“We had a good scrimmage (Saturday),” Dantonio said. “It went back and forth throughout the entire scrimmage, as you would it expect it to.”

Offensively, Dantonio said the Spartans’ main contributors continued their solid springs.

Junior quarterback Kirk Cousins and freshman quarterback Andrew Maxwell combined for 376 yards through the air and five touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns went to junior wide receiver Keith Nichol.

The Spartans’ rushing attack also has been productive this spring, and Saturday it featured freshman running back Nick Hill, who ran for 79 yards on 17 carries. Dantonio said Hill “looked electrifying” at times during the scrimmage and will get a chance to play behind sophomore running backs Edwin Baker and Larry Caper.

On defense, Dantonio said the Spartans played well, forcing two turnovers and sacking the quarterback eight times. Senior linebacker Greg Jones was the most successful in getting to the quarterback with four sacks, but sophomore defensive end Tyler Hoover and sophomore linebacker Chris Norman also added two sacks of their own.

As the end of spring practice approaches, Dantonio said he and the rest of the Spartans now are preparing for the annual Spring Game at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Spartan Stadium.

With only two practices left before the intrasquad scrimmage, which concludes spring practice for MSU, Dantonio said he wants to make sure his players are fresh for when they are seen by Spartans fans for the first time since last season.

Although Dantonio said he and his staff will be careful about avoiding injuries throughout this week and Saturday, he also said it is important that all of his players, especially guys who haven’t played in a game at the college level before, work hard and treat the Spring Game as if it counted.

“That’s as game-like a situation as we can give our players right now,” Dantonio said.

“We need to get them ready to go, and that’s a good experience.”