Madison, Wis. — Coming into the season, the MSU football team’s defense was expected to anchor the team to a solid season and another Jan. 1 bowl game. Although still possible, the team’s 1-3 start, in which the defense has given up an average of 33.3 points in three losses, has left many asking questions about what’s gone wrong.
“We have to get better at tackling, we have to do better in the fourth quarter, we have to do better on the deep ball, we’ve just got to get our chemistry back to where it was at the beginning of the season and I think we can do that,” said junior linebacker Greg Jones, who led the team with 14 tackles in MSU’s 38-30 loss to Wisconsin on Saturday. “It may not take one week, it may take a couple of weeks, but I think we can do it.”
The expectations might have been too high, as defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi said “you never know what you’re going to get” from season to season.
“It always depends on how they gel together and work together,” Narduzzi said.
Wisconsin racked up 436 yards of total offense, including 193 on the ground, leading to many short third down attempts. The Badgers went 11-of-18 on third down.
“Versus the run, I’m not sure it was a total catastrophe, but they got enough to make it third-and-two and there were a lot of third-and-two’s out there,” MSU head coach Mark Dantonio said.
On the surface, the biggest issue seems to be the departure of Otis Wiley, MSU’s former standout safety and captain who had 78 tackles and four interceptions last season.
“Obviously there’s some things missing from last year and it’s our job as coaches to find out what it is,” Narduzzi said.
Jones is contributing his part, leading the Big Ten in tackles with 52, six more than the nearest player, but there is no Wiley to pick up the slack elsewhere this season.
“I can only do my job,” Jones said. “I can’t be in 11 places at one time.”
Senior cornerback Kendell Davis-Clark said the players have to do their jobs.
“As a unit we have to play the run better and stop the pass,” he said. “We play hard, we always play hard.”
Despite all the struggles, Dantonio seemed confident in the defense’s ability to rebound.
“We’ll rally back,” he said. “We will rally back on defense.”
For starters
Junior Roderick Jenrette started in place of junior Marcus Hyde at strong safety and had the best game of his career, notching 13 tackles.
“I thought he played better the last game and I thought he deserved the opportunity to start,” Dantonio said.
Jenrette has 21 tackles and two pass breakups this season.
“Rod comes in all the time ready to go,” Jones said. “He’s a guy I look up to. He just comes in there and does his job and that’s what you can count on Rod to do.”
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Sophomore Kirk Cousins made the start at quarterback, going 17-for-34 for 201 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Sophomore Keith Nichol threw two interceptions, but finished 7-of-12 for 195 yards and two touchdowns, including a 91-yard bomb to sophomore Keshawn Martin with 15 seconds left.
“I’m disappointed in Keith’s two interceptions because he threw it up, but he came back and responded at the end of the game and had one nice throw and one nice drive,” Dantonio said. “I thought Kirk wasn’t as sharp as he was in the other games but nevertheless, he made some plays as well.”
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