EAST LANSING - I waited eight months for the chance to ask defensive coordinator Mike Tressel about Michigan State’s use of a 3-4 defense in the Holiday Bowl victory over Washington State in December.

His answers hint at an impact for 2018.

First of all, rewind to San Diego on the night of Dec. 28. Michigan State regularly moved defensive end Kenny Willekes to a linebacker role.

When Willekes played linebacker, he wasn’t merely a stand-up defensive end, maintaining the usual gap responsibilities that he would have on any other down.

Instead, there were times when Willekes flexed out wide as a legitimate outside linebacker. And then there were other times when he played next to Joe Bachie while the two of them played as a pair of inside linebackers in a true 3-4.

“Washington State is going to attempt to run the ball a little bit early, but they certainly want to throw it around,” Tressel said. “We wanted to give some different looks, and after you practiced that for a whole bowl prep season, all the sudden it’s part of your system. So you do it in a bowl game, and you can run into fall camp and it’s not new. It’s just part of the package now.”

Michigan State has shown some 30 (three down linemen) fronts frequently over the years, usually on third down as part of the nickel defense. And there have been sporadic occasions when a Shilique Calhoun or a Demetrius Cooper would stand up while continuing to play defensive end assignments. Marcus Rush also stood up and played linebacker for a down or two, earlier this decade.

But the Holiday Bowl marked the first time we’ve seen a Mark Dantonio team use a base 3-4 as extensively as the Spartans did against Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense.

With nine returning starters on defense and 11 more with playing group experience, there will be instant recall if and when Spartans want to use a true 3-4 this fall.

“It’s not like putting it in for one game,” Tressel said of the 3-4. “Like if you put in a front for Northwestern and you practice it Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, that just feels like a gameplan adjustment. But when you put something in for a bowl game and you practice it for three weeks, all the sudden it’s part of the system. So it was good that we had the opportunity to do that. We played a couple of different coverages that our guys had a full bowl prep season to get used to. You practice it for three weeks, you want to be able to use it more.”