Grinz On Green: Gameday Blog

9/2/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football

Sept. 2, 2016

By Steve Grinczel, MSUSpartans.com Online Columnist

EAST LANSING, Mich. â€" Kevin Williams' conversion to Michigan State Spartanhood will be complete once he resets his internal clock.

A graduate-student transfer granted a sixth year of eligibility, Williams won't make his long-anticipated MSU debut at defensive tackle until tonight because kickoff for the season opener against Furman is set for 7:04 p.m. at Spartan Stadium.

"Honestly, I'm just ready to play," Williams said. "I prefer a 2:30 game but it doesn't matter to me."

Williams might as well have been talking in tongues based on raised eyebrows of the reporters surrounding him. There's no such thing as a 2:30 game for Big Ten teams in the Eastern Time Zone.

Williams had traveled back in time, momentarily, to his days with his former team, Nebraska, which played its late afternoon games at 2:30 Central.

"Yeah, it's 3:30 now," Williams said to a round of hearty laughter. "I'm back on the Eastern. That's where I grew up. I forgot."

In all other respects, the Holland, Ohio native has changed the Cornhusker red in his veins to Spartan green while continuing to pay due respect to the team of his past.

"I graduated with two degrees from there," Williams said. "I played five years there and my beautiful fiancée is still a cheerleader there. But right now, I'm focused on the here and now. This place will always be a first home to me as well.

"I think of it as switching teams in the NFL after getting traded. It was a business decision and I felt like this was the best place for me and the best program that has great players."

This season, he will face his old mates only if the Spartans meet the Cornhuskers in the Big Ten Championship Game.

There will be no divided loyalties if that occurs.

"I'm a Spartan Dawg and I'm ready to go," he said.

Williams began his injury-plagued career at Nebraska with the 2011 season, which he sat out because of a knee injury. He appeared in just five games as a redshirt freshman and missed all of 2013 with another knee injury. He had his best season in '14, starting two of 10 games while logging career-highs for: tackles (19), tackles for loss (eight for 34 yards) and quarterback sacks (three for 28).

Last season, Williams played in eight games, started two, and had four stops, including one behind the line of scrimmage.

Williams is taking advantage of an opportunity created by the graduation of Spartan standout defensive linemen Shilique Calhoun, Joel Heath and Lawrence Thomas along with additional offseason attrition. Conversely, MSU hopes to benefit from William's experience, leadership and knowledge as the defensive line breaks in youngsters like redshirt freshman Raequan Williams and true freshman Mike Panasiuk.

What the Spartans hope will be a win-win even comes with the blessing of Nebraska coach Mike Riley, with whom MSU coach Mark Dantonio consulted before allowing the transfer to take place.

"I had a really good relationship with (Riley) and still do," Williams said. "He's a great guy. Coach Dantonio talked to him about it, and he was all for it. There was no problem on that end. (But) I came into it not really knowing what it was going to be like. I didn't know if it was going to be tough because the guys weren't going to really accept me.

"But I feel like I've been here for five years. The team has really, from day one, accepted me and I'm a part of them now. I really feel a part of this team just as much as anyone else and that means everything to me because it would be a much tougher road if they didn't."

Williams said the transition to MSU's system has gone well, and his playmaking ability, level-headed attitude and maturity have him penciled in as a starter against the Paladins.

"Kevin is a good football player," co-defensive coordinator Harlon Barnett said. "If you can get a guy that is a fifth-year guy, let alone a sixth-year-type guy, they have seen a lot. They understand the game. He plays with great technique and leverage. We expect him to be a great addition to our team."

Williams is well aware of how his clock is ticking down, regardless of time zone.

"I've got to come with it because it's all or nothing," he said. "I'm not going to get a seventh year, that's for sure. It's do or die, time to go."

GoG Blog Notes & Quotes: Fifth-year senior defensive end Gabe Sherrod is another graduate-transfer helping the defense fill holes in the two-deep roster created by the departure of five linemen. Sherrod came to MSU from Delaware State, which like Furman is a member of the Football Championship Subdivision.

Sherrod dominated FCS competition while making 25 of his career-high 64 tackles behind the line (including eight sacks) last season.

However, Sherrod has found Football Bowl Subdivision-level competition to be a different animal.

"Physically, they're just better, technically sound guys here," he said. "I could push over people at Del State. It's harder here. I've got to actually work to get off blocks and things like that. That's been the biggest adjustment."

Sherrod's welcome-to-the-Big-Ten moment came courtesy of MSU tight end Josiah Price.

"Josiah kind of dragged me out one time," Sherrod said. "It just woke me up that tight ends up here can actually block. Us going back and forth has been a very interesting dynamic. I'm just learning to compete with guys of that stature on that side of the ball and not just big O-linemen.

"I'm not too worried about where things stand right now. I know that if I just compete, I believe I have the athleticism and the ability to be where I want to be at the end of the day. It's just about tuning in, getting focused in the meeting room, watching film and everything will work out. I'm excited about the competition â€" that's why I came here."

Sherrod described himself as a "fast-twitch," high-energy guy.

The coaches, he said, "love my motor. That's why I'm here. That's why they believe I can play at this level. Things I need to work on? Just understanding my role in the defense. At Del State, I was the defense. I could basically do whatever I wanted and make whatever plays I wanted just being a football player. Here, there's good players everywhere so it's learning where my help is coming from, where the leverage needs to be, what technique I need to be in in terms of whether I'm spilling or boxing.

"Play fast, play physical and just try to take off from there."

Barnett said Sherrod is "a veteran guy that has been around and understands, even though it was on a different level. He said himself that the speed has changed some things from where he was, but he has gotten used to that playing against us on a daily basis and doing what we do in practice. Now, it is just a matter of going out in the game and getting it done."

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Last season, MSU's tailback-by-committee situation in the backfield was a godsend because LJ Scott, Madre London, Gerald Holmes and Delton Williams were needed to carry the ball at various times due to injuries sustained by each one.

With all four healthy, what appears to be an embarrassment of riches is making it hard to divvy up carries. The situation was alleviated somewhat by moving Williams to fullback, where he can challenge defenses as a receiver out of the backfield, as a blocker and maybe even as a ball-carrier.

However, Scott, London and Holmes have all shown to be dangerous runners, and co-offensive coordinator and running back coach Dave Warner isn't ready to settle on a two-back rotation MSU has used effectively in past years under Dantonio.

"It is unique," Warner said. "It is probably more unique here than many places because there is so much talent there. We will see how it works Friday night. I think all of those guys will get their opportunities and I expect all three to play and perform very, very well as they have done in the past."

It's not like Dantonio hasn't thumbed his nose at convention before it means winning a game.

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Prescott Line, yet another graduate transfer, is providing punch at fullback, according to Warner. In three seasons at SMU, Line rushed for 774 yards and eight touchdowns on 228 carries. He led the Mustangs in rushing, with 332 yards on 90 carries, as a redshirt freshman in 2013. Last season, he had 186 yards and one touchdown on 60 rushes and had six catches for 51 yards.

"He is a guy that really will shock you in a blocking scheme, iso-blocking and so forth, power blocking," Warner said. "He provides more shock than we have had at that position in a few years. He is able to move people. He has some decent running ability too. He was a tailback years ago. He is a guy that we were excited to see out there because he can give us a little more power than we have had at that position."

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Tyler O'Connor has waited four years to take the field as Michigan State's No. 1 quarterback, so while having to kill time before a night game won't be pleasant, he'll get through it.

"I like playing in the night games; I hate the day leading up to it," said O'Connor, whose only other career start came last season against Ohio State in relief of the injured Connor Cook.

"Fridays are tough because usually we can watch football all day if it's a Saturday-night game. I guess I'll just try to relax as much as possible and go to one of the guy's hotel rooms (at the Kellogg Center) and hang out and watch TV."