MSU expects 15-rounder with Heisman winner

EAST LANSING - At Michigan State's Bowl Media Day on Wednesday, Michigan State safety Demetrious Cox indicated that the key to containing Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry (6-3, 243) was to limit his 'mush-wagon' yards.

So what are mush-wagon yards?

"You know when the pile is moving for three, four extra yards all of the time," Cox said. "He'll get stopped for a zero-yard gain, and then he'll fall forward for three yards. He's just a great running back."

Michigan State has been stingy with yards-after contact allowed to running backs during the Mark Dantonio-era. Henry, however, is not your typical running back.

"Almost 2,000 yards rushing," Dantonio said. "He leads the nation in touchdowns, which I think, 23, so he'll be an outstanding opponent and will be a challenge for us to stop."

Veteran Spartan defenders haven't chased around a tailback as big as Henry since their days on scout team trying to tackle Le'Veon Bell, who led the nation in yards after contact during his final year at Michigan State in 2012.

"You just can't get beaten down throughout the game," junior linebacker Riley Bullough said. "They'll give him the ball 45 or 50 times. He'll get two or three yards, and then in the third and fourth quarter those will breakout into 10-yard runs. Really, you just can't get broken down. You've got to keep playing the full 60 minutes."

Co-defensive coordinator Mike Tressel says his players must prepare themselves mentally for 15-round fight against Henry and Alabama's ground-and-pound offense.

"There's no doubt with a guy as big as he is, as fast as he is, as physical as he is, especially when he's getting the ball potentially 40 times a game, you need to be prepared to play for 60 minutes," Tressel said. "Really our last few games, we've talked about we need to prepare for a 15-round fight and we need to prepare to take blows and deliver blows right up to the very end, which we did in the Big 10 Championship game.

"With a big man, you can see as the year progressing and as his game progressed that people have started thinking twice about wanting to throw their body around. The mind-set is a start and the second thing is the depth and we feel like we do have a two-deep, pretty much D-line linebacker secondary that we can roll in there so the guys stay fresh both mentally and physically.

Senior linebacker Darien Harris sees similarities between Henry and Ohio State's Ezekiel Elliott.

"Ezekiel Elliott this year was tough to bring down," Harris said. "I know we held him under 50 yards, but that was a tough under-50 yards to hold somebody to. We were pretty sore after that game. He's a tough runner. He plays with his heart on his sleeve, and I think he's going to have a great career beyond Ohio State."

Henry, says Bullough, defies comparison.

"We know that (Henry) is a great player," Bullough said. "All we can do is study him and play the best that we can come game time. It is pretty cool that he is the Heisman winner, a great honor for him. But we don't really look into that too much."

Freshman linebacker Tyriq Thompson (6-1, 230) has switched from scout team defense to offense to simulate Henry in practice. Although linebacker was his primary position at Detroit Martin Luther King, Thompson was effective when used at tailback in high school. He rushed for just under 500 yards with eight touchdowns as a senior in 2014.

"He did really well, exemplifying who Henry is," senior defensive tackle Joel Heath said. "He did a great job."