Legend of a leader
Kudos, Solari, for that print edition headline to this story on the MSU senior quarterback. Jim Delany would approve.
In California, he got feedback from Trent Dilfer on his game. He did not go to the Rose Bowl again, as he did on spring break when he and Andrew Maxwell visited the Elite 11 guys. Cousins knows he probably wouldn't get to see the field anyway. A security guard made that very clear.
“The security guard said to me, ‘You can’t go in there.’ And I said, ‘Can’t you just walk us in? I’m a quarterback at Michigan State.’ I tried to play that card," Cousins recalled of the encounter. "He wasn’t interested, he wasn’t having any of it. He said, ‘The only way you’re getting in here is if you earn the right and come back here in January and come through.’ And I said, ‘Well, if that’s the case I’ll be waving at you through the bus window.’ And he said, ‘That’s fine. But until then you’re not getting into the stadium.’
“So I guess the security guard’s stubbornness forced me even more to want to get back there.”
Recently, MSU secondary coach Harlon Barnett was in Los Angeles and he tried to visit the Rose Bowl (where he played the last time MSU was there, by the way). He texted Cousins a picture and told him the exact same security guard wouldn't let him in.
“We’re gonna have to find that guy if we get back," Cousins said.
P4RB (Prepare For Rose Bowl) is the acrotto (macronym?) for this team, but Cousins said he is focused on the process. Before every season, Mark Dantonio has each player fill out a goal card.
“I don’t put Rose Bowl. I don’t put throw for a certain number of yards," Cousins said. "I put ‘Bring an unquenchable enthusiasm every day to practice.’ Because I know the days that I do that, our team performs much better than the days I come in lackadaisical and don’t perform at a high level emotionally. And I think second, third week of training camp, it’s human nature to start to complain and grumble.
"And I’ve already talked to our seniors and said, ‘Guys, if we as seniors do not complain and do not grumble, the whole team will feed off that. The coaches will feed off that. If we as seniors decide second or third week, it’s hot, we’re tired, if we start to let that creep in, this whole thing could go south.’ So I’m more focused on controlling what we can control, such as our attitude and our preparation. Things like the Rose Bowl will take care of itself.”
As for what he needs to do to improve on the field, Cousins is healthy and said he'll work in camp on fewer back-foot throws (many of which can be traced to the ankle injury or pass rush forcing a quick toss), but he's mostly focused on keeping things simple.
“I think when you look at the film from last year, I get in trouble when I try to do too much," he said. "And I said it to coach Treadwell during the Alabama game on the first drive when I threw a pick after we converted two or three nice third downs. On the next third down I step up in the pocket and roll out, and there’s nothing there. But I try to fit something in. It gets intercepted and I come off the field and I say, ‘Coach Tread, I’m just trying to do too much.’ And he says, ‘You’re absolutely right. Just get five yards, we’ll settle for a field goal.’
"When I’m in trouble I’m trying to do too much, so I need to fight that. Especially as a senior it may be tough. Because you want to do all you can. But when things go south – maybe the pocket breaks down or we’re losing or we’re not running the ball – and I feel like it’s starting to pile up on me, (I need) to just stay within myself and not try to get it all back in one play or try to do too much. And sometimes that involves just taking a sack. Throwing the ball out of bounds. On third-and-8, running for five yards and that’s all we get. And when I do that I find that I give us a better chance to stay in the game and play for the next play.”
