MSU’s defensive secondary may have entered Saturday’s Homecoming game against Iowa as a question mark but emerged as an exclamation point in the Spartan’s 31-28 win.
The loss of both starting cornerbacks to ankle injuries in the bye week gave MSU reason to worry. But the play of replacements such as junior safety Broderick Nelson, who had two interceptions, made the secondary stand out.
“We made some moves,” MSU head coach Bobby Williams said. “A lot of guys played a lot of new positions, especially in the defense, guys playing for the first time on a full-time basis.”
Besides Nelson, that included freshman safety Robert Flagg, senior cornerback Duron Bryan and sophomore running back Tyrell Dortch, who practiced at cornerback for the first time two days before the game.
“They have me going both ways,” Dortch said. “I’m just helping the team out. It was a last minute thing. Coach asked me for a favor, and I did it for the team. We got two guys down with broken ankles, I’m not gonna be helpless about it, I’m just gonna go out there and help the team out.”
The transition wasn’t difficult, Dortch said.
“It’s not hard at all, you just play man or zone,” Dortch said. “I don’t really know the calls that much, so the guys are calling the plays and I was just asking (junior safety) Thomas Wright or (senior safety) Lorenzo Guess if I had man or zone, and they told me then and there.”
That approach paid off for Dortch, who in his first outing had five total tackles and tipped a pass that landed in the hands of senior defensive tackle Josh Shaw, who returned it 15 yards. Shaw also picked off a pass in the fourth quarter.
Saturday was the first time since high school Dortch has been more than a situational player - his entire MSU career, he has played behind junior tailback T.J. Duckett.
“It felt good to get in there and get the minutes,” Dortch said. “It was fun to go out there and make plays.”
But Nelson proved to be the biggest player in the secondary when he recorded his second interception halfway through the fourth quarter. MSU was holding on to a 10-point lead when Iowa quarterback Kyle McCann launched a pass into the end zone on third and 17 that Nelson came down with.
Iowa wide receiver Chris Oliver wrestled the ball from Nelson after they landed, and the official almost called the play an Iowa touchdown, Nelson said.
“I held the receiver up, I caught it and my momentum put me in the end zone,” Nelson said. “But when I hit the ground I kind of let the ball loose and he came up with it, but I knew I had it. I thought the referee was going to call a touchdown, but I had it.
Another bright spot for the secondary was Bryan, who moved from safety to cornerback after the injuries. But the defensive line deserves the credit for its consistent press on McCann, Bryan said.
“I attribute (our play) to the front seven,” Bryan said. “We don’t have to cover them all the way across the field, because when they have pressure on them, McCann’s scrambling for his life, so it makes it a lot easier for the secondary.”
But even more critical for the line was a strong pass rush, because of the inexperience of the secondary’s players, Shaw said.
“Every game it’s critical to get pressure on the quarterback,” Shaw said. “But with a younger secondary like that, we have to make the quarterback make bad throws, push the offensive lineman up, just pressure him to make bad mistakes.”
Senior linebacker Ivory McCoy, who mostly played defensive end in MSU’s nickel package played in his first game after being sidelined all season with an injury.
“Ivory, I mean he’s got that 4.4 (speed) coming off the edge, it’s kind of hard to block,” Shaw said. “I mean that just put a wrinkle in it for our defense and made people account for him.”
Last week’s practice was his first time playing defensive end, McCoy said.
“Defensive end was a new thing,” McCoy said. “But this week when they worked me in at it, I was feeling good at it. They just had to let me know what I was going to be doing, and I had to study up on it.”
