Four months after stepping off the field following a 42-23 loss to Penn State that sent it home without a bowl game in 2000, the MSU football team stepped back onto the practice field Wednesday for their first of 15 spring practice sessions.
It also was the first day of the battle for who is going to be the Spartans’ starting quarterback in 2001.
Head coach Bobby Williams has opened up the competition for the job this spring between sophomore incumbent Jeff Smoker and senior Ryan Van Dyke. Williams said he hopes to come out of the spring sessions with a true starter.
Van Dyke, who lost the starting job halfway through last season, says he has a lot to prove this spring.
“I’ve dedicated myself the whole winter to getting better,” he said. “I realize that I messed up on an opportunity last fall and I’ve just got to hopefully take advantage of this opportunity I’ve been given now.”
Smoker said it was safe to say the battle is on for the starting position.
“I guess you could say so,” he said. “We’re both out there working hard and seeing what we could do to make ourselves better.”
Williams said he might entertain playing both Smoker and Van Dyke, an idea that doesn’t bother either one.
“We did a little bit of that last year, and like I said before, I’m just happy to play,” Smoker said. “Whether I split time with Ryan, that’s fine because we both have different things to offer.”
Van Dyke said the Spartans have the potential to be a “special team” this year with the addition of newcomers such as star receiving prospect Charles Rogers.
“We’re going to have an explosive offense and I want to be on the field as much as possible,” Van Dyke said.
Senior linebacker Josh Thornhill said even though the season is six months away, everybody was in midseason form Wednesday, even saying there were some minor fights that broke out during practice.
“I think the attitude is real good,” he said. “We got people hustling to the ball and trying to do things right and tempers flare up out there.”
On the defensive side of the ball, Thornhill said he expects the unit to have as much success as they have the past couple of years.
“Our goal is just to stay on the same page,” he said. “Two years ago we had the No. 1 defense in the Big Ten. (Last year) it was the same thing. We don’t have any less expectation of our defense this year.”
Regardless of who’s the starting quarterback at the end of the spring or how the defense can maintain it’s rank as one of the conference’s best, Van Dyke said the Spartans want to work hard in the spring to make sure last year’s 5-6 record isn’t repeated.
“After what we did last year, I think everybody is real anxious to get back on the field and get the respect back from the Big Ten teams and national respect too,” he said. “We were underachievers last year and you can’t do that at Michigan State.”
