Freshman wide receiver Mark Dell is as green as the jersey on his back, but that did not stop head coach Mark Dantonio from naming him as a starter for Saturday’s game against Alabama-Birmingham.
New coach. New game plan. New attitude. New season. Time to get out there and play. It’s been nearly a year since former MSU football head coach John L. Smith was ousted from his coaching position. It’s been nearly a year since junior running back Javon Ringer blew out his knee. It’s been nearly a year since a season of disappointment and frustration.
While the first games of the season are usually considered gimmes, head coach Mark Dantonio is expecting to face some adversity on Saturday when MSU plays University of Alabama-Birmingham.
Out of town for the summer? We’ll catch you up on what you missed with this year’s MSU football team.
One of the ways head coach Mark Dantonio plans to establish a winning mentality is to “pull the weeds” from his football program
Dan Enos considers himself lucky. For the second straight year, Enos is coaching whom he considers to be the best player on the MSU football team.
MSU may have just landed the second coming of Matt Trannon with the verbal commitment of Fred Smith, one of the top wide receiver prospects for the Class of 2008.
Lloyd Carr and Jim Tressel, the commandeering forces behind college football mega rivals Michigan and Ohio State, respectively, may not agree on many things, but they both praise the addition of MSU’s new head coach.
Chicago — At the age of 80, Joe Paterno still has the passion for coaching. Paterno will be leading Penn State into the season for the 42nd time as head coach in 2007.
He's not the original "MJ," but he should certainly help matters for the MSU football team.
Arthur Ray Jr., a 2007 MSU football signee from Chicago, has been diagnosed with cancer and is awaiting chemotherapy.
The White team came into Saturday's Green-White intrasquad game beaming with confidence. The players boasted, "Our team is stacked!
At 6-foot-6 and 254 pounds, senior Kellen Davis has the prototypical frame of an NFL tight end. But he has yet to put together a breakout season in his three years at MSU, totaling 28 catches for 276 yards and three touchdowns in 29 career games. That all may change under the new coaching staff, which makes an effort to involve the tight end in the offense and use the run to open up the pass. "I definitely feel like I'm going to be utilized more," said Davis, who caught a touchdown pass for the Green team in Saturday's scrimmage.
Spring practice commenced one month ago today for the MSU football team, beginning the first true phase of Spartans football under new head coach Mark Dantonio.
Ask someone who follows the MSU football team for the differences between head coach Mark Dantonio and his predecessor, John L.
Consider the score even. In the first spring football scrimmage of 2007, MSU's defense beat the offense, 71-70, on March 31. The offense struck back on Saturday, and junior running back Javon Ringer was a big reason why. After failing to break off any long runs in the first scrimmage, Ringer exploded for a 65-yard jaunt to the end zone and finished with 130 yards on 15 carries.
When Mark Dantonio was introduced as MSU's newest head coach, he stressed that players play their best when they play the fastest, and they play the fastest when they know exactly what to do. Knowing "exactly what to do" wasn't a common theme in the previous coaching regime.
For most players on the MSU football team, a new coaching regime brought new schemes and faces to learn.
Twenty-eight sacks. Think about that for a second. Twenty-eight sacks. In 11 games. The MSU football team had a long list of problems in 2006, but no group was more disappointing than the offensive line.