MSU Alumni Magazine, Fall 2004 issue - MSU Alumni Association ...

2004
FOOTBALL TEAM
AIMS TO IMPROVE
By Robert Bao
At mid-season, yet to face the
toughest part of its schedule, the
MSU football team stood at 3-3
and was just finding its stride
and identity.
The key for John L. Smith,
who won eight games and Big
Ten “Coach of the Year” honors
in his debut last year, was finding
a quarterback to fill the shoes of
Jeff Smoker, who now plays for
the NFL’s St. Louis Rams.
Sophomore quarterback Drew
Stanton, his knee injury from
the Alamo Bowl still lingering,
took over the reigns in the second
half of the Notre Dame
game and proved he could move
the chains, providing both leadership
and an uncanny running
ability that one coach affectionately
calls “Coyote ugly.”
The emergence of Stanton dramatically
improved MSU’s attack.
By mid-season MSU fielded
the most balanced offense in the
The emergence
of Drew
Stanton at
quarterback
has solidified
MSU’s offense.
Big Ten with
194.3 rushing
yards and 214.8
passing yards per
game. To the astonishment
of
some in the media
who did not
think a spread offense
could generate
many running
yards, MSU
ranked second in
rushing in the Big
Ten.
“It was a point of emphasis for
us this year to do that,” explains
Smith, not at all surprised by the
statistics. “It’s a credit to the offensive
front, they’re doing a better
job, and I think our running
backs are doing a better job as
well.
“And then we’ve got a punk
playing quarterback who’s running
the ball OK too.”
By midseason it became clear
that Stanton, coyote ugly or not,
had began to give MSU an offensive
identity, if not a swagger.
Previously, MSU had tried senior
quarterback Damon
Dowdell for the opener at Rutgers
and freshman Stephen
Reaves for the next game and a
half. MSU’s 19-14 loss at Rutgers
was a lackluster effort that
exposed the Spartans’ youth, inexperience
and lack of depth.
MSU’s one experienced unit,
the wide receivers, exhibited
butterfingers. At game’s end,
however, Dowdell missed some
opportunities to make the winning
play.
Reaves took over at the home
opener against Central Michigan
and completed 9 for 19 for
183 yards as MSU won 24-7.
He threw some beautiful passes,
including a 44-yard touchdown
spiral to junior captain Kyle
Brown. But his inexperience
caught up with him in the night
game against Notre Dame, a
team MSU had beaten in six of
the last seven games. Reaves
threw three interceptions in the
first half enroute to a 31-24
loss. In the second half, Stanton
led MSU to its only offensive
touchdown (the others came
from a blocked punt and a kickoff
return by DeAndra Cobb).
Stanton finally earned the start
at Indiana, and led MSU in a
roaring second-half comeback
for a 30-20 win after trailing 20-
7 at the half. Stanton ran for 134
yards and two touchdowns and
passed for 172 yards. More importantly,
he showed leadership
in rallying the Spartans back
from its deficit. He had great
help from the defense. Keyed by
safeties Eric Smith and Jason
Harmon, MSU shut down the
Hoosiers completely.
“We’ve got a punk playing
quarterback who’s running the
ball OK.”
The following week, however,
the Spartans ran into a Hawkeye
buzzsaw at Iowa and lost 38-16.
Stanton engineered four long
drives, but MSU could not quite
finish, settling for field goals instead
of touchdowns. Two apparent
MSU touchdown passes
were ruled out of bounds. Despite
its sloppiness with bobbled
passes and missed tackles, MSU
still amassed 449 yards and
seemed on the verge of becoming
a yard-churning machine on
offense.
Sure enough, MSU scored its
highest offensive output of the
season with a 38-25 home win
over Illinois. MSU did not commit
a turnover and had just two
penalties for 20 yards. The offensive
line—led by center Chris
Morris, tackles Gordon Niebylski
and Sean Poole, and guards
Kyle Cook and William
Whitticker—proved surprisingly
productive, boosting MSU to
second in the Big Ten not only in
rushing but also in sacks allowed
(just 5 in 6 games). Stanton
completed 22 passes to 10 different
receivers, and himself caught
a touchdown pass from wide receiver
Jerramy Scott. At game’s
end, redshirt freshman running
back Jehuu Caulcrick was able to
chew up yardage while running
the clock down, something that
pleased John L. Smith.
Could MSU sustain its emerging
offensive prowess and personality
in the second half of the
season Could MSU’s defense
play up to preseason expectations,
even with its key injuries
These questions remained to be
answered. However, MSU was
clearly beginning to jell on offense
and also establishing a reputation
as a team that gets
stronger as the game unfolds.
MSU was outscored 31-14 in
the first quarter, 33-23 in the
second, 34-24 in the third, but
owned a whopping 47-17 edge
in the final period.
In an instant poll at the MSU
Alumni Association web site
(msualum.com), most respondents
believed that John L.
Smith was the right leader for
the MSU football program. In
his first full recruiting season, he
mustered a Top 20 recruiting
class, and the young team was
clearly making improvements in
his areas of emphases.
PAGE 46
FALL 2004
MSUALUMNIMAGAZINE