When the MSU football team hits the field for its 97th homecoming game this weekend, there will be more on the line than the usual celebration of returning alumni.
Andre Sims Jr. knows he’s crazy. The thought of 11 college football players running at you with a full head of steam and shouting obscenities triggers fear for most, but for the redshirt freshman, it draws a smile.
Before Yifan Zhu came to MSU from China two years ago, she hadn’t met Sparty. To her, university mascots were just a face on a flag, not a figure you could wave to and hug.
Meeting with the media Wednesday afternoon, offensive coordinator Dan Roushar revealed replacing injured junior tight end Dion Sims would be a little more difficult than initially expected.
It’s been five days since Taiwan Jones took the field against Indiana, and the sophomore linebacker still can’t shake a smile that spans from ear to ear. That’s because, for the first time in his career, Jones wasn’t on the field for the occasional play or to finish up the end of a blowout.
It’s a week of change for the MSU football team (4-2 overall, 1-1 Big Ten). As injuries pile on and players begin to bloom, head coach Mark Dantonio made some adjustments to his depth chart in preparation for Saturday’s homecoming game against Iowa (3-2, 1-0).
The search to replace graduated safety Trenton Robinson has been a revolving door in the defensive secondary, and this week the door has stopped with redshirt freshman R.J. Williamson, following a career-high nine tackles in the MSU football team’s (4-2 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) 31-27 victory over Indiana.
Back in August when the Spartans were midway through fall camp, offensive coordinator Dan Roushar began to see growth in his starting quarterback. Following the team’s first scrimmage — in which junior quarterback Andrew Maxwell was 16-of-29 for 162 yards — Roushar met with the media and divulged Maxwell had not thrown an interception in about five or six practices.
Returning to the football field doesn’t appear imminent for junior tight end Dion Sims.
Mark Dantonio didn’t have much to smile about following the MSU football team’s 31-27 victory over Indiana in Bloomington on Saturday. The Spartans (4-2 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) came into the game heavily favored to deliver another drubbing to the Hoosiers (2-3 overall, 0-2 Big Ten) after last year’s 55-3 blowout in Spartan Stadium.
Is this really it? It’s the midpoint of the college football season, and this MSU team (4-2 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) still is as confounding and, maybe more appropriately, dumbfounding as it was when it opened the season.
One minute and 17 seconds. In one, quick instant the Spartans heralded defense surrendered a touchdown, and the Hoosiers’ early flash proved to just be the beginning.
At halftime in Memorial Stadium Saturday afternoon, the Spartans’ Rose Bowl dreams were on life support.
For the fifth time in six games, the Spartans rallied from a halftime deficit, this time trailing Indiana (2-3, 0-2) 27-14 after two quarters, before outscoring the Hoosiers by 17 points in the second half to knock off Indiana 31-27.
It was a first half unlike any other this season for the MSU football team (3-2 overall, 0-1 Big Ten), as the Indiana Hoosiers (2-2, 0-1) left the field to raucous cheers, leading the Spartans 27-14.
If premedical sophomore Desiree Clenney could have her way, she’d like to see the student section at Spartan Stadium filled with only one color: pink.
Coming off the heels of a 17-16 loss to No. 12 Ohio State, the MSU football team (3-2 overall, 0-1 Big Ten) is prepared to attack the rest of the conference season as it travels to Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Ind., to take on the Indiana Hoosiers (2-2 overall, 0-1 Big Ten) at noon on Saturday.
On Thursday, the Big Ten announced that MSU football (3-2 overall, 0-1 Big Ten) redshirt freshman offensive guard Jack Allen will not face disciplinary action following the conference’s review of Saturday’s game against Ohio State.
For Dion Sims, there’s no more time to wait. He waited a year for the chance to be a part of the MSU football team (3-2 overall, 0-1 Big Ten) after being suspended for his involvement in the theft of 104 Detroit Public Schools computers in 2010.
With the way the receiving game has struggled through five weeks of the season, it wasn’t a huge surprise when MSU football head coach Mark Dantonio bumped junior wideout Bennie Fowler to second string in favor of true freshman Aaron Burbridge.