Michigan State Spartans Football Notebook
Coming off its bye week, No. 24 Michigan State (1-1) has more than the Old Brass Spittoon at stake when it travels to Indiana for the Big Ten opener at night on Saturday.
“We (knew) it would probably be at night and knew this was going to be a big game for us,” Mark Dantonio said at his weekly press conference on Tuesday. “We needed to be ready for this game. We’ve put a lot into this. It's important that we play well.”
With a 1-1 record following a loss at Arizona State two weekends ago, Michigan State should play with a chip on its shoulder against Indiana.
“Our players have had an opportunity to sit on this and dwell on this a little bit and they have also had time to step away from football,” Dantonio said. “I'm looking forward to watching our players on Saturday night.”
The Spartans have had the upper hand in this match-up, with a series record of 45-15-2 against Indiana. Recent games, however, have been closer than the win-loss record in the series might indicate.
“IU has played us very well,” Dantonio said. “They expect to play us well again. It's been a close football game, even when there's been a couple of occasions where we've sort of distanced ourselves, it's been at the end of the game.”
IU has momentum from 3-0 start
Indiana has a blemish-free record, and a sophomore quarterback in Peyton Ramsey, who is playing well.
Ramsey has completed just under 75 percent of his passes thus far. He has also been effective running the football.
“He's done a tremendous job there throwing the ball,” Dantonio said. “Been very productive.”
Indiana ranks No. 22 in the FBS in third-down conversion percentage (48.5 percent.)
Five Indiana wide receivers have five catches or more on the year.
Freshman tailback Stevie Scott has energized the Indiana rushing offense, piling up 388 yards and three touchdowns while averaging 5.6 yards per carry.
“Been very impressed with their young players,” Dantonio said. “Scott, No. 21, (is) a guy that can they can hand the ball to. He's been productive.”
Defensively, Michigan State has many of the same goals it had in previous games against Utah State and Arizona State.
“You have to be able to stop the run and play against the controlled passing game,” Dantonio said, “and then be able to play the deep ball down the field because most of the teams right now are vertical-attack teams. They attack you vertically off play-action or RPO-type things.”
Unlike past Indiana defenses before Allen took over, this Hoosier defense will not be intimated. Many of the faces are new, but this Indiana defense still gets after it.
“He's got them playing hard on defense, as always,” Dantonio said. “Give you a lot of different looks, a lot of different pressures.”
Dantonio singled out senior defensive tackle Jacob Robinson and senior safety Jonathan Crawford as playmakers for for Indiana.
No decision at center
A year ago, Michigan State struggled to run the football between the tackles against Indiana, and was ineffective in short yardage. Many of those same problems could resurface on Saturday if the Spartans are unable to sort through ongoing issues at center.
Senior Tyler Higby is still listed as Michigan State’s starting center ahead of sophomore Matt Allen entering the week.
Allen outplayed Higby at Arizona State. Either could start his weekend.
“We are going to make that decision at game time, probably,” Dantonio said.
“We're working at it very hard and we need to play better. We need to play better running the football and getting the tough yards, and there's a lot of things that are involved in that.”
Lombardi will be tested in new role
Back-up quarterback Rocky Lombardi’s temporary role as starting punter has not interfered with his workload as Brian Lewerke's understudy.
“We always segment our special teams,” Dantonio said. “He's doing that at that time and then we have different periods throughout the practice that are devoted to punting or a special teams emphasis part of practice, as well.”
Lombardi was elevated to first-string punter after four-year starter Jake Hartbarger went down with a leg injury at Arizona State.
On Saturday, Lombardi will have his work cut out for him as a specialist.
Indiana has a dangerous punt returner in J-Shun Harris, who had a punt return for a touchdown during Saturday's victory over Ball State. It was the third punt return TD of his career.
“He's a guy that you have to defend, and you have to work throughout practice to really get ready for him,” Dantonio said.