The MSU football team ended spring football with a scrimmage Friday, moving indoors to the Duffy Daugherty Football Building because of poor weather.
The scrimmage concluded the Spartans' 15 practices during a four-week period, a spring session MSU head coach John L. Smith said he was happy with overall.
"Our kids really took it to heart to work hard and get better," Smith said. "I can think of one day and maybe another one that I was a little disappointed. Other than that, I felt good about us every day going to the field and wanting to get better.
"We did, and I think their attitude was great."
The Spartans now will head into a summer of individual workouts and informal practices, which junior quarterback Drew Stanton said rests on the shoulders of the leaders.
"It's kind of placed more upon the leaders to take control of this team," Stanton said. "It's just a matter of us coming in and doing stuff on our own behind the scenes that are just going to help us make us better - as far as weight lifting and running and throwing and doing those things, watching film in the offseason."
Stanton said although the team had a good spring, the question of whether it can play consistent football is something nobody will be able to nail down until the season begins.
"It's just a matter of us being consistent, and we're not going to know that until the fall," Stanton said. "We do all these things to try and be consistent because we weren't last year.
"We're capable of playing with any team. It's just a matter of finding that consistency and maintaining it throughout a 12-game schedule."
Sophomore cornerback Travis Key agreed with Stanton, saying he believes the Spartans can compete with any team it faces.
"We can win every game, if you ask me, if we go out and play to the best of our ability," Key said.
He attributes much of his feelings to the hard work the Spartans have put in during the offseason.
"I don't think there is a team in the Big Ten that has worked harder than us in this offseason," Key said. "We are out here every workout, every weight-lifting opportunity."
And although some say the defense is suspect for the fall, Key is confident in the defense's capabilities.
"We got the potential to be great," Key said. "We got a lot of guys out here that can run, we got a lot of guys out here that can hit, we got a lot of smart players. We definitely have the potential to be the best defense in the Big Ten."
The quarterbacks continued their battle for the No. 2 spot behind Stanton on Friday, led by redshirt freshman Brian Hoyer going 13-for-20 for 133 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.
Freshman Domenic Natale went 5-for-7 passing for 115 yards and one interception while sophomore Stephen Reaves went 7-for-13 for 119 yards, including a touchdown to sophomore tight end Kellen Davis.
The receiving core also had a solid day, led by redshirt freshman Deon Curry, who had three catches for 117 yards.
Senior Kyle Brown had three catches for 42 yards, redshirt freshman Carl Grimes had two catches for 58 yards and junior Jerramy Scott had three catches for 59 yards.
Sophomore running back Jehuu Caulcrick ran 12 times for 51 yards, and sophomore walk-on Brett Kahn had 16 carries for 50 yards.
