As 15 former Spartans worked out before 52 NFL representatives to prove their worth in the upcoming NFL Draft at MSU’s Pro Day on Wednesday, they also helped to prove the worth of MSU football.
After he transferred to MSU from Oklahoma following his freshman year of college, Keith Nichol always has been out to prove himself. Coming in as a quarterback, Nichol saw his playing time quickly evaporate in favor of Kirk Cousins.
It surprised few when Jerel Worthy decided to forgo his senior season and declare for the 2012 NFL Draft. Sitting next to MSU head coach Mark Dantonio at the Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center in January, the first team All-American junior defensive tackle came to the decision to leave following MSU’s 33-30 triple overtime victory against Georgia in the 2012 Outback Bowl.
If there’s one thing about Kirk Cousins that stands out above all the rest, it’s the way he leads his team. So then it should come as no surprise that during MSU’s Pro Day at Duffy Daugherty Football Building on Wednesday, the former Spartan quarterback found a way to showcase his leadership before representatives from 32 NFL teams.
As the success of the MSU football team grows, so does the number of fans who wish to be at every game. The Spartan Ticket Office has received a high volume of orders for season ticket packages for the upcoming home football season, to the point where Associate Athletics Director Paul Schager said MSU is expecting a record number of sales.
Former MSU All-American safety Allen Brenner died on Feb. 13, in Clinton, N.C., after battling an extended illness. He was 64.
Football Saturdays at MSU are characterized by many iconic traditions, including Sparty, sounds from the “Michigan State Fight Song” filling the air and for much of the last decade, Zeke the Wonder Dog catching Frisbees at halftime. Zeke the Wonder Dog II, who performed at MSU football games from 2001 to 2007, died at about 10:30 a.m. Saturday from old age, said Zeke’s trainer Jim Foley. Jim and his wife, Terri Foley, rescued and trained the black labrador and pointer mix at their Holland, Mich., home. Zeke II was more than 16 years old when he died.
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.