A cluster of Spartans, including No. 41 senior left back Kaleb Thornhill and No. 43 redshirt freshman left back Eric Gordon, help take down Pittsburgh
Senior strong safety Nehemiah Warrick is walking around as if he just won a million bucks — and judging by the enormous, steel attache briefcase, he actually might have.
His strut is a little upbeat, his confidence clearly high and an aura of accomplishment radiates from him.
Maybe it’s because of MSU’s hot start. Maybe it’s something else — something the standard passer-by wouldn’t notice.
As he walks through the locker room, eyes shift to the briefcase, rays of light glinting off it. Warrick is the envy of all his peers on defense. He has what they all want.
The bone.
MSU defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi brought a little bit of home with him when he left Cincinnati with head coach Mark Dantonio. What he brought was a gigantic cow bone.
When Narduzzi displayed the bone before the season began, players were more than surprised. Now, it’s become the ultimate prize.
The bone is awarded to the defensive player with the biggest hit each week. Previous winners include senior linebacker SirDarean Adams, freshman linebacker Greg Jones, two-time winner senior strong safety Travis Key.
The bone has spurred competition between teammates and fostered motivation. It has the team playing harder and more aggressively on defense. It’s given the Spartans an animalistic instinct.
“We all want that bone,” senior defensive end Jonal Saint-Dic said. “We all try to get that biggest hit, we’re all trying to get that momentum changer.”
The players pass the bone around before practice, holding it, imagining the hit that will earn them their coveted award. They carry their desire into the game, salivating at the sight of an open hole in the offensive line, an unsuspecting receiver or a quarterback hopelessly stranded in the backfield.
“We definitely try to come out and be physical, and try to hit as hard as possible because we’re all trying to get that bone,” Saint-Dic said.
The bone isn’t just weekly recognition, either. At the end of the year, the person with their name and number on it the most gets to keep it.
While the offense earns dog tags for individual accomplishments, everybody can earn those. There is only one bone and that has the defense trying to outperform each other.
That’s not a comforting thought for opposing offenses.
“We definitely compete out there thinking about that bone,” Key said.
“It’s definitely something that gets us riled up during the game.”
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