MSU's defense left the door to its backfield wide open for the first three games of the season.
Then the secondary found the key to closing that door halfway through the Notre Dame (1-3) game - communication.
Ever since their discovery in South Bend, Ind., the drastic improvement by the defensive backs has paid off huge for the No. 21 Spartans (5-1 overall, 2-0 Big Ten).
MSU has won three straight games after the secondary cut its yardage allowance in half.
Against Western Michigan (3-2), Rutgers (3-2) and Louisiana Tech (2-3), MSU gave up 1,035 yards. In its last three games, MSU gave up nearly half that - 528.
What's changed?
They're talking more, getting penalized less, giving faster receivers cushion space and drilling them just before they touch the ball.
Look at Indiana's final offensive play.
Hoosiers junior quarterback Matt LoVecchio hooked up with freshman tight end Chris Rudanovic in the endzone for what looked like a touchdown. But the Hoosiers faithful weren't cheering for long. Instead, their cheers turned into fear of whether or not the 6-foot-4, 255-pound Rudanovic had survived the hit sophomore cornerback Darren Barnett (who stands 6 feet tall and weighs in at 187 pounds) had just laid on him, causing the much larger freshman to drop the ball.
And it wasn't just Barnett who was dishing out damaging tackles Saturday against Indiana. His secondary teammates all got a piece of the action in the 31-3 win.
Junior free safety Jason Harmon finished the game leading the team in tackles (10). Sophomore strong safety Eric Smith, who leads the team in tackles for the season (40), constantly crashed into opposing players and broke up two passes. And Barnett's counterpart, senior cornerback Roderick Maples, broke up three passes and forced a fumble.
"Right now, I think we're in a pretty good groove," Maples said. "I think we're working real good with each other right now.
"Communication has been mainly the big thing for us. When we have a lack of communication, that's when we break down. When the communication was there, we play good."
And not only is the Spartans' improved secondary helping them win games, they're keeping hair on head coach John L. Smith's head.
When MSU holds opponents to fewer than 200 yards passing in a game, which it has done in its two conference victories, the Spartans avoid final-minute thrillers. But in three of its first four games of the season, MSU had to fight throughout the final quarter while its secondary gave up an average of 309.3 yards a game.
Heading into the Hoosiers Homecoming hootenanny, the Spartans' run defense was given more props than a "Lord of the Rings" movie set because it ranked near the top of the nation. Yet the Hoosiers were able to produce 117 yards on the ground against the Spartans, the most by an MSU opponent all season.
Louisiana Tech beat MSU not only with its passing game but by completely scrapping its run game. The Bulldogs saw MSU's defensive line dominate Western Michigan and Rutgers into a combined 4 yards total on the ground. So the 2001 Western Athletic Conference champs pounced on the inexperienced and untested MSU secondary and scorched them for 436 passing yards on 35 completions.
The Spartans' exposed weakness and lack of depth had many crying calamity a couple of weeks before conference plays began. So the secondary players decided to start talking to one another on the field and the results of their communication speak for themselves.
Keeping that door shut on opposing teams' aerial attacks will be crucial to the Spartans' success down the stretch. MSU faces four of the top six passing offenses in the Big Ten in its final six games, including intrastate rival Michigan, which ranks No. 1 in the conference by .2 yards over the Spartans (264.5 to 264.3).
