Coming off a nail-biting victory this past weekend, No. 8 MSU football is set to move forward in its first road conference game of the year against Purdue on Saturday.
With the Boilermakers now in the cross-hairs for MSU, head coach Mark Dantonio addressed the media on Tuesday, talking about injuries, the Spartans' playoff odds and solving short yardage plays.
Mylan Hicks out for five weeks
MSU got some bad news on Tuesday when Dantonio announced senior outside linebacker Mylan Hicks will be out for the next five weeks with a broken arm.
“It’s unfortunate, he’s a senior,” Dantonio said. “He’s been playing well for us and he’ll continue to be a guy there that will bring a lot of emotion to our football game, but he’s going to be out for a little bit.”
Hicks had been seeing time at the star position, rotating in and out with junior outside linebacker Darien Harris as a starter. Hicks has recorded 12 total tackles and one sack for a loss of five yards through the first five games.
Dantonio said he is currently looking at moving defensive backs up to the star position, including junior RJ Williamson, sophomore Demetrious Cox and redshirt freshman Jalyn Powell, to add depth to the position.
Playoff odds after last week
The College Football Playoff is a topic of interest across the country, and once again it was a point of discussion for MSU on Tuesday.
When a number of top-10 teams went down last week, MSU’s playoff odds increased, with CBS sports reporter Jerry Palm naming the Spartans in his current playoff projection.
When asked about potentially blowing style points by letting Nebraska back into the game this past week, Dantonio dismissed the subject. He considers any win a step forward toward the playoffs.
“You can look around the country right now and ask four or five other teams how they feel this week so it’s all about winning football games because this gets forgotten,” Dantonio said. “In the big picture of things, if you win you’re going to advance, if you lose by a couple, chances are you don’t. ”
Delton Williams role in run game
The Spartans were able to produce more than 200 yards on the ground last week against Nebraska, but struggled in short-yardage plays. MSU was stuffed on numerous third down-and-short situations this past weekend, including a couple of crucial drive-stopping plays down the stretch.
Dantonio said he and the rest of the offensive coaching staff are going to look at ways to solve the problem this week. One answer could be utilizing sophomore running back Delton Williams, who brings a more downhill physical style of running.
After getting zero carries last week, Dantonio said Williams will surely be part of this week’s game plan.
“He needs to play, he will play,” Dantonio said. “Delton is a great young man, he’s a good football player and he needs to play for us.”
