Freshman running back Nick Hill rushes the ball during Saturday’s Spring Game at Spartan Stadium. Hill gained the most rushing yards, 51, in the 17-10 Green team victory.
Prior to the MSU football team’s annual Spring Game, head coach Mark Dantonio said he hoped to see a competitive scrimmage with great execution.
Dantonio got what he wanted, as the Green team beat the White team, 17-10, Saturday at Spartan Stadium in a game that came down to the final possession.
Although Dantonio liked how close the scrimmage was, others weren’t as happy.
“First thing I learned is that being a head coach is no fun,” said Mike Tressel, MSU linebacker coach and head coach of the Green team. “That was a little too close at the end, considering I thought we played pretty well the whole day long, and then all of a sudden, last play, last couple plays of the game, you could lose it.”
The game nearly started out with a big bang on the first play from scrimmage. Using some early trickery after receiving the opening kickoff, White team freshman quarterback Andrew Maxwell threw a lateral to junior wide receiver Keshawn Martin, who then attempted a pass to junior wide receiver Keith Nichol. However, sophomore cornerback Mitchell White pressured Martin on the pass, forcing it to fall incomplete.
Following the near-fireworks to the start the game, the rest of the first quarter proved uneventful. Neither team was able to put any points on the board, and the only big play was when freshman running back Nick Hill ran for a gain of 31-yards for the Green team but fumbled.
It took until the second play of the second quarter for either team to pose a serious scoring threat, when junior Kirk Cousins, quarterback for the Green team, faked a reverse handoff and threw a 58-yard pass to senior receiver Mark Dell. Three plays later, Cousins connected with junior receiver B.J. Cunningham for an 18-yard touchdown to cap a four-play, 76-yard drive.
The long pass from Cousins to Dell was the first of five passes Cousins threw for more than 25 yards. He finished 10-for-15 for 254 yards and one touchdown.
“I think our seniors that were on the Green team made a good decision in taking their first pick and going with Kirk Cousins,” Tressel said. “Obviously Kirk was a great leader for our guys. He did a fantastic job.”
Cousins gave the credit to the five different receivers he completed passes to for the big day through the air.
“They did a phenomenal job,” Cousins said of the receivers. “I can’t say enough good things about the guys we had to throw the ball too.”
Like in the first quarter, neither team was able to move the ball very well for the remainder of the second quarter, and the halftime score stayed at 7-0.
On the first possession of the second half, the White team had its first chance to score following a 43-yard completion from Maxwell to Martin down to the Green team’s 23-yard line. However, after two minimal gains, sophomore kicker Dan Conroy missed a 35-yard field goal.
Later in the third quarter, after freshman Kevin Muma made a 19-yard field goal for the Green team, Conroy redeemed himself, converting from 31 yards and bringing the White back to within one possession.
That didn’t last for long, though, as Cousins completed long passes to Dell and sophomore tight end Dion Sims, setting up a 3-yard touchdown run for Hill a little more than a minute after Conroy’s field goal.
Down two touchdowns halfway through the fourth quarter, the White team assembled its best drive of the day. On the 11th play of the 76-yard drive, Maxwell found sophomore running back Edwin Baker for a 17-yard touchdown on fourth down, making the score 17-10 with 2:04 left in the game.
Electing not to onside kick, the White team kicked off deep to the Green team. The choice to kick it away paid off, as the Green team only was able to run 1:06 off the clock, giving the ball back to White with 56 seconds.
Quarterbacks coach Dave Warner, head coach of the White team, said he liked the way his team fought back and gave itself an opportunity after being down two touchdowns.
“Overall, I think it comes down to the end. You hope to have a chance to win as coach Dantonio always eludes to,” Warner said. “We had a chance to tie it up, send it overtime and the defense did their job and got the ball back for us.”
The White team’s final drive started with promise, as Maxwell hit senior tight end Charlie Gant for a 21-yard gain and then found Martin for 19 yards, marching down to the 28-yard line of the Green team. However, after a failed attempt at the same play it used to start the game, an incomplete pass and another unsuccessful gadget play, time ran out and the Green team came out on top.
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Much like Cousins for the Green team, Maxwell was the leader for White, going 18-of-34 for 244 yards and one touchdown.
Hill led all rushers in the game, running for 51 yards and one touchdown on just five carries for the Green team, and on the White team, sophomore running back Larry Caper rushed for 25 yards on 10 carries.
On the other side of the ball, Dantonio said he was happy with the play of both defenses. Both teams reached the quarterback for four sacks, led by sophomore cornerback Johnny Adams and freshman linebacker Denicos Allen, who each had two sacks.
As the finale of spring practice, Dantonio said he was happy with the way the Spartans used the Spring Game to cap the last month.
“All-in-all, I thought it was a great showing by our football team,” Dantonio said of the scrimmage. “We’ve got a very good football team coming back. I’m very optimistic about what we’re doing.”
