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6 - The Michigan Daily - Kkkoff '99 - Thursday, September 9, 1999
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Thursday, September 9, 1999 - Kickc
r
State hopes to thrive on new attitude
By UJ.Be"I
Daily Sports Editor
In one way, the Michigan State foot-
ball team is the most consistent in the
nation under Nick Saban. The Spartans
come into every season talking about
how they will break into the Big Ten
elite.
The Spartans eventually win enough
games - six - to assure themselves of
a non-losing season but are unable to
make the jump to a New Year's Day bowl
appearance.
But the Spartans also can lay claim to
being the most enigmatic team in
America as well, as Michigan State runs
hot and cold worse than a faucet when
the shower is on.
Last season, the Spartans lost, 48-14,
to Oregon and responded by destroying
then-No. 11 Notre Dame, 45-23 in their
next game.
Michigan State continued its roller
coaster ride later in the season, shocking
then-No. 1 Ohio State on the road two
weeks after losing to Minnesota for the
first time in 22 years.
While the schizophrenic nature of the
Spartans makes for good conversation, it
is wearing on the team and Saban.
"We have to prove that we are good
enough football players and a good
enough football team in every game,"
Saban before the season began. "We
have not been able to finish football
games the last couple of years."
To accomplish this, Saban and his
staff put an emphasis on team chemistry
during spring and summer drills.
According to senior captain Gari Scott,
the chemistry class should prove worth-
while this season.
"In spring practice, everybody was
supporting each other and was interested
in what everybody was doing," Scott
said. "I think our team was too segregat-
ed last year. During the big games we'd
come together, but we lost our focus too
often. We have been really close to win-
ning eight or nine games and breaking
through the last two seasons. We don't
want mental breakdowns to cause us to
come up short again."
Michigan State is expected to come
up short of the Big Ten elite this season
not because of mental breakdowns, but
because of the loss of talent instead.
With last year's offensive focal point,
running back Sedrick Irvin, leaving
after his junior season, the Spartans have
a lot of offense to replace.
Much of that production will come
from the air, as new offensive coordina-
tor Morris Watts plans to put more of an
emphasis on passing.
"I'm excited about this," Scott said.
"We're going to be throwing 30-35 pass-
es a game, which I'm looking forward
to."
With all the passes that will travel in
Spartan Stadium this fall, there will be a
lot of pressure on quarterback Bill
Burke. Burke, much maligned last year
due to inconsistent play, has the full con-
fidence of the players and coaching staff
to implement the new system.
"Bill played better and better as the
year went on," Saban said. "With that
experience and confidence he should be
better this season. The team just seems to
play better with him."
Burke will have two of the better
receivers in the Big Ten in Scott and 6-
foot-6 junior Plaxico Burress.
Defensively, the Spartans are stacked
at linebacker, with six returning letter-
man. That, along with the signing of top
linebacker recruit T.J. Duckett, has
Michigan State plugging.its linebackers
into other positions.
"I'm thinking of moving Shawn
Wright to fullback," Saban said. "He
played the position in high school, but he
has never put his hand in the grass at
fullback in college, so we'll have to see."
Saban would like to see the Spartans
break through and get to an elusive New
Year's Day bowl. While Michigan State
doesn't have the high expectations that it
had last year, Saban thinks that this team
might be ready to aspire to what was
expected of them last year.
What do you want
from Ll o? Has
QB situation isfine
Michigan State
took revenge on
Oregon last
week, shooting
down'the Ducks,
27-20.
AP PHOTO
MICHIGAN STATE
S P A R T A N
4-4 Big Ten, 6-6 overall
S
0
I Octbe 9, est lncinInoo, AB
OFFENSE
DEFENSE
QB
LT
LG
C
RG
RT
TE
TB
FB
FL
SE
Bill Burke
Tupe Peko
Dave Sucura
Casey Jensen
Shaun Mason
Greg Robinson-Randall
Chris Baker
Lloyd Clemons
Dawan Moss
Plaxico Burress
Gari Scott
LE
LT
RT
DE
LOLB
RILB
ROLB
SS
FS
LCB
RC B
Nick Myers
Jace Sayler
Desmond Thomas
Robaire Smith
Julian Peterson
T.J. Turner
Josh Thornhill
Aric Morris
Richard Newsome
Cedric Henry
Renaldo Hill
Scott
Scott
Jensen
SPECIAL TEAMS
K Paul Edinger
P Craig Jarrett
KR
PR
LS
Urichs has youcovere
Come in and see our huge supply of top
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N 16 R'SSeI,
----------------------------------------------------- -----------
DAILY SPECIAL: Clemons. The former walk-on leads a
threesome of running backs who are looking to replace
star tailback Sedrick Irvin.
GRADE: The Spartans have flashy players, but can they
play with the same intensity every weekend? B-
SU NDAY SPECIAL,
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What more do you need to
see, Lloyd? The writer
wanted to know. Lloyd Carr
has probably seen more of his quar-
terbacks, Tom Brady and Drew
Henson, than anyone else had since
spring practice began. He'd watched
countless passes, handoffs, snaps,
pitches, laterals.
All prettyR
close. Not the
same. But close. Freeman
How to
decide?
Lloyd went
with Brady, the
fifth-year senior
who turned an 0-
2 season into 10-
3. The one elect- FREEMAN OF
ed captain by his THE PRESS
teammates. The
experienced
choice. The Michigan choice. For a
quarter.
The choice won't go away this sea-
son as long as both quarterbacks are
breathing.
Everyone expects Lloyd to eventu-
ally choose, but why? The situation
hasn't called for a definitive started
and a definitive bench warmer.
Both had quarter-long auditions.
And they were almost dead even.
Henson completed three of his eight
passes for 40 yards. Brady had com-
pleted four of six for 37 yards.
Both engineered drives inside
Notre Dame's 20. Both came away
with field goals. Both times, they
completed passes after false-start
penalties turned third-and-long into
third-and-longer.
At halftime, Lloyd chose Brady to
start the half. He told his team they
had the same opportunity they had
the year before. They could start the
second half right, get a touchdown.
Brady got the ball, Michigan got a
touchdown and Lloyd had some evi-
dence that maybe, maybe this was his
man.
Worry time came later. Michigan
was down to 4:08, down three points
and needed the offense to bail out the
team.
Armed with confidence, Brady
stepped onto the field with the game,
the season and the his starting job on
the line.
His first pass was dropped. Jitters.
Brady could have been gulping
Pepto. If he was ever going to be rat-
tIed, now was the time.
It was the opener, against Notre
Dame in the Big House. He was
headed into the marshmallow-cov-
ered end of the field. If he failed, his
fellow students would have the clos-
est view.
They made him score twice.
Anthony Thomas was ruled down
before he crossed the goal line.
Nope. Sorry. Third and goal from the
one. On Thomas' second attempt he
came close to the goal line. The
touchdown call was debatable, but
then again, on the play before, he
probably did make it. But it didn't
matter. Brady had looked disaster in
the face, and calmly walked away.
His roommate, defensive end Pat
Kratus, thinks he knows. He saw how
happy Brady was when he got the
news that he would start. He hugged
his friend when he walked in the
door. Brady had been elected captain
by his teammates. Literally a vote of
confidence for Brady, it gave him the
even-keel calm to lead that game-
winning drive.
But then again, Henson might have
done the same thing. He didn't have
the vote of his teammates behind him
in such tangible form. But Henson
has this: Carr has called Henson the
most talented quarterback prospect
he has ever been around. He recruit-
ed no other quarterbacks that year.
He allowed Henson to recruit
Marquise Walker and David Terrell as
his wide receivers. When Carr prais-
es Henson's raw talent, he is not
referring to the sophomore's ability
with a clipboard and a headset.
How to decide?
What more do you want from me?
Lloyd asked the writer.
Well, letting us in on the decision
would have been nice, but not Lloyd's
style. Although it's true he told a
gathering of reporters that he would,
in fact, tell them of his decision, he
changed his mind. The week before
Notre Dame, he was all smirks and
maybes.
A million times and in even more
ways, he was asked who will start.
"We'll just have to see."
More smirking.
When reminded of his promise
Lloyd explained it this way: "I made
an announcement, to the people that
count - the players."
Lloyd had his reasons to snub the
media. Notre Dame had played an
early game, Michigan hadn't. And
Lloyd wasn't about to tip his hand to
the Irish. Not when he wasn't even
entirely sure which one was better.
Even with all that he's seen he can't
completely rule one out.
He may not knfow right now, but
maybe this isn't one of those things
that he needs to have written in stone
just yet.
His problem: Too much quarter-
back talent.
He's not complaining. There are far
worse things. Ask John Cooper.
- Rick Freeman can be reachedvia
e-mail at rickfree@umich.edu.
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