The annual MSU football Green and White spring game ended with the White team defeating the Green team 14-11 in a game with running clocks, 12 minute quarters and even a coach’s challenge.
The Spartans gave the record-setting spring crowd of 51,000 a glimpse of what this season might look like. Here are five takeaways from MSU football’s spring game.
Dowell twins impressive
Sophomore linebacker Andrew Dowell and his twin, redshirt-freshman defensive back David Dowell, were flying around the field for the entirety of the game. Andrew Dowell finished the game with five tackles, four in the first half, one sack and one pass breakup. David Dowell wound up tied with fifth-year senior Riley Bullough with six tackles for the White team and intercepted a pass from Brian Lewerke with 1:05 left in the game to seal the victory.
“They are very active football players,” MSU football head coach Mark Dantonio said. “They are 100 mile an hour guys. ... Both those guys are great football players for us. ... High, up-tempo guys who will give it everything they’ve got. They are extremely conscientious workers and they have a very, very high ceiling.”
At the beginning of spring practice, Andrew Dowell was listed as one of the two starting outside linebackers, along with Jon Reschke and with Bullough in the middle. David was further down on the secondary depth chart, but the move of former safety Grayson Miller to linebacker might free up some time for David Dowell.
No space for the running backs
With only a combined 126 rushing yards combined between the two teams, the defensive front of seven on each team showed some tenacity stopping the run. The three running backs in sophomore LJ Scott, junior Gerald Holmes and sophomore Madre London, who are expected to compete for the starting position, combined for only 38 yards on 21 attempts.
“I was impressed with the way our running backs ran the football, but I also was very impressed with how we closed on the running backs and made tackles in space,” Dantonio said. “I think that’s what you have to do on the defensive side of the ball.”
On the bright side, fourth-string running back Nick Tompkins carried the ball four times for 28 yards and both senior fullback Delton Williams and junior quarterback Damion Terry scored on short runs for the White team. Senior quarterback Tyler O’Connor and redshirt-freshman quarterback Lewerke both broke off runs for more than 25 yards on the Green team.
Quarterbacks still up in the air
Although O’Connor converted on 10 of his 16 pass attempts for 138 yards and a touchdown, Dantonio did not appear to be ready to firmly say whether one quarterback has separated themselves from the others.
“I think everybody wants to hear the coach say ‘he’s the quarterback’ and I’m not going to say ‘he’s the quarterback’ until we get into a game and see the production from our quarterback position,” Dantonio said. “Until we see that production on a consistent level, I’m not going to make the mistake of saying ‘this guy’s it’ and putting all the pressure on that guy.”
For comparison, Terry converted 6-12 passes for 70 yards and ran in a score from three yards out. The White team's first drive of the second half, led by Terry, included two fourth down conversions in the air, one of which to senior tight end Josiah Price to set up first and goal.
O’Connor answered right back by leading a four play, 70 yard drive in 44 seconds that ended in his lone touchdown pass to freshman wide receiver Cam Chambers.
Jamal Lyles on both sides of the ball?
Jamal Lyles was still the number one tight end for the Green team after hauling in three receptions for 56 yards, but he also made an appearance on the defensive line, his former position before transferring over to tight end.
Defensively, he finished with two solo tackles, both of which were for losses and tallied the only sack of the day for the Green team, which had a defensive front consisting of junior standout Malik McDowell and the up-and-coming Raequan Williams.
“It’s up to coach D what’s going to happen in the fall, but I would like to play both sides of the ball if that’s possible,” Lyles said. “I made enough plays probably to go both ways in the fall. I've still got it on defense.”
Lyles, the 6-foot-3 senior, would have to compete with the likes of Evan Jones and Demetrius Cooper on the outside for playing time, as well as incoming freshmen Josh King and Auston Robertson, who will be enrolled at MSU in August.
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All in the Family
At halftime of the spring game, the 2015 senior class was recognized and received a warm standing ovation from the 51,000 Spartan fans in attendance. Other former Spartan football players in attendance were Denver Broncos receiver Bennie Fowler, Chicago Bears running back Jeremy Langford and Cincinnati Bengals defensive back Darqueze Dennard.
“Certainly we had a great senior class this last year, and to be out on the field when they were introduced, it was sort of a special moment to see the people in Spartan Stadium while they were on the field for their last official time,” Dantonio said. “They have been a part of something special for three years, so we are going to miss those guys.”
With the leadership turnover, Dantonio said they elect 12 players in the spring to develop the character a leader exhibits. Even though they lost the winningest senior class in school history, Dantonio said they have gone through similar situations when Kirk Cousins left in years prior, and did not seem too worried about his players lacking leadership.
