For MSU head football coach Mark Dantonio, recruiting has everything to do with the program’s identity and where it aspires to be.
Considering his vast résumé filled with several defensive coordinator and defensive secondary coaching positions, it should come as no surprise that head coach Mark Dantonio developed one of the nation’s top defenses in 2011. As a three-year letterman defensive back in the late-1970s for South Carolina, it also should come as no surprise that the defensive-minded coach has a knack for finding talented defensive backs and developing them into a skilled secondary.
Affectionately known as “Joe Pa” to fans across the nation, former Penn State football head coach Joe Paterno passed away Sunday morning at the age of 85.
After recording 12 tackles for loss and four sacks this season, MSU defensive end Marcus Rush has been named a Freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America. Rush joins defensive tackle Jerel Worthy, who recently declared for the NFL Draft, and three other players — kicker Brett Swenson, linebacker Greg Jones and offensive guard Joel Foreman — as the five Spartans to be named FWAA All-Americans in the last six years.
When a team puts in five months of dedicated practices, sacrificed countless hours for strength and weight training, succeeded in triumph after triumph and spent nearly a month studying film on an opponent, the only additional thing the players can do on game day is believe.
After speculation MSU defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi was leaving to take the same position at Texas A&M, the university announced Friday night he will remain in East Lansing.
Sitting beside MSU football head coach Mark Dantonio on Thursday afternoon at the Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Center, junior defensive tackle Jerel Worthy announced he will forgo his senior year and enter the 2012 NFL Draft.
Tampa Bay, Fla. — Kirk Cousins was the last player off the field at Raymond James Stadium Monday night.
_Tampa Bay, Fla._— The Spartans’ 33-30 triple overtime win over Georgia at the Outback Bowl was a dramatic victory that came down to the final plays, but as they’ve emphasized all season, the win and the 11-3 record was a team effort from start to finish.
_Tampa Bay, Fla._— A 16-point deficit at the half, a tie game with less than two minutes left in the fourth quarter, a thrown interception in the first overtime and a blocked field goal for the win in the third overtime — it couldn’t have been any closer than that.
After almost three weeks since the Spartans’ loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship game, the No. 12 team (10-3) has put the loss in the past and is determined to finish the season on a high note.
Junior defensive tackle Jerel Worthy was named First-Team All-American by The Associated Press on Wednesday. The six-foot-three 310-pound lineman is the first Spartan defensive lineman to earn first-team Associated Press honors since defensive end Bubba Smith in 1966.
Junior defensive tackle Jerel Worthy was named a First-Team All-American by the Associated Press on Wednesday.
Spartans and Bulldogs have had similar seasons and boast similar weapons.
MSU football players might see themselves in higher definition, should the MSU Board of Trustees authorize the administration to plan for an approximately $8 million scoreboard and sound system replacement at its Friday meeting.
As his final Spartan season is winding down, it can be said with absolute certainty that — despite his seldom mistakes on the field — Cousins is the best quarterback MSU football has ever seen, and that’s a testament to his skills and his character.
Following Saturday night’s loss to Wisconsin in the inaugural Big Ten championship game, MSU head coach Mark Dantonio said the Spartans will be back in Indianapolis next year.
The No. 12 MSU football team had its annual Spartan Football Awards Banquet after the team returned home from Indianapolis on Sunday at Kellogg Center.
The No. 17 Spartans left Indianapolis after a heart-breaking 42-39 loss to No. 10 Wisconsin, and as their third loss of the season, more post-season happenings did not go in their favor.
I keep circling through those final four minutes of Saturday’s inaugural Big Ten title game, and I keep coming to the same conclusion: Two plays cost MSU a Rose Bowl berth.