During his weekly press conference, MSU football head coach Mark Dantonio discusses his team’s important Saturday matchup with the undefeated Northwestern Wildcats. The game kicks off at 3:45 p.m. in Evanston, Ill.
For a defensive-minded leader with roots in the secondary, last season’s double-overtime loss to Northwestern couldn’t have sat well with MSU head coach Mark Dantonio.
Northwestern’s then-junior gunslinger, quarterback C.J. Bachér, torched the Spartans defense for 520 yards and five touchdowns on 38-of-48 passing during last year’s game — numbers that can make a secondary coach’s face turn purple.
One year later, a secondary with a new attitude has corrected many of the structural, physical and mental problems that allowed Bachér to pick apart the MSU defense, Dantonio said Tuesday.
“We’ve addressed those issues and regained confidence,” he said. “When you looked at that (2007) team, that was one of the poorer defensive games I’ve been a part of, so we’ll use that as motivation.”
Most of the MSU secondary is expected to return from injuries and illnesses that pushed three second-stringers into the fourth quarter of last week’s win over Iowa. Senior safety Otis Wiley, who suffered a leg injury in the third quarter, likely will return to the lineup along with junior cornerback Ross Weaver, who was sidelined before kickoff because of sickness.
Sophomore cornerback Chris L. Rucker, who injured his elbow in the fourth quarter, hasn’t been ruled out by Dantonio, but is listed along with junior cornerback Jeremy Ware as one of two possible starters for the first time this season.
Regardless of who lines up Saturday, Dantonio said the team will be better prepared for Northwestern’s no-huddle offense after facing a similar offense at Indiana two weeks ago.
“We did learn some things from Indiana that we need to correct in terms of how we handle the fast pace of the no-huddle,” Dantonio said.
Kicking tradition
After an average 2007 season, junior kicker Brett Swenson has made a strong recovery, going 12-for-12 after missing his first kick of the year.
Dantonio acknowledged Swenson’s return from a 15-of-22 season in 2007 and partially credited advice from former MSU kicker Morten Andersen, a 25-year NFL veteran, for Swenson’s success. Andersen was an honorary co-captain for Homecoming.
“I think (Swenson) was confident, but it was nice to have (Andersen) there as someone to sort of look to and say, ‘Hey, I’m OK, I can do this too,’” Dantonio said.
Return games
Senior running back Javon Ringer didn’t return kickoffs for the first time this season on Saturday — a change Dantonio said might become permanent. Running backs Glenn Winston, a freshman, and A.J. Jimmerson, a junior, took back kicks last week and freshman wide receiver Keshawn Martin has done so in the past.
“We had been trying to get our tailbacks more involved, so we decided to put them back there,” Dantonio said.
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