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Michigan State Football: 5 ways 2016 season can be turned around
Sep 24, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio walks his team to Spartan Stadium prior to a game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
Here are five ways Michigan State football can salvage its 2016 season and make a respectable bowl game.
Believe it or not, Michigan State football can still turn its 2016 disaster of a season around. The Spartans have gotten off to a 2-3 start, but don’t let that fool you, this team has too much talent to be sitting at the bottom of the Big Ten East.
Mark Dantonio has reiterated the notion that his team isn’t going to focus on 2017 since the 2016 season is far from over. Fans have given up on the Spartans, but that won’t phase them through five games. No, this isn’t quite the start people were expecting, but there’s always time to make changes and fixes to right the ship.
Don’t be one of the fans to jump off the bandwagon before Dantonio has a chance to shock the rest of the conference. The Spartans don’t have the easiest road to the Big Ten title game and it has a lot of speed bumps, but the two biggest games of the season remain on the schedule.
Counting this team out through five games is exactly what has made people look silly in years past with Dantonio at the helm.
Here are five ways the Spartans can still salvage the 2016 season.
5. Offensive line shake-up
Sep 24, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans offensive lineman Kodi Kieler (79) prepares to snap the ball to Michigan State Spartans quarterback Tyler O
Shakeups have already occurred on the offensive line, and they may continue as long as this group struggles. Last week, Brian Allen was moved from guard to center and Kodi Kieler made the switch from center to left tackle.
Kieler did a much better job at left tackle than David Beedle did, so that was a necessary change and one that paid off for the Spartans. Allen is one of the best linemen in the conference, so he can fit in well wherever he plays.
Tyler Higby, Benny McGowan and Miguel Machardo round out the rest of the starters and that might be a good sign. The addition of the redshirt freshman, Higby, into the starting rotation shows that Dantonio isn’t afraid of going for youth if that means improvement is on the way.
Freshman Thiyo Lukusa is also gearing up for playing time as well as Cole Chewins. The youth movement has begun and the shakeups may actually benefit the offensive line.
As long as the line improves and the starting quarterback, whoever that may be, isn’t sent running for his life every play, the Spartans will have see an uptick in offensive production.
Sep 17, 2016; South Bend, IN, USA; Michigan State Spartans running back LJ Scott (3) is tackled by Notre Dame Fighting Irish safety Drue Tranquill (23) during the first quarter of a game at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
4. Play-calling needs to improve
Dave Warner is not getting the job done. While that may be the case, Dantonio has ensured fans and the media that there will be no changes in who calls the plays. The offensive coordinator will continue to be in charge of which plays get run and how efficiently or inefficiently the offense moves, or doesn’t move, the ball.
Through five games, the Spartan offense looks like a shell of its former self. It can be argued that it’s because of Tyler O’Connor being the starter instead of Connor Cook. The former All-Big Ten quarterback bailed the offense out on numerous occasions over his career with his NFL-caliber arm.
However, the play-calling has been vanilla for years now. Warner hasn’t done the best job with the talent he has in place. Just look at the team, for example. LJ Scott is arguably a top-three back in the conference, the receiving corps are as deep as any in the Big Ten and Josiah Price could, and should, be an All-Big Ten tight end.
With all of those players in place, the offense still finds away to stall out against some of the most mediocre defenses in the country. Against Indiana, the offense was underwhelming and against the 113th-ranked pass defense of BYU, the Spartans didn’t attempt a single play through the air in the second quarter.
If the play-calling improves, the offense will benefit and start believing in the calls from upstairs. Right now, it looks like the players aren’t playing to their potential because of the laughably predictable play-calling.
Sep 24, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans defensive lineman Malik McDowell (4) talks to teammate during the second half of a game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
3. Get more pressure on opposing QBs
Through five games, Michigan State has just five total sacks. The Spartans have one of the lowest sack totals in college football this year, which is a foreign stat to a Dantonio-coached squad. Being gutted before the start of the 2016 season with nearly a dozen departures really took its toll on this group.
In fact, Shilique Calhoun, Lawrence Thomas, Montez Sweat, Joel Heath, Craig Evans, Enoch Smith, Cassius Peat and Damon Knox all departed via transfers or graduation, leaving the line depleted. Sure, Kevin Williams and Gabe Sherrod both transferred in, but neither has had a huge impact on the defensive line.
Williams does start at defensive tackle next to All-American Malik McDowell, but his inability to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks is causing constant double-teams of his tackle-mate. McDowell is the best defensive lineman in the Big Ten, but he gets lost in the shuffle because offensive lines are just teaming up on him with the rest of the Spartan defensive line struggling.
Michigan State has failed to sack an opposing quarterback in three weeks, dating back to the Wisconsin game. That’s just flat-out unacceptable for a Spartan defense.
Improving the pass rush will fix a lot on the defense. The pass rush directly affects the secondary as they’re being forced to cover longer than they should have to with opposing quarterbacks sitting in the pocket, having all day to find an open guy.
Fixing the pass rush could, in turn, light a fire under the rest of the defense.
Sep 17, 2016; South Bend, IN, USA; Michigan State Spartans quarterback Tyler O
2. Make a change at quarterback
As tough as it is to say, Tyler O’Connor just simply isn’t the answer for the Spartans at quarterback. He might be the best leader on the team and a guy everyone looks up to, but the offense just hasn’t done much with him leading the way. You can blame the offensive line or the run game, but he has a wealth of receivers at his disposal he hasn’t taken advantage of.
Through three quarters against a mediocre BYU defense, the Spartans had just seven points and less than 150 total yards and that’s when Dantonio decided it was time to get another quarterback some reps. Damion Terry entered the game and breathed a little life into the offense.
Although Terry did throw an interception, you have to realize he came in cold off the bench and still manages to lead the Spartans on multiple drives inside BYU territory, which was something O’Connor couldn’t do.
Terry finished 6-of-10 for 63 yards and a rushing touchdown on eight carries for 29 yards, but he will still need to beat out redshirt freshman Brian Lewerke. Everyone is hoping that Lewerke gets the nod this week as the start, and putting him in might be the best option for now, and the future.
Making a permanent change at quarterback could definitely right the Spartans’ aimless ship.
Oct 17, 2015; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines wide receiver Jehu Chesson (86) is defended by Michigan State Spartans defensive back Demetrious Cox (7) during the 2nd half of a game at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
1. Beat Michigan
This would be a cure-all. Michigan State can use a win over Michigan as a confidence-booster for the rest of the season. Imagine the Spartans beating Northwestern and Maryland over the next two weeks and then taking down Michigan to round out October; that would give this team all the confidence in the world.
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Michigan State would enter the month of November with a 5-3 overall record and two favorable games against Rutgers and Illinois followed by a home Ohio State matchup. The Buckeyes pose the toughest test on the schedule and a Michigan State team playing with nothing to lose could give them quite the battle.
I’m not saying the Spartans will beat Michigan, by any means, but a win over the Wolverines on Oct. 29 would be huge for this program and the season would be on its way to being dubbed successful.
Believe it or not, there’s still a chance for the Spartans to make the Big Ten title game with two losses, but that would require both Michigan and Ohio State to lose twice while the Spartans win out. It’s very possible, but the Spartans should just focus on the games leading up to the Michigan game.
The Spartans could very well enter hate week with a 4-3 overall record and a win over the Wolverines would seem much more likely than it is right now. There’s still three weeks to figure out the quarterback situation, offensive scheme and pass rush problems before playing Michigan.
A win over the Wolverines would surely key a turnaround in 2016.
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