Sports: Football Preview
BUCKLE UP FOR THE NEW “SMITH” BRAND OF FOOTBALL
Get ready for lots of swashbuckling on the gridiron this fall as John L. Smith tries to turn around MSU’s football fortunes.
Ever play five-card stud against Bat Masterson? The next closest thing might be facing John L. Smith’s wide-open style of football this fall.
“We’re going to gamble in every aspect of the game,” Smith tells the MSU Alumni Magazine, a week after the Green and White scrimmage in April. “Hopefully those gambles will have more reward than risk.
“We didn’t come to paint, we came to get after it. We’re going to spread the field, throw it first and run it second. That seems like sacrilege in the Big Ten, but it gives you a chance to compete with personnel that maybe is not as good as others in the league. So, we’ll throw it around and make it exciting. The fans will love it, because they’ll see the ball in the air.
”On defense, our philosophy is to attack, create turnovers, and create big plays.”
Smith believes that his scheme, if successful, can eventually catapult MSU’s football program to its pre-eminence of the 1950s and mid-1960s, a period when MSU won 6 national championships—two of them consensus titles (1952 and 1965).
“Are we a sleeping giant?” he says. “If we are, we’d better start waking it. What does it take? Number one, you have to put a good product on the field. Then you have to keep up with the Joneses. We’ve got to get our facilities up to par with the rest of the Big Ten, especially this (Duffy Daugherty) building. This is our home. We all have to get onboard.”
Smith says that with proper facilities upgrades, MSU will regain the competitive advantage needed to recruit top talent.
“We have a great history and tradition, and that’s probably our greatest advantage,” he explains. We have a great academic institution, which we can sell. And we have a great campus, which we can sell.”
Smith and his staff have sold their football philosophy to the MSU players, many of whom have been quoted in the media approving of the new coaches and their strict discipline. They seem to have accepted Smith’s emphasis on the “team” concept, which includes the removal of names from the backs of the new uniforms (which, incidentally, will return Sparty to the helmets replacing the Block “S”).
On offense, Smith believes MSU is fine at quarterback with junior Damon Dowdell and redshirt freshman Drew Stanton competing for starter, and former starter senior Jeff Smoker looking to join the competition in the fall if he fulfills terms related to substance abuse recovery. “You don’t need the best player in the world to run this offense,” explains Smith. “We can mold them and tweak them to fit what we do.”
Smith says MSU’s running backs (Tyrell Dortch, Jaren Hayes and Jason Teague) are small but “adequate.” He lauds the offensive front as “a pleasant surprise” and especially likes the tight ends, Eric Knott and Jason Randall. “You may see an expanded two-tight end package,” he predicts.
Smith believes the one position on offense where MSU is “deficient in personnel” is at wideout, although help is on the way. Athletic quarterback Aaron Alexander has switched to wide receiver and “can be really good if he wants to.” Help could also come from Matt Trannon, a 6’ 7’’ athlete from Flint who Smith expects to become academically eligible this fall.
MSU’s defense allowed 42 points or more in six games last year and can best be described as “porous.” MSU’s first string defensive line is “pretty decent,” says Smith, who also fears the secondary might perhaps be mistake-prone because of its youth. “As a whole, we’re very, very thin,” he says. “We lack enough personnel at every position. Our first rule is, ‘You’re not allowed to get hurt.’”
Don’t expect Smith to be any more conservative on defense. “We’re going to gamble, come and get you, attack and create turnovers,” says Smith, whose Louisville team ranked among the nation’s top two in turnovers in recent years. “This year, however, because of personnel, we might have to be more vanilla. We’ll try to make more big plays than we give up.”
Smith will have some potential playmakers on defense, including emerging nose tackle Brandon McKinney, defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson, and ends Clifford Dukes and Greg Taplin. Ron Stanley anchors the linebackers, with Seth Mitchell a potential star if he manages to stay healthy. Mike Labinjo can be a major playmaker as well. The secondary remains inexperienced but looking promising are Ashton Watson and Roderick Maples at cornerback and Jason Harmon and Derron Ware at safety.
Smith’s special teams, likewise, will be attack-oriented. “We led the nation last year in blocked kicks (at Louisville),” he says. “We’re big believers in come and get it. We’re big believers in attacking. We’re not afraid to do some crazy things. Everyone thinks special teams is your kicker and your punter—and we’re fine there—but that’s only one part. It’s all those guys around them. You’re going to see little teeny walk-ons, who just want to play, but who have big hearts. The biggest thing is run and want.”
Returning are Dave Rayner as kicker and Jason Dailey as punter. Smith’s special teams at Louisville excelled, and Spartans hope he can bring some of his special teams magic to East Lansing.
Smith dismisses those who say this aerial-attack style can’t hold up in November, when weather turns inclement. He notes that Purdue has enjoyed recent success with a similar offense. “We had success with it in Montana, Wyoming and Utah,” he says. “We wanted to bring it into the Big Ten, but we have to follow (Purdue’s Joe) Tiller.”
Although the offense was invented by a high school coach in California, Smith demurs when one calls it the “West Coast” offense. “It’s a ball-control, passing game,” he explains. “’West Coast’ was something Bill Walsh placed on his back to make sure everyone thought he knew what he was doing.”
Most of the preseason magazines rank MSU 9th in the Big Ten. Of course, last season, the same magazines picked MSU to be a contender and ranked the Spartans among the league’s top three teams. Some Spartan fans are hoping the experts are as far off this year.