Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State Football :: Official Athletic Site
April 5, 1997
Spartan Tailbacks Star in First Spring Scrimmage
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State third-year head football coach Nick Saban sent his team through a two-and-a-half hour workout indoors at the Duffy Daugherty Building Saturday, including a 60-play "controlled" scrimmage, to conclude the second week of spring practice. Steady rain forced the Spartans indoors for only the second time this spring.
Following the scrimmage, Coach Saban dedicated six periods to special situations (third down, red zone, goal line and two-minute drill).
"Overall, I was quite pleased with our first scrimmage," Saban said. "The guys were physical and aggressive. There were a number of good hits delivered today.
"I was a little disappointed in our execution during the special situations. We didn't play smart football at times. The defense allowed the offense to convert some long-yardage situations. We can't afford the mental mistakes that allow the offense to get out of deep holes or continue two-minute drives."
Tailbacks Leroy McFadden and Sedrick Irvin combined for 143 yards rushing. McFadden led the ground attack with 85 yards on 13 carries, including a 41-yard TD run on fourth-and-4. Irvin picked up 58 yards on only eight attempts, and threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Gari Scott.
"We ran the ball effectively today," Saban said. "Both Sedrick Irvin and Leroy McFadden broke some long runs.
"McFadden has made steady improvement all spring, and he's beginning to feel comfortable out there. I wanted to see how he would react when the fur started flying (first scrimmage), and he responded."
Starting QB Todd Schultz (off-season knee surgery) and his backup Bill Burke (sore back) watched the scrimmage from the sidelines. Third string QB Gus Ornstein dislocated his left kneecap playing baseball last week and won't see any action this spring.
With the top three quarterbacks sidelined with injuries, five different players took snaps Saturday. Walk-on Sam Eyde took the majority of snaps with the No. 1 offense.
"It's really not fair to evaluate the passing game," Saban said. "Those five guys have seen limited practice time at quarterback, so they don't have great knowledge of the system yet."
Michigan State has practices scheduled for Monday, Wednesday and Friday next week, plus its second scrimmage Saturday, April 12.
"We've already put in 90 percent of our stuff this spring," Saban said, "but there's still a lot of work to be done. Over the final two weeks of practice, we'll seek to improve our consistency on both sides of the football. I definitely want to improve our tempo on offense. And we'll dedicate more time to the kicking game.
"We've researched next year's opponents some, so we'll spend several days exposing our players to things they'll see next fall. With all the coaching changes during the off-season, it's almost like playing nine new opponents."
MSU concludes spring drills with the annual Green-White intrasquad game Saturday, April 19 at 1:30 p.m. in Spartan Stadium. The Spartans open the 1997 season at home Saturday, Sept. 6 against Western Michigan.