With the first game of the season against Western Michigan just around the corner, head coach Mark Dantonio released his updated roster. Replacing Ed Davis When senior linebacker Ed Davis was lost to a season-ending injury one of the first questions was who would replace him. That question is still unanswered.
If you go back to 2011 senior wide receiver DeAnthony Arnett was on top of the world. Arnett, hailing from nearby Saginaw, was a four-star wide receiver with a bevy offers from some of the best schools in the nations including: MSU, Michigan, Alabama, Tennessee, USC and Oklahoma among others according to Rivals.
MSU head football coach Mark Dantonio said at his press conference on Tuesday to expect 25 to 30 carries from the Broncos’ “big running back,” sophomore Jarvion Franklin. Franklin was named the Mid American Conference (MAC) Offensive Player of the Year and MAC Freshman of the Year in 2014 after rushing for 1,551 yards and 24 touchdowns.
Replacing former defensive coordinator and current Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi will be one of the main storylines of the season. Some believe that there will be a drop off, but head coach Mark Dantonio promoted two men that had been in the system the entire time that Dantonio has been at the helm in co-defensive coordinators Harlon Barnett and Mike Tressel, as they were both hired nine years ago. Senior cornerback Arjen Colquhoun expects things to remain the same despite the change. “They’ll keep the ball rolling, no one is going to drop the ball," Colquhoun said.
On two separate Mondays, August 24th and August 31st, two former MSU Quarterbacks, Brian Hoyer and Kirk Cousins, were named starting quarterbacks for their respective NFL teams.
The 2015 captains have been named: senior center Jack Allen, senior defensive end Shilique Calhoun and senior linebacker Darien Harris. The coaches have no say in the naming of the captains, the captains are named through player voting. Head coach Mark Dantonio has chosen to stick with a three captain system while incorporating a fourth rotational captain so all of his leaders get the experience. “I think (the players) did a nice job of picking the three, those guys are all guys that have played a lot of football here and have been in the program for five years," Dantonio said. After a summer of building chemistry within the team with everything from movie nights to texts letting guys know what to work on, Harris was humbled by his selection. “It’s a tremendous honor, I told the team after that I’m very thankful, very humbled and honored for this.
The offense defeated the defense, 34-18, in the second jersey scrimmage of preseason camp Saturday in Spartan Stadium according to a press release.
In what is MSU’s highest preseason ranking in the Preseason Associated Press Poll since 1967 (No. 3) the Spartans are ranked No. 5 in the AP poll which was released Sunday, Aug. 23.
Fifth-year senior linebacker Ed Davis suffered a season-ending knee injury midway through Wednesday’s first preseason practice in full pads according to a press release. An MRI after practice confirmed that his injury will require surgery, MSU is already exploring options for a medical redshirt for Davis to give him a sixth year of eligibility. “We’re so disappointed for Ed Davis, and his presence in the lineup will be missed,” head coach Mark Dantonio said.
Coming in at No. 6 in the preseason rankings, expectations for MSU football have never been higher. Four 11-win seasons in five years, two top-5 finishes in as many years and success on the recruiting trails will do that for a team.
It’s been a wild ride for MSU fifth-year senior walk-on wide receiver AJ Troup, but it’s one he wouldn’t trade it for the world. “It’s been a long (journey),” Troup said.
A few changes are coming to the MSU football game day experience for students this fall.
MSU senior quarterback Connor Cook was ranked No. 2 best college football quarterback of 2015— second to Mississippi State's Dak Prescott — in a recent ranking on campusinsiders.com.
“Our focus is to always continue to reach higher,” MSU head football coach Mark Dantonio said as he was the first coach to take the podium at the Big Ten Media Day in Chicago.
The Spartans will begin the upcoming football season ranked No. 6 in the Preseason Amway Coaches Poll, their highest ranking ever since the poll's inception.
As a part of a recent series on ESPN — The Top 25 College Football Games of 2014 — fans have voted MSU's 42-41 comeback victory over Baylor in the Cotton Bowl Classic as the No. 1 college football game of 2014.
MSU football head coach Mark Dantonio announced Monday via a press release that junior running back Delton Williams, who violated University ordinance 18.01 by possessing a weapon on campus last March, will rejoin the football team in mid-August.
Before senior linebacker Darien Harris became a leader for the MSU football team he began his athletic career playing soccer and baseball.
Crunchy’s is officially MSU’s top game-day restaurant according to a btn.com article by Brent Yarina, a senior editior at Big Ten Network.com.
Former MSU and current Alabama head coach Nick Saban recently stated at SEC Media Days that he felt NFL draft feedback for players gauging their standing at the next level is a distraction to said players who are preparing for the final stretch of their season. Saban coached MSU from 1995-99, but he left to become the head coach at Louisiana State before the bowl game in the 1999 season after leading the Spartans to a 9-2 record. Former MSU wide receiver Plaxico Burress who played for the Spartans during Saban's tenure took offense to Saban's remarks. Burress was considering leaving school early for the NFL, but Saban convinced Burress to stay to "finish what he started." The former wide receiver recently took to Twitter to call out his former coach. I recall Nick Saban telling me to stay in school finish what I started, I wasnt 1st round pick and he left for LSU b4 the season was over — Plaxico Burress (@plaxicoburress) July 15, 2015 Now Nick Saban goes on tv saying that kids are distracted by NFL projections.