Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio is known for having a couple of tricks up his sleeves.
Two years ago, the Spartans beat Notre Dame on a fake field goal in overtime and, nearly a month later, pulled off a successful fake punt against Northwestern to help Michigan State make a second-half comeback. NU coach Pat Fitzgerald said he has a plan in place for the trick plays, but he doesn’t put too much focus on them.
“He’s done a bunch of them,” Fitzgerald said. “We prepare the same way each week based on what we’ve seen in video and what I have in my library of the head coach and his staff. You just go on the empirical data that you have.”
Trick plays won’t be a majority of the snaps in a football game, so focusing too much on them can be debilitating. Instead, the Wildcats will put a lot of focus on stopping Spartans’ running back Le’Veon Bell. Bell is the Big Ten’s leading rusher with an average of 124.9 yards per game and is a big, bruising back. He has 10 touchdowns this season and will be difficult for the Cats to bring down without discipline.
Throughout the week, coaches paused practice to make sure the defense was aligned correctly and players were hitting the correct gaps. Senior linebacker David Nwabuisi said it will be very important for NU to limit Bell and force quarterback Andrew Maxwell to throw. In order to accomplish the feat, Nwabuisi said the Cats must keep doing what they’ve done for the entire season.
“We got to play physical, hit our gaps, make (Bell) keep his shoulders sideways and don’t let him go downhill,” Nwabuisi said. “We’ve been stopping the run and mainly forcing teams to throw on us and we have to just keep it going.”
The defense will also need to key in on Maxwell, who has been shaky this season in his first year as the starter. Last season, the Cats faced veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins, who finished his career as the best passer in Spartans history after compiling more than 9,000 yards through the air and throwing more than 60 touchdown passes. Nwabuisi said he notices a difference in the offense since Maxwell took over as the quarterback, but mainly it is how the two differ in experience with reading defenses.
“Kirk Cousins seemed like he was there for eight years,” Nwabuisi said. “The guy was out there and he knew what was going on. Maxwell, as we’ve watched film, you could tell he’s been growing through every game and getting better and better, improving each and every game. … We’re going to give some looks, and it’s up to the quarterback to recognize what we’re in.”
NU’s run-heavy offense will also get a significant challenge when it faces Michigan State’s run defense, which is ranked third in the conference, giving up an average of 113.4 yards per contest. The Spartans return eight starters on defense from a year ago, which was the best defense in the Big Ten in 2011. They are led by middle linebacker Max Bullough and his 88 tackles as well as defensive end William Gholston with 10.5 tackles-for-loss.
Fitzgerald compared the Michigan State unit to Nebraska in terms of speed and said it will be one of the most difficult tests of the season for the NU offense. He said the Spartans’ defense will pose a significant challenge for his team because of its experience and camaraderie.
“This is not only on paper the best defense that we’ve faced, but also when you watch them on tape,” Fitzgerald said. “They play really well together. They know what they’re doing. They communicate well. They tackle well. They’re very fast and very physical, so it’s going to be a stiff test.”
The week’s matchup has significant implications for both teams’ postseason locations with a possible berth in the Gator Bowl on the line. Sophomore center Brandon Vitabile said the team isn’t worried about where the Cats will go for their bowl game. Instead, the team is focused on one week at a time and finding a way to win the football game. He said some teammates have heard rumors and comments from other students on campus regarding NU’s postseason hopes, but he emphasizes Fitzgerald’s message of relying on the team for support, especially after the difficult loss last week to Michigan.
“You just have to try and block it out and stick to the family we have here,” he said. “That’s what we got to stick to, and fall back on the support system we have here.”
