Spartans using bye week to heal injuries

When MSU football head coach Mark Dantonio first laid eyes on the 2008 schedule, he didn’t like what he saw.

At first, not having a bye week until the 11th week of the season bothered Dantonio, but three months and one banged-up team later, he’s changed his mind.

“Initially, I didn’t think this was the greatest time to have a bye week, but now with the way our season has played out I think it’s probably the best time,” Dantonio said. “First of all with our players, we’re nicked up, banged up … but we’re going to be a healthier football team when the week’s passed.”

Although the Spartans have had their share of bumps and bruises throughout the season, they have been fairly lucky when it comes to key players missing time. Senior free safety Kendell Davis-Clark (shoulder) and sophomore cornerback Chris L. Rucker (arm, leg) are among the starters who have missed significant time due to injury, while senior strong safety Otis Wiley (knee) and sophomore wide receiver Mark Dell (knee) also have each missed a game because of an injury.

Dantonio admitted his team was “a little banged up, especially on the offensive side of the ball at offensive line and wide receiver.”

Because of injuries, the second-year head coach has a light week planned for his team, which he said will run and lift twice this week while practicing Thursday and Sunday evening.

Dantonio also said the week off gives the Spartans a few extra hours in their daily schedule to focus on things other than football.

“It gives our players the opportunity to focus on things academically,” Dantonio said. “It’s been 11 weeks since we’ve had any time at all, other than Mondays, which is the day we give our players off. They’re very, very busy.”

It’s never too early

The MSU football team may have most of this week off, but when the regular practice schedule resumes Sunday evening, the team will have quite the challenge in front of them.

The Spartans’ final game of the regular season also provides them with their greatest challenge, when No. 18 MSU (9-2 overall, 6-1 Big Ten) travels on Nov. 22 to State College, Pa., to face No. 7 Penn State (8-1, 5-1) for a shot at a Big Ten championship.

“I think the Penn State game provides us with a great opportunity,” Dantonio said. “As we continue to win, the stakes get a little higher, the opportunities get greater and that’s what’s happened to us. We’ll have an opportunity to play for at the very least a share of a championship on Saturday.”

Bowl game projections

Although Penn State’s loss to Iowa last weekend cleared up the national championship picture, leaving No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Texas Tech as the top two teams in the BCS rankings by far, the Hawkeyes’ upset win severely hurt the Spartans’ Rose Bowl chances.

Now, the only way the Spartans can make a trip to Pasadena, Calif. is with a win against Penn State and an Ohio State loss to either Illinois or Michigan.

Dantonio has said throughout his tenure in East Lansing that going to the Rose Bowl is the program’s ultimate goal. Still, the second-year coach said his first reaction of the upset win was “Iowa won” and he went to get another sandwich.

“You deal with what you can control and I’ve finally learned how to do that as a person,” Dantonio said. “I think when you get older you get a little bit wiser in that area, so all we can control is who we play against and that’s about it.

“In regards to the Rose Bowl, that’s our ultimate goal, and if we win next week we move one step closer to getting there. Whether it’s a year from now or two years from now or three years from now, you can look back and say we had an opportunity here.”