Head Coach Mark Dantonio was at the podium again Tuesday morning for his weekly press conference. In preparation for what is surely one of the most important games for MSU football in recent history, Dantonio addressed several topics, including the upcoming game against Oregon and his team’s 45-7 win against Jacksonville State Friday night.
“A Game of Innovation”
The knowledge of the innovation of Oregon’s offense has been well-documented, represented by the amount of teams from each coach who has adopted the spread style of play. On the other side, the consistent success of the MSU defense has other teams playing copycat with the Spartans.
“When you look at our defense, I think it’s cutting edge,” Dantonio said. “There’s not a lot of people who have played our defense in the past. ... I think people are moving towards it.”
There are many teams that run a version of the spread offense, and Alabama and former MSU Head Coach Nick Saban said teams that play a more traditional offense are sometimes harder to prepare for because coaches are seeing less and less of them.
“I believe that everything goes in cycles in football,” Dantonio said. “So if there is something good it’ll always return.”
Incumbent Starter
At this time last season, the MSU quarterback situation was still very much a mystery. Junior quarterback Connor Cook competed with Andrew Maxwell, then-freshman quarterback Damion Terry and then-freshman quarterback Tyler O’Connor throughout the summer offseason and into the first few games of the season.
A Rose Bowl championship later, and MSU’s quarterback situation couldn’t be more solid. Junior Connor Cook got off to another good start Friday against Jacksonville State as he played only one half and went 12-13 for 285 yards and three touchdowns.
“I think Cook’s got a great release, very strong arm,” Dantonio said.“He’s big, he’s mobile and there’s a lot of things he can do that are untapped yet. ... I think he’s an excellent quarterback.”
A Program Game
With the new college football playoff potentially leaving some very good teams out of the final four in Dallas, conference perceptions and games against elite teams can tell a lot about a team’s chances to be one of the four standing.
For Dantonio, the game against Oregon represents another chance to take a step forward as a program.
“We’ve played big games, we’ve won away from home in every stadium in this conference,” he said. “I felt like we needed to be at this point in 2014 if we were going to be able to play a game like that (against Oregon).”
Some experts believe when it is time for the final four, the Big Ten champion will be left out as the only power five conference champion to not be in the playoff. Dantonio said he can’t worry about that as he prepares his team for a battle against one of the best teams in the Pac-12.
“I sort of shrug my shoulders and go,” he said. “We just play the game, but we’ll be ready to play.”
So Fresh, So Clean
MSU football announced they will wear white chrome helmets against Oregon. When Mark Dantonio was asked what the Spartans will be wearing vs. Oregon he kept it simple — the Spartans will wear white.
He did address that MSU, a Nike school along with Oregon, has made efforts to keep their uniforms fresh over the years.
“I think it’s a statement to young people,” he said. “They like to see change. They want to keep things fresh and anything we can do to embrace that, we do.”
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