Assistant Coaches Press Conference Coverage

MSU Game Notes vs. Penn State | MSU Depth Chart vs. Penn State

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State assistant coaches Mark Staten and Ron Burton spoke to the media Wednesday afternoon, to review the Spartans' 29-19 loss to Northwestern and preview this Saturday's game when Michigan State will face its first ranked team of the season on Saturday, Oct. 13 as the Spartans take on No. 8/8 Penn State at 3:30 p.m. in Beaver Stadium.

The game will be televised on BTN, with Kevin Kugler, James Laurinaitis and Lisa Byington on the call. MSU (3-2, 1-1 B1G) fell at home to Northwestern last Saturday, 29-19, while the Nittany Lions had a bye week following their 27-26 loss to fourth-ranked Ohio State.

Saturday's game marks the 33rd meeting between Michigan State and Penn State, with MSU leading the all-time series, 16-15-1. The Spartans have won four of the last five meetings against the Nittany Lions, including a 27-24 victory last season in Spartan Stadium on Matt Coghlin's 34-yard field goal as time expired. Coghlin's game-winning field goal capped a long day at Spartan Stadium, as the game was delayed for three hours and 22 minutes in the second quarter due to lightning (game started at 12:05 p.m. and finished at 7:03 p.m.). PSU holds a 10-6-1 advantage in games played in University Park.

MSU head coach Mark Dantonio is 5-3 against Penn State while coaching the Spartans, including a 2-2 record in Beaver Stadium. Dantonio is 5-4 overall against the Nittany Lions (lost at Penn State in 2005 while coaching Cincinnati). The Spartans clinched the 2010 Big Ten Championship at Penn State, which also marked MSU's first win at Beaver Stadium since 1965.

Since the renewal of the series in 1993, the winner of the Michigan State-Penn State game has been presented the Land-Grant Trophy. The trophy honors the two universities' unique places in history as the two pioneer land-grant schools in the nation. Each institution was founded in 1855: Michigan State on Feb. 12 and Penn State on Feb. 22. The schools were the prototypes after which the land-grant system was patterned. Since 1993, Penn State leads the series, 14-8, but the Spartans have won four of the last five.

The Spartans have consistently produced wins against highly ranked teams under Mark Dantonio. MSU is 9-5 in its last 14 games against teams ranked in The Associated Press Top 10, including an 8-5 record since 2013 (beat No. 2 Ohio State and No. 5 Stanford in 2013; lost to No. 3 Oregon and beat No. 4 Baylor in 2014; beat No. 7 Oregon, No. 2 Ohio State and No. 4 Iowa, and lost to No. 2 Alabama in 2015; lost to No. 2 Michigan, No. 2 Ohio State and No. 8 Penn State in 2016; beat No. 7 Michigan and No. 7 Penn State in 2017). Michigan State has won 13 of its last 21 games played against AP Top 25 opponents.

In last year's 27-24 win over No. 7 Penn State, Brian Lewerke completed 33-of-56 passes for 400 yards, the second-highest single-game total in school history (record: Lewerke's 445 vs. Northwestern in 2017).

The following is a select transcript from Wednesday's press conference:

Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line Coach Mark Staten:

On when guys have performed at a high level, and then they struggle with execution, is that hard...
Well, a lot of times when people have early success they continue to work on their strengths harder than they work on their weakness and in any walk of life it's hard within yourself to address weakness and you may have somebody harping on you the whole time about it but until you come to grips with that and understand that, then it doesn't change.

On if that is the hardest part for him...
It happens every year. You know, it happens every year. It may not be my position, one year may be the wide receiver position, one year may be the running back position, so it's not something that's new to coaching. That's why you get up at the wee hours of the morning and stay the late, late early hours of the morning.

On having five different combinations of offensive line through five games and probability of having a sixth this week and how difficult that is for the players and coaches...
We do mix things up like I've always told you guys in practice for these situations, but when you're having your position meetings in the training room it's not a good sign. So we'll put out there who's healthy and work with those guys. The good thing about having being forced, is it puts guys out there and exposes them to real life reps and lets them know, 'ok this is why we do the drill work, this is why Coach Staten's been up my keester about my backside leg or about keeping my hands up in pass or about this and that,' and now they see it and they see how it can positively or negatively affect the entire play and the entire team.

On Jordan Reid being the only offensive lineman to have started in the same spot all five games so far and his growth and evaluation so far...
He's an example in practice of how you need to play this game. Every practice rep is 100 miles an hour working on the technique and because things change week-to-week with what you're going to see, so things may change assignment wise or how you need to approach this guy compared to… so something may be a miss there but he's doing everything at 100 miles an hour so there are other guys amongst my room amongst everybody that needs to look at that and embrace that and we've started to more and more and more and that's something that he's done that has just fun to watch.

On if it is unusual for a sophomore to stand out in that way...
He's an unusual guy, I mean we were fortunate when we got him and you knew he was going to play a lot of football. We tried the center thing to see if he could grasp all that and he started sliding a little bit in that regard and so we put him back to where we hope he'll be a mainstay for hopefully the next two-and-a-half years.

On how difficult the numbers make it harder to rotate guys...
Yeah, I'm not going to be able to be as generous in game like situations now. Last game we had two guys play, Matt (Allen) and Jordan (Reid), played the full game and Blake (Bueter) played quite a few plays and we're just going to need to keep pressing forward and letting those other guys know that 'hey, our numbers are dwindling, you're next.'

On how this compares to 2012 when had similar number of injuries...
I think talent wise I think we have a higher ceiling right now and no offense to those guys in '12 but it's just now, it's a younger group and they don't understand exactly how far they need to go and how soon they need to get there and when you have to play someone early sometimes it's unfortunate because then they may think that they've arrived when they have just scratched the surface and you've seen that on occasion with some of these guys.

On what Luke Campbell needs to do to get consistency out of him...
He's just working on day-to-day operation and conceptually understanding his place and why it's there.

On when everyone is healthy in an ideal situation, how he ideally determines the rotation...
I'd like the guys that are able to, because conceptually in practice it's different, whether it's a play or plays that you run, or whether it's how they're performing and how they're approaching it. Because you will play the way you practice, plain and simple, you play the way you practice. When you get to an older level, which we don't have any right now at my position, then you're able to maybe 'hey you know what you're doing you get your hands in you get your knees driving and you're good,' but right now we're just not at that spot, so we just have to keep pressing forward and it's a decision as guys come back... we get a guy back this week and then we lose a guy, so it's one of those things where its week to week.

On how close guys like AJ Arcuri and Mustafa Khaleefah...
Not as close as I'd like to be, not as close as they'd like to be. And if you were asking them that same question, they would tell you the same thing. As we watch not only our game from the previous Saturday or their practice reps, they see the things that can be very costly.

On how it seems like need a little more depth on the outside...
The nice thing is Tyler's (Higby) done a good job out there, Cole's (Chewins) going to do a good job, Jordan will do a good job, Luke can be serviceable. It's not just the O-line, it's the running back, its the quarterback, it's the wide receiver and tight ends, we've got such a good group of guys that they all understand that it takes 11 every play. Defensively you could have nine guys make a mistake, guy gets through, and he sacks the quarterback or tackles the guy for loss. Offensively one guy makes a mistake, doesn't block that guy, it's a negative play. Or one guy makes a mistake and doesn't run the right route depth and that pass is incomplete and everybody is mad at (Brian) Lewerke, or something of that nature. Those are the things that we know, that we see, that we understand with what we do, and a lot of times college football fans they just want that damn ball completed or they just want that guy blocked… so do we.

On what happened and how frustrating was the fourth-and-1 play having that many lineman in the game and unable to get the a yard...
Well what happened with that is that we just didn't get the push that we needed, and because (David) Beedle being out, we had to make a change and we didn't get the point of attack push on the kick, we didn't get the drive we needed, and it just didn't work like it has in the past and you look at the whole end, two of the last three series and each play you look at and you go 'oh man I wish this part would've worked better here and this part would've worked better there.' So that's the thing that keeps you up at night. That's the reason why you get up and you go to work and you're trying everything and you're working so hard to fix those things because as anybody, and as a majority of you guys have been here for a lot of years … this is a different offense, but it's the same guy, who had a record breaking offense in 2014, same guy that called those. I mean we beat everyone in '13, everybody in the Big Ten, only team ever to do it, by ten points or more. That can be very frustrating, but thankfully this team and you've heard it before, and it's not just lip service... it's a very tight knit group from the head man down to our custodians who come in in the evening. I mean that's just the way this place feels. So we know that we're going to put our foot in the dirt and we're going to drive forward.

On Penn State and what he sees from them...
Really good at the end positions for those of you that have done any research on them. Long guys, athletic guys, newer guys in the middle. Like I told the offense you know, 'they've had five games under their belt, they're playing at home.' I think the biggest thing, not just the 11 that'll be on the field defensively, but its the 100,000+ that are in those seats. I'm sure you've all been to a game there and it can be, if you allow them to be, it can be a very, very loud place. So how we go about our work, how we finish once we get across that 25, and what we're able to do will dictate what we get. They're very skilled they've got another defensive end that I heard is coming back this week, a highly sought after recruit, and so that's going to make it a little more difficult. You guys all have talked to me a lot of times, there's no excuses. Once Saturday comes at 3:30, we go.

On how Penn State had trouble stopping the run in the early part of the season, but solved that against Ohio State...
I don't know that they've improved anything, they've got really good coaches on that staff and they've got the guys and I think positionally they were out of place a bit here and there early on and that's what they're trying to do. They're trying to stop what we do, we're trying to put something positionally to get after them, but we are who we are they are who they are. You miss one tackle and all of a sudden you can't stop the run. You swat at it and miss it and now you can't stop the pass. It's the same thing offensively. You miss one block and that was an awful play. Whatever, how'd that happen, or what I was saying earlier about routes. So I don't think anything is going different, I just think they're coming together. When you're new and it's a whole team thing, you start to learn each other. It's like when someone plays hockey, once you get used to that line, you know where they are on the ice. It's the same with offensive or defensive football, once you know that guys got my back. I'm going to be here - that guy's going to be here. If I cause him to come back, he's going to get tackled here or likewise. I push him this way, the running back's going to trust it and he's going to come off my backside.

Defensive Tackles Coach Ron Burton:

On getting pressure and disrupting Trace McSorely…
Number one, pass game and run game. McSorely is really a triple-threat out there and that's a part of the game plan, that's obvious that we need to stop their run game with McSorely and also to stop their pass game with McSorely. That's always the challenge and we're looking forward to it, we really are.

On how the defensive tackles help guys on the back end of the defense…
Well that's the continuation of what we need to do up front, get after the quarterback even more, create opportunities to stop the quarterback from running the ball. That's what we're supposed to do and the more you do that, the better off you are on the back end so that's always our challenge and we want to continually challenge our guys to do that, to press the quarterback.

On how well Mike Panasiuk and Raequan Williams are playing together…
Well, experience is the true teaching, yes, they are playing well, they know their strengths, they know their weaknesses and we're constantly trying to make them even better than what they are. It goes weekly, those guys are older guys now so they're always looking at 'what I can I do to get even better' and what's been good about it, they've had those experiences and now they're learning what they need to work on even more to get better. Each week we want to continue to get better, but know your weaknesses and work on that. But those guys have been a foundation in there for for sure.

On if having Mike Panasiuk and Raequan Williams allows for them to do anything different…
Well, in years past, again, we talk about the experience. Them knowing what's going to happen pre-snap really helps us out. Them knowing what they're going to see up front helps. Also, being able to suggest from the sideline what they see and what we should adjust to. So yes, that has been awesome. That's what has allowed us to be better at the defensive tackle position.

On inside-out pass rush…
Well it always starts inside because the nose guard, number one, he's always initially double-teamed and the 3-technique has the ability to change inside-out so you create the one-on-one's with those defensive ends. You allow them to be a little bit more creative, and with those one-on-one's, create a better pass rush and put more pressure on the quarterback. So yeah, that's been a plus, but we always want to be able to give them opportunities in a one-on-one situation to make plays and those guys are doing that.

On if Jacub Panasiuk could ever move inside as previously talked about…
Right now we want our kids to be able to play all positions as they come in here. Right now he's at defensive end and he's doing a great job of it, he's gotta continue to develop and play with power, number one. But he can play anywhere on the defensive line in my opinion.

On how well the defensive ends have helped in run defense…
I think number one, the whole defensive line's getting credit when it comes to the run game and what's going on right now. Their job is to set the edge and our job is to set the middle and so those are all the pieces. From the outside forcing the ball in, from the inside being able to make a few plays, but also not allowing them to run downhill at us and being able to force the ball outside. So I think they all have a piece of that as you look at the puzzle and I think it goes to the front as a group that is allowing us to be able to make plays as a defensive line because they're all a part of that puzzle.

On if it's tough to get Mike Panasiuk and Raequan Williams to the sidelines for some rest and get some guys like Naquan Jones and Gerald Owens out there…
It really is and you can see that sometimes in the numbers as far as the number of snaps are concerned, but we have a rotation and the guys are comfortable in that. Everyone wants to be out there in the primetime situation, but each time you're out there is primetime, especially here in the Big Ten. Being able to rotate those guys in has been something special for us and we want to continue to do that.

On what Mike Panasiuk and Raequan Williams have gotten better at over time…
Number one is strength, the ability to use your hands consistently and also the ability to play with power inside as a run player, but also as a pass player. Everybody wants to develop their finesse game, but the game is truly about the power inside. I think that's what's been more consistent with those two guys, the use of their hands and playing with power regardless of run or pass.

On Jacob Slade getting snaps as a freshman against Utah State and if he'll contribute more…
Well the situation and the number of reps on the field, I think that game was 80-90 reps so that's the key to that happening in that short time frame.

On the bond between Mike Panasiuk and Raequan Williams…
I would totally agree, when they walk in they're together, when they sit down at the table in the meeting room they're together, when they're out after practice they're together. We call them our salt and pepper (laughing); we really enjoy them that's for sure (smiling).

On if Penn State's run game is different or the same with Miles Sanders replacing Saquon Barkley…
I think in my opinion they have not dropped off and the numbers tell you that being 260 yards rushing number one and in the top 12 in the country, I don't think that has changed. His [Miles Sanders] running style is a little bit different, but as far as the production, it has been the same.

On guys like Mufi Hill-Hunt getting back up to speed and other guys working way back...
He's back on the field practicing, he's back getting stronger.

On any other guys pushing for more playing time...
All of those guys are pushing right now because we have the ability to watch them on the scout field and so we have the opportunity to watch them on that field, and then they're coming up and having limited snaps. So they'll be ready when it's time, but right now, those front four are the ones we're utilizing right now.

Michigan State University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

AJ Arcuri

Luke Campbell

Matt Coghlin

Mufi Hill-Hunt

Naquan Jones

Mustafa Khaleefah

Brian Lewerke

Gerald Owens

Jacub Panasiuk

Mike Panasiuk

Jordan Reid

Jacob Slade

Raequan Williams

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