Green Beats White 17-10 in Spring Game and Prepares Us for Four Long Football-less Months

by Pete Rossman on Apr 25, 2010 6:55 PM CDT in Michigan State Spartans Football

In what was a surprisingly defensive affair, Kirk Cousins led the Green team over Greg Jones' White team 17-10. Here's a review of the action, in bulleted form:

Kirk Cousins, still a good quarterback. 10-15, 254 yards, 1 TD. Had some great touch passes, especially the 27-yarder to Donald Spencer to set up the Green team's field goal. Andrew Maxwell's the clear back-up, and he performed admirably as well (18-34, 244 yards, 1 TD), but doesn't have the same touch on his deep passes as Cousins does. Joe Boisture made a few good plays and completed all three of his passes, but I think this is going to be a redshirt year for him, and if State needs a third quarterback, Keith Nichol will most likely get the nod.

THE BEST 6-YARD RUN. EVER. In the second quarter, 360-lb. Antonio Jeremiah lined up at fullback, took the hand-off from Cousins, and rumbled through the line for six yards before being tackled by what had to be a stunned Jon Misch. I don't expect this to be a goal-line play for MSU this season as the handoff was slow to develop, but I believe there's no higher form of entertainment than watching an offensive lineman rumbling down the field with the ball, leaving the crushed bodies of safeties and cornerbacks in his wake.

Denicos Allen, future playmaker. A linebacker from Hamilton, Ohio, Allen was redshirted for his first year at Michigan State. Yesterday Allen was the most dynamic defensive player for the Green side, tallying seven tackles with 2.5 sacks and a pass break-up. Even though there's a glut at the linebacker position this year, Greg Jones and Eric Gordon will leave in 2010, and Allen looks to be one of MSU's linebackers of the future along with Chris Norman, and recruits William Gholston and Lawrence Thomas.

We've got good wide receivers and tight ends, but you already knew that. It looks like the suspensions didn't slow down Mark Dell and B.J. Cunningham much; especially Dell, who caught a 58-yard pass from Cousins off a fake reverse and and broke a couple tackles from a screen pass to get a 44-yard gain. Keith Nichol seems to have cured the case of the dropsies that plagued him at the Alamo Bowl, and Keshawn Martin had over 100 yards receiving. That's not even mentioning the tight ends, as Charlie Gantt had four receptions for 68 yards for the White team, and Dion Sims had three catches for 53 yards for the Green team.

The special team will be less special then they were last year. Dan Conroy was 1-for-2 on his field goals, missing one from 35 yards and making one from 31 yards. Kevin Muma made a 19-yarder, and if you're looking for a stat to separate the two, Muma had the longer kickoffs, averaging 59.8 yards to Conroy's 50. Regardless, don't expect Dantonio to name a starter until August at the earliest. Aaron Bates had a couple of good punts, but there were also a couple of line drives that could have been returned if that had been allowed.

As a whole, the defense was a tad more dominant than I thought it'd be, and was nowhere near the shootout it was last year. I, nor anyone else, can tell you if this means our defense will be better this year or if our offense has regressed. With the main exceptions of baseball and softball, we've officially entered the off-season for Michigan State sports until September 4th. In the coming weeks there'll be a post outlining how we plan to spend the summer here at The Only Colors, but for now, steel yourselves. It's going to be a long wait until September 4th.

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The offseason

For my part I will do my best to throw out enough bball recruiting content that you’ll think the season is still going on. There was actually a flurry of activity before the dead period with guys like Jeremiah Davis and Gary Harris, and I should have made a fanshot compendium or something. Oh well.
2012 Hotlist would be a good project and anyone is welcome to beat me to it or collaborate.

by intrpdtrvlr on Apr 25, 2010 7:14 PM CDT reply actions

You da man

Would love to hear what your predictions are on how the remaining 2011 slots shake out, too. We need some wings.

Fight for The Only Colors: Green and White!

by KJ@theonlycolors on Apr 25, 2010 8:21 PM CDT up reply actions

Really, really short version

I think Izzo is looking at guys such as Jeremiah Davis and Branden Dawson are legit Plan A’s. However, as the summer rolls on, you might see more attention paid to players such as Dwuan Anderson and Tommie McCune. MSU is just as likely to play against Dawson (PU) and Davis (IU) in the Big Ten as win their services. Also, players like Sampson and Shaw appear to still be in the mix. The most remarkable thing is that, short of the early, early verbal of Zach Price to Pitino, none of MSU’s major targets have committed elsewhere. That’s a bit remarkable.

The only prediction I’d feel comfortable making at this point is that Izzo will miss on at least one of Dawson or Davis, and that slot will be taken by Dwuan Anderson before it’s all said and done. Word is he’s a Spartan upon a full offer.

by intrpdtrvlr on Apr 25, 2010 9:15 PM CDT up reply actions

#1 post-Spring Game concern

Offensive line play. 8 sacks allowed between the two sides, despite a bunch of missing defensive linemen. Can perhaps be chalked up to combination of (1) quick whistles by refs when QBs were close to being hit and (2) top offensive linemen being split between two squads (Dantonio noted this in post-game quotes).

Cousins + Dell/Cunningham/Martin/Nichol/Gantt should = the top passing offense in the league if Cousins has enough time to throw.

Passing numbers on both sides were good/decent despite the pressure in the backfield. So that’s good, I guess.

[/quasi-analysis]

Fight for The Only Colors: Green and White!

by KJ@theonlycolors on Apr 25, 2010 8:28 PM CDT reply actions

Offensive line anaylsis is impossible in the spring game

Mainly due to the second reason you listed. There were a few good runs though, more so than last year.

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by Pete Rossman on Apr 25, 2010 8:52 PM CDT up reply actions

Offensive line play relies so much on consistency and knowing your neighbor's style

This is one reason the Vikings were so consistently good in the ‘90s – I think the offensive line went 100+ consecutive games with the same starting five. I wouldn’t draw any conclusions unless you have the entire first team line together.

by SpartanDan on Apr 25, 2010 10:01 PM CDT up reply actions

Quarterbacking

Question – if Kirk Cousins gets hurt next year, are we really going with Maxwell as the #2 guy?

I don’t want to just rag on the kid, because he’s still young, but he threw into triple coverage on what seemed to be every other throw and just didn’t make it though any semblance of a progression on Saturday.

I’m just wondering if Kirk gets dinged up, if we wouldn’t be better off pulling Nichol over from the wide receiver spot and playing him back at quarterback. Based off of his play from last year, I’d have to say that he’s still better than where Maxwell is right now.

by Spartan-Football on Apr 26, 2010 9:15 AM CDT reply actions

Possibly

Nichol as second to Cousins on the depth chart to start the Spring, but Maxwell’s received the vast majority of snaps with the twos, so I think he’d be next in line. I think Nichol’s taken few, if any snaps at quarterback during the Spring, and if the offense has added new plays (most likely), I think Maxwell would be given the nod as the backup.

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by Pete Rossman on Apr 26, 2010 11:27 AM CDT up reply actions

I think it would depend on the situation

If Cousins were just out for part of a game or a single game, you’d see Maxwell (who’ll get most of the 2nd team snaps at QB in practice).

If Cousins were to go down for an extended period or was out of the remainder of the season, they’d have to think about moving Nichol back to QB.

Fight for The Only Colors: Green and White!

by KJ@theonlycolors on Apr 26, 2010 11:48 AM CDT up reply actions

This

by witless chum on Apr 27, 2010 8:55 AM CDT up reply actions

Noticed this as well

Positively though, he can hit a space as small as a doughnut hole.

Light a man a fire, he'll stay warm for a day.
Light a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

by Seer on Apr 26, 2010 1:12 PM CDT up reply actions

Do I read the stats correctly that they only played 10-minute quarters?

Did they do the same last year?

by CPT Hoolie on Apr 26, 2010 12:44 PM CDT reply actions

You read correctly

I forget what the deal was last year. Felt like this year’s game was shorter, FWIW.

Fight for The Only Colors: Green and White!

by KJ@theonlycolors on Apr 26, 2010 1:55 PM CDT up reply actions

Clock? What clock?

I remember hearing the PA guy announce the end of the first quarter, and seeing the clock still running. My general perception was that they were just running the clock, and roughly starting and ending each quarter on time, give or take about two minutes.

by Spartan-Football on Apr 26, 2010 10:26 PM CDT up reply actions