Spartans Ready to Defend Big Ten Title in 2016

July 28, 2016

By Steve Grinczel, MSUSpartans.com Online Columnist

CHICAGO â€" For the better part of three decades, one of two particular teams was habitually picked at the Big Ten Kickoff Media Days to win the conference championship.

Winning it the year before was a strong indication it would repeat. If it didn't finish first, it was overdue to win it again, and would, the predictors claimed. It didn't matter if said team replaced the head coach, needed to find a new quarterback, had to replace numerous starters or was seemingly bypassed by Michigan State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Purdue, Penn State or Northwestern.

If it was July in Chicago, one of two teams was crowned preseason champs at the exclusion of all others.

Despite winning two of the last three Big Ten titles, 23 of its last 25 league games and getting to within one victory of playing for the national championship, MSU wasn't afforded the same courtesy at the 2016 Big Ten Kickoff Media Days, which concluded Tuesday.

As usual, Ohio State and Michigan â€" both of which lost at home to the Spartans last season â€" were installed as the top two teams in the the East Division in a preseason media poll.

Nevertheless, MSU coach Mark Dantonio isn't losing any sleep over it.

"I sleep well, I really do," Dantonio said. "There are certain things that you can't control. And when there are things that you can't control you can't worry about them. I do think that we'll get great effort from our football team. I think we have great talent and I think our guys are conditioned to win.

"You never know what can happen in a game, but I know we will compete. That's all I've ever worried about â€" will we challenge each other to compete at the highest level?"

Dantonio thinks the fact Michigan State has to replace three-year starter Connor Cook, the winningest quarterback in school history and holder of three major school passing records, is a main source of the doubt in the Spartans chances of repeating as Big Ten Champions. Then there's the issue of having to replace three offensive linemen, including All-Americans Jack Conklin and Jack Allen.

However, Michigan also has to find a new starting quarterback and its stock wasn't downgraded, and the Buckeyes return only six starters from a team that had 12 players selected in the NFL draft.

With 28 Spartans returning with at least some starting experience, Dantonio tried to make the case for why MSU has good reason to feel like it can repeat, but the prognosticators were already insulated by the Big Ten boilerplate.

If the Spartans' track record of the past six seasons isn't enough to convert the disbelieving, it's not their fault.

"We work hard, we do what we can do and at the end of that I'm too tired to worry about it," Dantonio said.

Michigan State followed the 2010 championship with an 11-3 mark and Legends Division title in '11. The hard-luck 7-6 Spartans of '12 lost five games by a total of 13 points, but that served as impetus to find the inches in '13, which they did en route to Big Ten and Rose Bowl crowns. Michigan State continued to roll by going 11-2 and winning the Cotton Bowl the following year and last season became one of just seven teams to play in the two-year-old College Football Playoff.

Dantonio's what-me-worry attitude permeates the team because fifth-year seniors like tight end Josiah Price have breathed it in every day.

"When I came here as a freshman, my role was not to lead," he said. "My role was to do whatever Max Bullough told me to do and do it to the best of my ability. And now, that role's changed. Now I'm the oldest guy and Riley (Bullough) is the oldest guy and we are the Chris Normans, the Blake Treadwells.

"Now it's time for me to tell the younger guys, ‘You do this that way because that's how we do it at Michigan State. No questions asked, that's what we do.' It's really trying to help the younger guys understand we haven't won all the games we've won the last three years for no reason. It's because of senior leadership, hard work and getting the younger guys on board with the senior leaders."

Price actually enjoyed the media snub.

"We like it," he said. "It's fun. I don't mind. We're going to come to play and we're going to play our game. The results are going to speak for themselves this fall."

Considering the accolades Dantonio's staff gets for developing players, Price is puzzled by lack of respect for readiness of players who've been waiting in the wings. As designated heir apparent to Kirk Cousins, Andrew Maxwell struggled in '12 with a young receiving corps that at times had trouble catching the ball and the pressure of expectations.

But, a quarterback competition in '13 resulted in Cook taking the helm as a third-year sophomore and holding onto it the rest of his career. Dantonio will let another quarterback competition play out with fifth-year senior Tyler O'Connor, fourth-year junior Damion Terry and redshirt freshman Brian Lewerke.

"Do they have the game experience Connor had?" Price asked. "No, but we'll be fine. Connor didn't have that game experience his first season and we went 13-1, too. We're not really worried about it."

Price pointed out that other departed standouts have been successfully replaced on a regular basis through the years.

"When Will Gholston left, nobody was talking about Shilique (Calhoun)," he said. "You can just go down the list of guys who never played, or they were a special-teams guy, and then, oh dang, they're leading our team in tackles or are the best safety in the Big Ten.

"So why worry about it when we already know it's going to happen and we have faith in our program and our system and our guys."

Riley Bullough, who's entering his second season as the starting middle linebacker, after replacing Taiwan Jones, who replaced Max Bullough, said MSU is even better equipped to address cyclical attrition every team experiences because Dantonio has recruited better talent every year.

"Every year we have people doubting us, but I guess we like it because we seem to play pretty well and that's what we plan on doing again this year," Bullough said. "It is tough to replace guys, but the thing with our coaches is they're bringing in guys that can do that and we have all the confidence in world in our guys.

"They keep getting bigger and faster, I feel, each year. You see guys who can come in right away and play, which you didn't really see a few years ago. Ever since Coach D and his staff came in, they expect to win. Before then, when I was growing up watching Michigan State it was hope to win and being .500 was a decent season. It's definitely not like that anymore; we've moved way past that."

What's more, MSU's depth has been so well developed, no one is asked to do more than they are prepared or capable of doing regardless of where they are in their careers. Consequently, players are more sure of themselves in the role they're being asked to play, and that breeds confidence across the board.

"I'm confident in myself to do what I need to do to get this team back to winning the East and back to Indy and back into the playoff system," said fifth-year senior wide receiver R.J. Shelton. "And, I'm confident in every single one of the players we have at Michigan State.

"Confidence is key, and all of our players play with confidence. When you have players who play with confidence, you're unstoppable."