Junior safety R.J. Williamson runs during football practice April 8, 2014, at the practice field outside Duffy Daugherty Football Building. Julia Nagy/The State News
MSU football is only a few days away from its annual intrasquad Green and White Spring Game. However, before MSU wraps up spring camp, head coach Mark Dantonio addressed the media on the importance of the spring game and the program’s draft of players for the game.
Coming off a big offseason for recruiting and more hype heading into the year, the spring game should provide a good barometer for the state of the program right now, Dantonio said.
Important finale
Although the score and stats ultimately will not count toward the 2014 campaign, Dantonio said the players always are fired up to compete in front of a large crowd inside the walls of Spartan Stadium.
“Our guys look forward to the spring game ‘cause it’s an opportunity to play in front of a lot of people,” Dantonio said. “That’s sort of been the history here and I think that’ll continue.”
Dantonio added that he is expecting a big crowd to attend the game as long as the weather is nice.
Dantonio has recently been advocating to get at least 50,000 fans to attend the game, which will honor the 2014 Rose Bowl champions at halftime.
Drafting up the teams
To go with the annual spring game, MSU will continue a tradition of having a player draft to decide the makeup of the two squads. Dantonio said the player draft, where the players pick amongst their teammates, relates back to a more old-school, backyard playing style.
“It gives them a chance to compete against each other and choose up teams. So, hey, everybody likes to compete and choose it up (like) on basketball courts and things of that nature,” Dantonio said.
Dantonio also confirmed MSU will continue its tradition of the winning team of the scrimmage receiving a steak dinner, while the losers chow down on beans and franks.
Depth chart update
As spring wraps up this week, Dantonio said there still are a few position battles in progress on both sides of the ball.
One of the most notable battles that has been getting a lot of attention in the spring is between sophomore Tyler O’Connor and redshirt freshman Damion Terry for the backup quarterback spot.
Dantonio said returning starter and junior Connor Cook is firmly the number one at the position. However, the two players behind Cook still are duking it out for the valuable second spot.
Another area Dantonio will be keying on for the remainder of the week is the vacant strong safety position. Both junior R.J. Williamson and sophomore Demetrious Cox have been battling all spring to replace former standout Isaiah Lewis, but the position remains up for grabs.
“I got to find that one safety, whether it’s (Williamson) or (Cox),” Dantonio said. “But both guys are good players.”
Dantonio added that Cox looked good last week and could at least be a contributor in the nickel package if he doesn’t win the starting spot.
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