Friday, March 29, 2024

Weeklong wait comes to end

November 2, 2001

It’s on.

And for the MSU football team, it has been on all week as it prepared to battle intrastate rival No. 6 Michigan (6-1 overall, 4-0 Big Ten) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

In fact, practice was so intense this week for MSU (4-2, 2-2), even players with broken ankles couldn’t resist suiting up, senior safety Lorenzo Guess said.

“(Freshman safety Jason) Harmon and (senior safety DeMario) Suggs came out with helmets and shoulder pads on to watch practice,” Guess said. “They said ‘This is Michigan week.’”

And a good week of practice can make all the difference - offensive coordinator Morris Watts said the win over Wisconsin on Saturday was the result of a strong practice week.

“If you’re going to make plays in a game you have to make them in practice, and we’re slowly learning how to practice,” Watts said. “There’s a difference between practicing hard and practicing plays you’re going to make in games.

“You only make plays that you’ve made in practice.”

Regardless of how hard MSU practiced this week, the absence of Suggs, Harmon and its latest loss, sophomore tailback and cornerback Tyrell Dortch, still leaves a question mark hanging over MSU’s secondary.

That’s even scarier, considering U-M’s best weapon is wide receiver Marquise Walker, who ranks second in the Big Ten in receptions and third in the Big Ten in receiving with 659 yards. And last week, Walker’s one-handed touchdown snag against Iowa was the most sensational catch of this college football season, U-M defensive end Shantee Orr said in a statement.

“That was a spectacular play,” Orr said. “It was funny because it made the whole crowd get silent because no one knew if it was a touchdown or not. That was an exceptional catch. I couldn’t see it from the sideline, but I saw it on the replay.”

But nothing can counter a play like that, defensive secondary coach Troy Douglas said.

“If he makes one of those catches like he did against Iowa, all you can do is pat him on the butt and say ‘nice play,’” Douglas said. “There isn’t much you can do about it. But if we don’t give up big plays and keep him in front of us we’ll be fine.”

MSU could use a big game from freshman safety Robert Flagg, who will guard Walker.

“For me myself, I’m looking to have one of the biggest games of my life,” Flagg said. “I’m not a rookie anymore, it’s time to step up.”

And Flagg, a 6-foot-2, 194- pound Florida native, is also excited to take part in the state’s biggest rivalry.

“I’m getting a good sense of the rivalry,” he said. “Coaches take it like a regular game, but I know in the back of my mind it’s an in-state game.”

Walker isn’t the only player on a rampage. MSU will also have to watch out for linebacker Larry Foote. Foote, a semifinalist for the Butkus Award, which goes to the best linebacker in the country, leads U-M with 51 tackles and also has had four sacks this season.

MSU has its own Butkus Award semifinalist in senior linebacker Josh Thornhill, who U-M head coach Lloyd Carr said is similar to Foote.

“Well they’re both tough, they’re both smart, they both play hard and they are both mobile,” Carr said in a statement.

“They are two outstanding kids who play the game the way it’s supposed to be played. I will be glad to see Thornhill leave because he’s been a thorn in our side for three years.”

Foote and Walker are only two stars on the Wolverine squad, but freshman offensive tackle William Whitticker said MSU plays against top players every week.

“They’re just another team that we’re playing,” he said. “Their name is Michigan, but it’s just like playing against any other team we’ve played against. We play against All-Americans all the time.”

Justin A. Rice can be reached at ricejust@msu.edu.

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