a Big Ten champ not named Ohio State â€" either 10-2 Penn State, which handed the Buckeyes their only loss earlier in the season and is making its first championship game appearance, or 10-2 Wisconsin?

And what does it do with the No. 2 Buckeyes (11-1), who defended their reputation by beating No. 3 U-M? And what does it do with 10-2 Michigan, which crushed Penn State 49-10 on Sept. 24?

Those are the least of Michigan State's concerns as it charts a new course to the 2017 season.

"We came into the locker room after the game and our mindset right now is this season is over, it's in the past," said junior linebacker Chris Frey, who didn't hesitate to grab the leadership baton from departing fifth-year senior middle linebacker Riley Bullough. "We're 0-0 as of right now and 2017 starts today.

"This will never happen again. We have to be better than that. We've just got to be better at every position. Guys have gotten better throughout the season and they've made big strides, but we're still young. Guys coming in next season aren't going to have that excuse. They're going to have their second spring under their belt, they're going to have a regular season under their belt and they just have to keep making strides to get better every single day."

Scott, who entered the game needing 65 yards to reach 1,000 for the first time in his career, returned in the second half to hit that number, ironically, right on the nose in terms of gross yardage. However, after the yardage lost when he was tackled behind the line of scrimmage was deducted, he finished with a net total of 59 to end the season with 994.

And then, with seven minutes remaining, trainers escorted true freshman defensive tackle Mike Panasiuk off the field. And then, a few minutes later, redshirt sophomore guard David Beedle limped off the field for the last time this season with a leg injury.

"That's been the tale of the season to some degree," Dantonio said in a postgame interview on the Spartan Sports Network. "But 2017 starts (on Sunday) for us. Our seniors have had great seasons in the past, but this one doesn't cut it. We will start back here on Monday and wish our seniors the best.

"It was a disappointing season. The bar was set very high; it had to be based on where we were at last year."

Michigan State's odds of coming close to matching that success grew longer and longer just as the list of players lost to, or severely hampered by, injury added more and more names on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis.

The first big blow was losing standout linebacker Jon Reschke in the third game for the rest of the season. Injuries eventually cost star defensive tackle Malik McDowell the final three games of his junior season. Backup redshirt freshman quarterback Brian Lewerke, who provided a spark in four appearances, including two starts, missed the last four games with a broken leg.

Redshirt sophomore cornerback Vayante Copeland, who showed so much promise before a severe neck injury cost him the final 11 games of 2015, lost the final five this year, the last four with a broken foot. Redshirt freshman guard Tyler Higby, who provided the offensive line with such a lift he moved into the starting lineup for six games, was lost to a broken ankle with two to go.

Linebacker Ed Davis, one of MSU's top defenders in 2014 only to miss all of '15 with a devastating knee injury, showed only flashes of his past form. Even Bullough, the never-say-die, hard-nosed ironman, missed three games due to injury.

All-in-all, the Spartans didn't open any of their 12 games with the same starting lineup on offense or defense, had 26 players who started their first game or were installed as a full-time starter for the first time of their careers, and played a Dantonio-era-high nine true freshmen.

It all adds up to a 3-9 record with no postseason appearance for the first time in 10 seasons.

For Bullough, a head-turning win against the Lions might have felt as good as any of the three bowl wins he was a part of, but it was not to be.

"It's obviously disappointing," said Bullough, who with 214 tackles is the fourth member of his family to register more than 200 stops for MSU. "I wanted to come in here and get a win and I think we played well in the first half. We were up by two and just didn't get it done in the second half.

"But I've had some great times here at Michigan State and love this place to death. It's been an awesome five years. I've met some of my best friends and have had some of the best moments of my life (as a Spartan), played in some awesome football games and won a lot of them. To be able to wear the green and white for five years has truly been a blessing."