Senior wide receiver DeAnthony Arnett holds onto the ball while senior safety RJ Williamson and junior cornerback Jermaine Edmondson try to tackle him during the Spring Green and White game April 25, 2015, at Spartan Stadium. The white team defeated the green team, 9-3. Hannah Levy/The State News
On a chilly cloudy day, there were people tailgating on Shaw Lane and there was a buzz in East Lansing. No, it's not the fall, but there was a record 48,000 people in Spartan Stadium to watch the annual spring game, in which the White team defeated the Green team 9-3.
"Very appreciative of people taking their day and coming out and doing this, and I just want to send that message out to all of our Spartans," head coach Mark Dantonio said. "I thought it was a great crowd, so it was impressive.”
There were quite a few lessons learned in the spring game, despite its fun nature, and there was a taste of what is to come in the fall.
Big men plays
Taking a page out of Baylor's playbook, the Spartans got their lineman involved in the biggest way. Senior offensive lineman Jack Allen scored the games only touchdown on a three-yard rush.
"I'd probably call you a liar," Allen said jokingly when asked what he would say if he was told before the game he would score the only touchdown.
"I don’t really feel this often, I can’t describe this feeling. The only way you hear about offensive lineman is if they do something bad.”
Fellow senior offensive lineman Donovan Clark also had a 15-yard run. Senior defensive linemen Lawrence Thomas and Shilique Calhoun each saw some passes thrown their way.
Connor's connection
Senior quarterback Connor Cook may have found himself a new go-to weapon for the upcoming season — senior wide receiver DeAnthony Arnett had five receptions for 51 yards. Cook also missed Arnett on a few throws and expressed his disappointment.
“I would have liked him to have more catches than that I think there were some times where I missed him today, but DeAnthony had a good spring, he got better each and every week," Cook said.
Two-way potential
While it's not every day a player can start on both sides of the ball like Tony Lippett did for the Spartans, MSU may have another possible candidate. Sophomore safety Montae Nicholson spent some time lined up at wide receiver, and while he did not look ready yet with polish he is athletic enough to get involved with the offense.
"We recruit football players. We recruit guys that can play on both sides of the line of scrimmage," Dantonio said. "We recruit guys that can play in the offensive backfield or defensive backfield, or wide receiver/DB and vice versa.
"I think those types of things show up, especially in spring games when you have an opportunity to get them reps, and that is what happened out there.”
Calhoun also suggested a desire to get some more shots on offense, he said with a laugh that he was lobbying Dantonio to get him more reps on the offensive side of the ball.
“It was fun out there playing a little wide receiver, it was fun getting out there having them let me play the opposite side of the ball," Calhoun said. "I’ll mention it to (Dantonio), hopefully he laughs at it but doesn’t laugh it off, hopefully he takes it into consideration and plays me at a little bit of tight end. I’ll block too.”
Defensive line
The defensive line looked like it could have the makings of one of the best in the country. The defenses combined had seven tackles for a loss, five of those being sacks.
Thomas flashed some explosive potential when he blew through the offensive line to stuff a Green team 4th and 1 and Calhoun as expected was dominant with 2.5 sacks.
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I've told you guys, I really don't like to talk about individuals," linebackers and special teams Mark Snyder said. "But I thought today, as it should be, Shilique (Calhoun) was unblockable."
