Sports: Saban Raises the Bar for 1997

Guarded optimism prevails as Nick Saban begins his third season as MSU football coach. Yes, MSU will field a good football team this year, and many fans seem to sense this. Tempering the positive outlook are the 1997 team's overall youth and lack of depth. The catchphrase is 'guarded optimism' in Year III of the Nick Saban era. Saban's 1995 debut brought MSU an unexpected winning season highlighted by a rousing upset of Michigan in Spartan Stadium. Who can forget that game-winning drive? And yet, MSU's rushing defense remained dead last in the league.

Last year, Saban forced dramatic improvement on both sides of the ball. MSU's offensive output climbed to 29.8 points per game, the best since 1978, and its rushing defence ranked 4th in the conference. In both seasons, however, MSU lost its bowl game. It's time to ratchet up the expectations another notch, says Saban with quiet confidence. 'We've made steady progress but there's a lot of room for improvement,' Saban notes. 'Winning seasons and bowl bids will no longer be the standards we use to measure success at Michigan State. The bar has been raised in terms of expectations. We have some definite goals and objectives that we're working towards--like winning the Big Ten championship, developing a consistent Top 25 football program and playing in New Year's Day bowls.'

These goals should be easier to achieve with 17 returning starters, including Outland Trophy candidate Flozell Adams, a 6-7, 330 man-mountain at offensive tackle, and Butkus Award candidate Ike Reese, 6-3, 222, at outside linebacker. In addition, senior quarterback Todd Schulz and sophomore running back Sedrick Irvin rank among the best returning players in their positions nationally. They were among the factors leading The Sporting News to rank MSU 18th in its preseason poll. Three Spartan units are rated highly in the country--the offensive line, the linebacker corps, and the secondary. In addition, senior placekicker Chris Gardner--a TSN first-team All-Big Ten--anchors a special teams squad rated No. 10 in the nation by Lindy's. MSU's offense begins with its line, which features three returning starters.

Senior Adams, who bypassed the NFL draft, moves to left tackle, the key post for the protection of right-handed quarterbacks. Two national publications ranked Adams as the nation's top returning offensive lineman. Joining him at tackle will be senior Scott Shaw, 6-4, 297, a preseason 2nd team All-Big Ten pick. Senior starter David Mudge, 6-7, 295, moves to guard. 'That's the best returning group of offensive linemen we've had to work with in my three years,' notes Saban. '(Though thin), we also have a good number of young prospects available to fill the other holes.'

Junior Jason Strayhorn, 6-2, 288, has experience as a backup center, and red-shirt freshman Shaun Mason, 6-5, 285, figures to fill the other guard position. Senior Josh Keur, 6-5, 270, returns as starting tight end, backed by sophomores Kyle Rance and Brad Rainko. MSU's offensive backfield features two familiar figures--senior quarterback Todd Schultz (6-4, 212) and sophomore tailback Sedrick Irvin (6-0, 217). Schultz completed 130-of-209 passes (.622) for 1,693 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He is backed by Bill Burke and Gus Ornstein.

Irvin set a freshman record of 1,067 yards, with five 100-yard games and a freshman record 18 touchdowns. 'Sedrick is a confident player and a hard worker,' points out Saban. 'He was one of the best players we had in the off-season program because of his work habits.'

Rounding out the backfield are junior fullback Garett Gould (6-2, 238) and senior fullback Travis Reece (6-3,245). Sophomore Leroy McFadden (6-3, 235) adds speed, power and depth at running back. 'My biggest concern on offense is the loss of big-play receivers Derrick Mason and Nigea Carter,' says Saban.

Senior Octavis Long (5-10, 178) and sophomore Gari Scott (6-1, 185) should start at split end and flanker. Others contending for the rotation are sophomore Lavaille Richardson, senior Damien Hiram and redshirt freshman Jason Klein.

With nine starters returning on defense, notes Saban, 'We hope to continue to improve . . . After ranking 10th in the Big Ten in total defense in 1995, we improved to fourth last year. We still gave up too many points to be a championship-caliber defense.'

The Spartan front seven boasts five returning starters. Junior defensive end Dimitrius Underwood, 6-7, 252, was second in tackles for losses (7.5 for 50 yards) and in sacks (5 for 40); he will be bookended by sophomore Robaire Smith, 6-5, 250, projected by one publication as 'Big Ten newcomer of the year.' Prospective defensive tackles include Desmond Thomas, 6-2, 285, and Pete Govens, 6-4, 285.

The linebacker corps is led by four-year starter Ike Reese at weakside linebacker. A second-team All-Big Ten selection last year, Reese is a consummate warrior, leading the Spartans in tackles with 115 (75 solos, 40 assists). He had a career-high 17 stops against Nebraska. 'Ike Reese is our bell cow on defense,' says Saban. 'Ike is one of the best leaders we've ever had both on and off the field. He truly cares about what happens to this team and his teammates.'

Junior Courtney Ledyard, 6-3, 245, returns to his natural position of strongside linebacker after starting at defensive end last year and leading MSU in tackles for losses (13/78) and sacks (9/63). He battles junior Dwayne Hawkins for the starting nod. Sophomore Mike Austin, 6-3, 234, and senior Tyrone Garland, 5-11, 225, vie for the middle linebacker post vacated by Reggie Garnett.

The defensive secondary boasts four returners, but, as Saban puts it, 'the guys have to make more plays--we need more than eight interceptions.'

At the corners are junior Amp Campbell, 6-0, 185, and senior Ray Hill, 6-0, 185. Junior free safety Sorie Kanu, 5-11, 195, led the team with three interceptions last year. Sophomore Aric Morris, 5-11, 205, looked impressive in the spring at strong safety. Back-of-all-trades Lemar Marshall can play all four positions.

Saban was 'disappointed' with MSU's kicking game last season and says that, 'Overall, I do expect our special teams to improve.' Senior Chris Gardner and sophomore Paul Edinger was one of the nation's top kicking tandems last year.

Irvin and Scott seem to be the best bets to replace Derrick Mason, MSU's returner extraordinaire. 'The maturity level of this team really began to show last spring,' sums up Saban. 'With 37 lettermen back from last year's team, the players knew exactly what to expect--from the kind of effort to the attention to detail. With our top three quarterbacks sidelined with injuries during the spring, an inexperienced team might have used that situation as an excuse not to get better. Overall, the execution was good because of our experience.'

Although MSU has a few question marks and some depth problems this season, the Spartans should field an exciting, competitive team.

Jim Comparoni, editor of The Spartan and an MSU recruiting guru, calls the 1997 squad 'the most talented starting 22 at MSU since 1990. We should be stronger than most people think.'

One thing is sure. The caliber of competition--especially at home, with visits from Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State--is second to none and should push ticket demand to an all-time high.