Spring game standouts

The MSU spring game was fun from the start -- Pat Narduzzi of the Green slipping into the White locker room and stealing their first two plays -- to the dramatic (in relative, spring-ball terms) finish.

    We'll have all the recaps, numbers and quotes in Sunday's LSJ (you know, the newspaper and online edition. Stories?) Here are some of the guys who stood out to me today:

* The receivers. The clear stars. Mark Dell made a statement, he was fast, crisp and caught the ball in tight spots. B.J. Cunningham showed what everyone has been talking about, making a dizzying 43-yard touchdown catch from Brian Hoyer. Don't sleep on Chris D. Rucker. He's fast. Had a 55-yard touchdown on the game's second play, then a 29-yard score later. Blair White also made big plays and has legit wheels.
* The backup quarterbacks. This is very much a competition. Kirk Cousins outproduced Nick Foles, although I came away thinking absolute deadlock. Both did many more good things than bad things.
* Brandon Denson and Ryan Allison. Denson is faster. Allison packs more of a pop. They both made some nice plays, furthering the thought that this defense might feature Greg Jones in the middle. Then again...Adam Decker was hitting people, too. The best linebacker on the field was Eric Gordon, by the way. Overall, regardless of which way MSU goes, there's more material here than I thought heading into spring.
* Johnny Adams. It was not a good day for MSU's defensive backs. But it was a good day for Adams, who may be the fastest player on the team. The surprising thing was how physical he played at times -- especially on a late play in which he ran through a block and pasted Blair White on a receiver screen. Once this guy figures everything out (he should be in high school right now), he'll be hard to keep off the field.
* Rocco Cironi. Another unit that didn't have a great day, especially with as many false starts, it seemed, as MSU had all of last season. But I watched Cironi a lot and thought he was more than adequate as a pass blocker. He looks comfortable at left tackle, and if that spot is solid, one of the big questions about the 2008 team is answered.
* Brandon Long. Two sacks, several trips to the backfield. They've been saying since his first year that he has all the ability, he just has to learn to stop worrying about mistakes and cut loose. Looks like he's cutting loose.
* Javon Ringer. He didn't play, and it was quite obvious. Neither side could get anything going on the ground. Andre Anderson (17 rushes for 28 yards, one touchdown) was the best of the contenders to complement Ringer, although A.J. Jimmerson (4 for 7) and Ashton Leggett (4 for 4) didn't get many chances. Is MSU sure it can't give it to  Ringer 40 times a game next year?

Comments

[jimb]

Hey Joe ...'deadlock' at backup QB!? It wasn't close..Kirk Cousins outplayed Foles and if there was a deadlock it was best QB on field today-Hoyer or Cousins? Cousins Green team would have added a last second TD but Dantonio stopped the score.
This team is going to score a lot of points with Dell, Cunningham and Chris*D*Rucker.
Tyler Hoover is a stud lineman and will play as a true freshman.

[David]

I was impressed w/Hoover as well, and personally told him after the game that he was the future of MSU football. He's a beast (and I mean that in a good way!).

While we MSU fans have been punished severly in the past for having optimism regarding football season, it did SEEM to me that the team is well ahead of where it was @ last yrs scrimmage. I recall that game being fairly sloppy, whereas this one was pretty crisp. None of the players did anything to absolutely disgrace themselves, and Hoyer played way better than he did a yr ago. In particular, there were precious few dropped balls. The Wide Receivers caught most everything that came their way (with the notable exception of the kid who dropped the pass which would have made a 1st down & sealed the game for the White team).

Sometimes teams can really make a "jump" in a good coach's 2nd season. So far, it looks to me like this team might be on its way to doing just that.

As a sidenote, I listened to ESPN radio today & the pundits were agreed that Devin Thomas would be the #1 Wide Receiver off the board. That's cool, especially as people were saying that about Mario Manningham a yr ago!

DSR

[xwing]

i hate to be piling on hoyer before fall practice even starts but he as not shown much toughness last year or today with the exception of the penn state game. as soon as msu fell behind in the michigan game in the 4th quarter last year i knew it was over. he doesn't seem to do well in tight games towards the end of games ans especially playing from behind. like i said it is still early but a leader would find a way to win that game today although the green/white game hardly counts as a real game it still means a lot to the players and the team.

[bfsparty]

this thing was a blast. Family centric, great pace and very crisp all around, exciting ending. Both Rucker's looked great, BJ coming out party. MD's leadership on display. The players were into it. That shows chemistry and desire. My dad and I are grads and fans, and we have not been this pumped up about MSU football in a long time. Thanks to the program for putting on a game with all the feeling of one, and not boring scrimmage.

[Dennis]

Xwing, go look up the Purdue and Penn State games from last year. You seem to have utterly forgotten them in your criticism of Brian Hoyer. He did very well late in those games, the former being a fairly close one and the latter, well, you know... Hoyer is doing just fine.

Blair White looked tough as nails out there. Color me impressed.

[vnflcards]

I came away from the game impressed with the D-line. I know the offensive line isn't that good right now but the D-line really dominated all day long.

It looks like there will be a solid rotation of big, mobile, guys on the inside and both Brandon Long and Trevor Anderson are going to be the real deal at defensive ends.

The front seven as a whole looked pretty good but the secondary needs a bunch of work.

[spartan fan]

People, people, people: IT'S WAY TOO EARLY. And besides, let's remember this is MSU vs MSU. It'll be different vs Cali and the others.

Ringer can't go it alone. Someone has to step up and take charge as the second "go to guy" in the backfield. 4 for 4 and 17 for whatever ain't gonna cut it, especially against a young MSU D unit.

Spring ball is spring ball: usually mistake riddled. A time for the staff to size up the prospects during some real-time action, full pads, game-like conditions (although controlled).

Too early to tell...way too early.

Spartan football fans: enjoy the spring; the flowers, fresh air, warming trends. September will be here soon enough. So will the frustrations.

Sit back, sip on a "jack."

[JLuke]

I can't exactly pinpoint it, but something is telling me that Cousins will be starting by mid-October.

[Russ]

It was "a beautiful day for football!"

Hoyer looked good, overall, but still looks his primary receiver all the way. He's got to change that!

I thought Cousins was clearly the stronger #2, at least yesterday.

We still have DB work to do.

All in all, we did look a lot further along than this time last year. I'm glad I made the trip!

Go Green!

[evan]

a competitive spring game is a good sign.

[313Spartan]

a few things that impressed me:
Johnny Adams is a star in the making. He is going to be a heck of a player! I don't want to get ahead of myself but he has the swagger of a guy that could be all Big Ten...Tyler Hoover has legs like tree trunks. His lower body strengeth is very impressive. He actually reminds me of Robaire Smith in a Spartan uniform with their similiar body types (just a little lighter LOL)... I really like the look of our front seven! Jeremiah looks the part and Greg Jones should probally be in the middle, but Adam Decker was really smacking people so depth should not be a problem.
Great weather and a great day to be a Spartan!!

[xwing]

Dennis:

actually i mentioned the penn state game. maybe you could try reading my post :) i hope he will prove me wrong but they are going to be counting on hoyer to win games in the 4th quarter and OT and last year he didn't really come through. they will need hoyer or someone playing qb to step up. all of the games they lost last year i believe were by 7 points or less and all of them were winnable (except for maybe the osu game).

[bingo]

Uh, yeah Coach. It's not good to lose a player like Devin Thomas, but it should, (Hoyer read this!!) should make for a triple threat because teams won't be able to key on one receiver. And to throwing to the tight end once and a while as well as out of the backfield might just make us dangerous on offense. (you know like that Brady Bunch QB for new england does spreading the ball around.)
Come fall Coach, bust them down good so they can be fresh in the fourth quarter and beyond and we can beat those fur ball woodland tree jumping rodents to the south. Please.

A Spartan Fan.

[Dennis]

xwing,

So, you you acknowledge a game that completely unravels your entire argument by saying that it shouldn't be considered, and that counts as "mentioning" it? I guess in a technical sense you're right, but isn't that like saying, "with the exception of last year, Devin Thomas is a lousy football player?" By getting rid of the data that refutes your position, you can prove anything...

I don't really disagree that Hoyer needs to polish his game this year, but he does not deserve the blame for all those close losses (in the regular season, that is). The defense gave up a combined kajillion points to Iowa and Northwestern and completely folded in the final minutes of those games, is Hoyer supposed prevent that from happening?

[xwing]

penn state was one game. i acknowledged the game because it happened but there were many more close games that he folded in last year than won. northwestern's defense was just as bad as msu's (or worse) last year so it is no excuse and the iowa game was a debacle. not to mention the michigan game, wisconisn game and the bowl game. the jury is still out on hoyer. i am rooting for him to do well all i did was make an observation that he doens't seem to perform well in the 4th quarter or OT of games. the green/ white game just reminded me of it thats all.

[jimb]

xwing
How about Hoyer's performance at Purdue..I think you are loading too much of the blame on Hoyer.
Without Hoyer we wouldn't have even made the Motor City Bowl!

[spartanforever]

I think not to worry about a back-up for Ringer-Jimmerson will more than fill that need...Anderson is BUSH(ESQUE)in that he can make a defence pay dearly for over loading and at some point he will BUST the distance TD.

It looks like Leggett needs to learn to block and catch so we can put pressure on defences...I don't think any team is going to concern themselves with our full backs(much like you let certain guys shoot in basketball,because you know he can't shoot well).With leggett at full back and blocking-we get a big edge in that he is capable of plus+ runs also.

Culcrick ment a precious lot to the success of our offence last season-Leggett can make this season even better,combine with a decent Defence='s wins.

Any team is capable of winning all its games if they have the athletes to compete and they are intellegent in their pursuit of winning.Hey we can (and should)keep this amongst ourselves-one game at a time...OSU is loaded-we have beat them in their stadium when the were # one in America.If you can beat the best-you can win all.I know its sounds silly but if you -any of us can not imagine it-we are loosers-you defeat yourself(if you think you can't-YEA you can't).If you think you can-as a team you start thinking of ways to get it done.This is where team work becomes"ONE."BEST WISHES MSU!!!

Is there any coach on this team that wants to go undefeated this season???privately I mean ????I sure hope so.The competition will be fierce-so what,even if they are good we want to be better-don't we???Lots of work to do...Right!!!

[xwing]

hoyer played well in the purdue game. he also played well in the psu game the notre dame game and many others. i believe i was specifically talking about close games and/or coming from behind in the 4th quarter and OT. i think msu's running game was so strong that it opened up a lot for hoyer but at the end of close games msu tended to abandon the run either by choice or by necessity because they were behind and had a short clock. i hope hoyer can make the jump and become a great player this year as they need him too.

[MSUinSC]

I did not get to see a lot of the game, but one thing I did notice was the intensity. The players on defesne really seemed to be flying to the ball. The other spring ball games I watched did not seem to have the same speed and intensity. This effort should bode well for us come September. Go State.

[Dennis]

I'm with ya on that Xwing, I hope that Hoyer does make that jump this year. There were quite a few games that he played well in and certainly a few that he struggled in. I'm not sure that he's to blame for the close losses, but he was in a position to win the game for MSU in a few of them and it didn't happen. I guess that's something. I certainly admit that I'm quick to defend the kid, but that's because I'm confident that he's the best man for the job.

That said, what great way to end spring ball. There's lotsa' things to be excited about for next season.

[spartanforever]

Respects to big George-one of the greatest college football players in the history of the game.Back then wolvy was not even an after thaught-I think a wolvy named timberlake will never forget our MONSTER(what we called the rover position Webster played)-he absorbed some hits that even I looked away.Out of high school I planned on being on that team-ended up drafted though,didn't take enough classes while I worked to get there-got drafted.Its a chance of a life time to be on Duffys finest team-they set the trend for power houses in that they had at least 17 (Ithink)players recognized as all american and Bubba was #1 in the nfl draft followed by a record # in the first round.

That defence revolved around Thornhill and Webster as they were in on almost every tackle.Bubba was just plain unbelievable,some times absorbing three players freeing up others to make plays.Again-they set a standard tyhat USC quickly went to work on emulating.The teams Ronnie Lot and Smith as safetys was similar and they had a Budde-his father was a MSU allamerican.

This brings up an interesting point a kid out of Flint was on that R.Lott team and led USC in tackles for all three of those glory years-never got much recognition with all the Calif,+boys...This kid R.Johnson from Muskegon is poised to do big things-lets see if he gets recognized(I sence a little bias-yes).I think he is their best receiver-he scored a long td saturday in their inter squad game.

It would really been something if coach-D had closed the deal on him and Barksdale,who has been moved to O-tackle atLSU.He's so big(6'7"-320) and yet fast and they are loaded at D-tackle (where games are won). It shows that coach-D is on the right track-jls would not even gotten to first base with these two.The DE freshman from det.,will get an opportunity also to play as freshman thanks to Johnson who played very well last season,that they are using him on offence shows he is really good.Now we need to get some O-linemen to block for these future RB'S we have...

One little note on Majors as possible MSU coach after Duffy...Back then Administrators obviously did not know what they were dealing with-fiasco after fiasco-I hate to blame all those fine players over the last 30 + seasons for MSU's demise.We could have gotten the coach-hell we should bought Kush back from Arizona State(never heard of him right?)we had no shortage of alums who were distinguished-sad...

[spartanforever]

Who is this Blair White kid and what is Hoyer talking about someone not knowing him?I saw his name in the bowl game and never heard of him being on the team no less in the rotation.If he's from Saginaw-he joins a fine list of productive-talented players.Hope he adds to the group we have.I have all the confidence in them and C.D.Rucker-I'm pulling for him Williams and especially Grimes.If our qb's can get the ball out there-I'm sure we will see an excellent year.We no longer have Rison,Mason,Muhammad,Buress,Hawkins,Thomas,Dupree,Kellen-time to see new blood...

[spartanforever]

Sounds like the Game saturday showed promise.I would rather hope they are hard on themselves and find what they can be consistent on and what they can improve on.I grow weary of seeing guys celebrating after a play-man pat your team mate (pat not ring his bell)and forget that play go concentrate on winning-you might get embarassed on the next play...

We don't have to be public,but I sure hope this team is of the opinion that there is a possibility of winning all their games(do that and let the pundits figure how you rate).I sure hope no one is thinking ,"we could go 9-3 or7-5 and that would be...Put pressure on yourselves-want an undefeated season-gather and ask your selves what it will take to do it.If you don't think its possible-you are correct,loosers don't think like winners.Even if you play a superior team-there is way of beating them-we have knocked off the # one team in the nation more than once over the last 30+ years and gone on to loose games that leave you scratching your head.

Think,gather and see what it would take,plan for it,what is it that stands in the way.Recently Georgia Tech went undefeated and won the national title-many felt they were better,but GT did it on the field-oh we could do it-do we have the nerve to find how to?????????

[spartanforever]

Wiley can be our first all american safety since Brad Van Pelt.To be mentioned in the same breath (Maxwell award winner also)is a great honor.Wiley led the team as a sophmore in tackles-he's in a position now strong safety,to do some strong positives this season.

Last season had to be tough on him-lets hope he is studying qb's,tendecys,and playing smart.Safetys have a really difficult job,but experience should help.I really hope Otis and this team cease to celebrate after each play...tap on the helmet and back to business.If its fourth down get on the sideline and see what this team is trying to do.Its PRIME time now-there is no tomorrow after this season-make sure everyone has no regrets once this season is over.Get in game shape-be prepared to go over time every game (physically as well as mentally).Tell your selves you want to win-and remember what it was like when some one beat us last season-why...how do you make sure that does not happen this season.When this team wins this season-it will have a lot to do with how well Mr.Wiley plays-here's to hoping its an all america season-nothing wrong with doing your best.

[griff325]

We will be seeing a lot of standouts this year. Hoyer will def have a great year. It seems as if this spring game was a little stronger than his one last year at this time. That is good news, he is becoming more comfortable at leading this team now that he is more familiar with doing it. We will need him to breakout this year and hopefully that BC game he learned a lot about what not to do. He can do it, the purdue/PSU games proved that, but he needs to take it to even another level, which i'm sure he will.