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Sports
Wednesday, November 13, 2019 — 7A
EAST
LANSING
—
Cody White has only one
message for Michigan State’s
underclassmen this week.
“Going into this week, we
know we have a mission to do
and that’s to win the football
game,”
the
wide
receiver
said Tuesday. “At any means
possible,
win
the
football
game, so I feel like that’s what
we’re gonna drive through
every day in practice until the
game day.”
It’s safe to say the Spartans
haven’t completed the mission
they began the year with. At
just four wins heading into
the 112th meeting between
Michigan and Michigan State,
the Spartans are hoping for
Saturday’s game to provide
a spark to a season that’s
vacillating between generally
disappointing
and
outright
dismal.
In
the
media
room
at
Spartan Stadium on Tuesday,
the Spartans made it clear that
while this week is a chance
to regroup from blowing a
25-point lead to Illinois last
Saturday, the bigger emphasis
is on the chance to beat the
team 60 miles down the road.
In the midst of what is
shaping up to be, at best, a
mediocre season for Michigan
State, a win in the rivalry game
and everything that comes with
it would soften the blow for
the players. Defensive tackle
Raequan Williams referenced
the emotion that comes with
facing off in a hotly-contested
matchup, and Williams and
White both mentioned the
extra edge that comes with
this game.
“(Michigan State coach Mark
Dantonio) always tries to tell
us to keep the lion in the cage,”
White
said.
“Everything’s
going to be calmed down until
game time, and then the lion’s
going to just unleash itself.”
Added Williams: “This is
the biggest game of the year.
It’s the next one up and we
didn’t have the season that we
wanted, so this game will be a
lot for us emotionally. You will
see a lot of emotion for this
game.”
For
linebacker
Antjuan
Simmons, who went to high
school across the street from
Michigan Stadium at Pioneer,
his first introduction to the
intensity of preparation in
rivalry week came in practice
before his first game of the
rivalry as a freshman in 2017.
“I think it was my first play,”
Simmons said. “I got hit by an
upperclassman — like whacked
— and he’s like, ‘Yeah, it’s
Michigan week!’ and I’m like,
‘Alright, it’s Michigan week.’ …
And then when I got out there
in the game, it didn’t matter.
Every player, it was nasty. It
was a nasty game.”
But while the players went
on about the extra emotion
and the level of intensity that
comes with Michigan week,
Dantonio had little to say
beyond the typical platitudes
of rivalry week.
“Right now, for me, my main
consideration is our football
team and getting them down
and
football-game
ready,”
Dantonio said. “We’ve come
and competed. We’ll compete.
We’ll
play
hard.
We
just
can’t make mistakes to beat
ourselves.”
Taken
out
of
context,
Dantonio
could
be
talking
about
any
game
on
the
Spartans’ schedule this year.
He made a handful of more
specific comments about the
Wolverines, but the overall
tone was one of a coach who
mostly just wants to talk about
the game, not everything else
that goes along with it.
It was clear Dantonio didn’t
feel the need to make a splashy
statement that dominates the
headlines
leading
into
the
game.
This
iteration
of
the
matchup brings a game with
different stakes for each side,
but the bottom line of what
each team is truly playing for is
the rivalry.
“This
game
means
everything,”
Williams
said.
“It depends on if you own
Michigan or you don’t, so you
gotta go out and win this one.”
EAST LANSING — Nearly 13
minutes into a press conference
three days after one of the most
disastrous losses of his tenure
as Michigan State’s coach and
four days before a game that
could put an exclamation mark
on a season from hell, Mark
Dantonio
was
asked
about
Larry Caper.
On the 10-year anniversary
of Caper’s overtime run against
Michigan, it was fitting. The
picture of Caper bouncing off
defenders and into the end
zone, the 1-3 Spartans knocking
off the undefeated Wolverines,
beating them in consecutive
years for the first time since
1967, still sets a tone for this
rivalry. It’s cast as a turning
point, and with good reason —
including that streak, Michigan
has beaten Michigan State all of
three times since 2008.
Dantonio spent a minute
recalling details of the game,
the Spartans blowing a 14-point
lead, then recapturing it on with
Caper’s run. Then Dantonio
said this: “I think it’s good to
have a little bit of history, but
you gotta focus on the moment.”
That takes us to the next
question. One about Dantonio’s
future. One that brought the
room
rushing
towards
the
present,
where
Dantonio’s
Spartans are 4-5 just one year
after they were 7-6 and three
years after they were 3-9.
Where they blew a 25-point
first-half
lead
at
home
to
Illinois last week, and where
Dantonio’s hands moved to his
pockets and his lips pursed as
a reporter probed at whether
he will still be in East Lansing
next year.
He told a story about meeting
with Michigan State’s freshmen
on Monday. One of them asked
how he handled the criticism
that comes with his position.
“Hey, when you’re the head
of the program, you’re the head
of something big. And things
don’t go as well, that person’s
gonna be criticized,” Dantonio
recalled saying. “And that’s part
of it.
“But what people need to
understand out there is, I had
as much information as I can
to do the job that I’m doing and
I’m gonna try to do it with your
players in mind. We’re gonna
work hard, we’re gonna always
stay
positive,
we’re
gonna
rise above it. And that’s the
only thing that I can do. I can
continue to rise above it or I can
take another direction and start
to go below that. And I’m not
gonna go that direction.”
This
matters
because
Dantonio is about to lead his
team into the biggest game of its
season. And, perhaps more than
any other point in his 13-year
tenure
as
Michigan
State’s
coach, the Spartans’ season is
tied into the result.
It would be hyperbolic and
uninformed to say Dantonio’s
job
rides
on
Saturday’s
outcome. But with his program
stumbling
on
and
off
the
field, with another headache
on Tuesday when Dantonio
said
quarterback
Brian
Lewerke didn’t go through any
concussion
protocol
before
coming back into Saturday’s
game after taking a hit to the
head and with a $4.3 million
retention bonus in Dantonio’s
contract set to trigger in mid-
January, it’s not unfair to
say a win over Michigan — a
reminder of what Dantonio
brought to Michigan State —
would go a long way.
The
Wolverines
have
a
considerable talent advantage
over the Spartans. The game is
in Ann Arbor. Michigan opened
as a 12-point favorite, and it
feels like there is as much built-
in expectation that it should
win this game as ever.
None of that stopped the
usual platitudes from being
uttered about the Michigan-
Michigan
State
rivalry
on
Tuesday underneath Spartan
Stadium. They sounded just the
same as in Schembechler Hall
on Monday.
But, standing in contrast to a
Michigan program that wants
to at least cloak this week under
the veil of normalcy, there was
little masking how much this
game means.
“I
think
everyone
(puts
more into this game),” Lewerke
said. “Top to bottom. Coaches,
players,
the
training
staff,
everyone. They’re trying to be
something a little bit better and
play a little bit better.”
“I knew that if we were gonna
be successful here, ultimately,
that we were gonna have to win
down the road (in Ann Arbor)
some, and here at home, and
we were gonna have to measure
up in every time we played that
football game,” Dantonio said.
“And so that’s what we put into
effect. That we were gonna
measure up in this football
game.”
The need to measure up
against Michigan has as much
to do with Michigan State’s
ethos, one that existed long
before Dantonio and will exist
long after, as it does with the
program’s current situation. On
Tuesday, the notion that this
year’s game should be treated
with more urgency because of
the Spartans’ lackluster record
was thrown out.
“This is one that, again, we
need to measure up on and
then we gotta let this one go,”
Dantonio said. “And I’ve always
tried to say, OK, what do we do
after Michigan?”
Without an upset of the same
variety Dantonio has pulled
off before, though, he may not
be the only one person around
Michigan State asking that
question after Saturday.
A
s practice wound down
late Tuesday afternoon
at Yost Ice Arena, Michi-
gan coach
Mel Pearson
gathered his
players for
the typical
end-of-day
huddle.
That
huddle lasted
longer than
normal,
though, as
Pearson got
his players more involved. He
asked the group to discuss things
they liked about the team, and
comments ranged from work
ethic and commitment to perse-
verance and defensive success.
It was a moment to pause and
look within — a chance to reflect
on the past and mentally prepare
for what is to come.
An exchange of this sort fits
the script of this Michigan hockey
team (3-5-2 overall, 0-3-1-0 Big
Ten). The Wolverines have strug-
gled to score consistently over the
past two weekends, slipping into
second to last in the conference
standings.
Despite the tribulations, Pear-
son wants his squad to think
about the positives. The common
theme around the team is that bad
breaks have been holding it back.
“Pucks are going to start fall-
ing in for us,” said senior forward
Jake Slaker about the power play.
“And I think that’s going to trans-
late to five-on-five, too. I think we
are right there where things are
going to start going our way.”
But that raises the following
question: Is it realistic to expect a
couple good bounces of the puck
to fix the woes? To that, I’d argue
yes. But the margin for error is
slim, and the team must figure
out how to play through obstacles
beyond bounces.
First, it’s key to dissect Michi-
gan’s losses to see what exactly
can be attributed to bad luck. The
Wolverines’ tough stretch spans
back to the 4-1 road loss against
then-No. 18 Western Michigan.
From then on, Michigan got
swept by then-No. 13 Ohio State
on the road, before tallying just
one point in the recent home
series against Minnesota.
Against the Broncos and Buck-
eyes, bad bounces were not the
key issue. The Wolverines dug
themselves into an early deficit
in Kalamazoo and couldn’t climb
back. And against Ohio State, the
main issues were lackluster puck
possession on offense, foolish
penalties and a poor forecheck.
In the recent series, though, it’s
fair to blame bad breaks. On Fri-
day, Michigan generated chances
and outshot the Golden Gophers
34-27 but didn’t get the breaks it
needed to capitalize.
That was true Saturday, too,
only that the bad bounces extend-
ed to the defensive side as the
Wolverines’ first two conceded
goals involved a fair amount of
poor luck. And that view is shared
by outsiders, too. For instance,
Michigan State coach Danton
Cole — whose
team is the
Wolverines’
next opponent
— mentioned
Michigan’s
struggles have
to do with ‘puck
luck.’
The underly-
ing trend is that
despite the lack
of scoring, the
offense has made strides since the
loss against Western Michigan.
All the while, defense and goal-
tending have remained steady.
If the offense continues to make
strides and the defense remains
stingy, then it’s logical that bet-
ter bounces could help this team
unleash its potential.
Pearson is no stranger to
early season struggles. In his
first season at the helm, Michi-
gan fell two games under .500
in January after getting swept
by Notre Dame. Regardless, in
those two contests he recog-
nized the potential of his team
and knew it wasn’t too late. That
group went on to make the Fro-
zen Four.
“And that’s similar to now,”
Pearson said. “We’re doing some
really good things. We played
hard against Minnesota when
the games on the line, we just
couldn’t quite get that next goal,
that next break, to make a dif-
ference.”
Better bounces likely will
come for the Wolverines; in such
a long season, there will always
be some spurts of good luck.
Those might not come right
away, though, and in the mean-
time Pearson doesn’t want
to force things on the attack.
He sees offense as a balance
between urgency and poise,
but understands that balance
doesn’t come easy.
Given that there will be bad
breaks during every season,
Pearson is quick to say he would
rather have them early on, as
has been the case. There’s value
in learning early how to play
when things don’t go your way
as this can pay dividends in the
games that really matter.
“These tight games, these
close games,
aren’t a bad
thing,” Pearson
said. “You wanna
win your share
of them, but we
will. Usually (in
sports) it evens
out at some point.
We just have to
make sure we
stay with it.
“We know
where we wanna get to, it’s how
we wanna get there. Right now
we’re just making a little detour.
It’s not the fastest way to where
we wanna get to, but we’re on
a detour, so we just got to man-
age the detour and find our way
there.”
For Michigan to reach its des-
tination, it must follow through
on the good bounces immedi-
ately when they come, because
the team cannot afford to dig
more of a hole.
But the Wolverines must also
learn to weather the storm when
things go south. Luck doesn’t
last forever, and the best teams
know how to win even when
bounces don’t go their way.
And if Michigan can figure
this out, when the team gathers
to culminate future practices the
shared sentiments will be more
profound.
Michigan’s length key to defense
The players on the Michigan
women’s
basketball
team
shuffled off the court Sunday
bearing
smiles
from
their
second blowout win of the
weekend. Though the victories
came against weak opponents
— neither Western Michigan
nor Bradley made the NCAA
tournament
last
season
—
the
Wolverines’
lockdown
defensive performances earned
them the right to celebrate, as
they held both opponents under
60 points.
For Michigan to achieve its
goals of competing for a Big
Ten championship and passing
the second round of the NCAA
Tournament, it will have to
sustain this level of defense
against
tougher
opponents.
And the key to that lies in the
Wolverines’ length.
All five of Michigan’s starters
this season measure in at 6-feet
or taller, a rarity in women’s
basketball. This kind of length
means that players can more
easily block shots and move
into passing lanes to disrupt
plays and intercept passes.
“(Coach Kim Barnes Arico
stresses) using the ability of our
length,” said sophomore guard
Amy Dilk. “Our starting lineup,
we all have tremendous length,
so just really focusing on
keeping our hands up, sliding
our feet and not fouling.”
Senior
Akienreh
Johnson
seems poised to make more
disruptive plays on defense this
year. The 6-foot shooting guard
recorded 27 steals coming off
the bench last season. If she
can continue to move quickly
on defense, clog lanes and force
opposing teams into mistakes,
she can expect to pick up a
few more steals from her new
starting spot.
“Our length is ridiculous this
year for our starting lineup,”
Johnson said. “It’s actually
really crazy how many steals
and deflections we get without
even
knowing
that
we’re
getting them.”
A defense that can continue
to pick up steals would help the
Wolverines to improve off of a
lackluster 2018-19 campaign,
during which they allowed 63.6
points per game — 148th in the
country.
Freshman
center
Izabel
Varejão
exemplifies
how
length can have an impact on
the game, even with limited
minutes. Standing at 6-foot-
4, she recorded four blocks in
just 13 minutes against Bradley.
While her height allows her to
shut down opposing players in
the post, she also has enough
quickness and athleticism to
defend guards on switches.
At the same time, Michigan’s
guards will need to lean on
their length and quickness on
switches as they face bigger
and more athletic teams this
season. If the Wolverines can
rely on players like Johnson
or Dilk to play sound defense
against taller forwards, it will
take pressure off of their own
bigs allow them to comfortably
make switches when defending
the pick-and-roll.
“We want to be able to …
switch
one
through
five,”
Johnson said. “A lot of teams
aren’t able to do that because
their guards are little and they
can’t guard a post, or their
posts don’t have quick enough
feet to guard guards, so I
think that’s one thing that our
team really has, is the ability
to guard one through five on
defense.”
The talent is there. This
team is fully capable of playing
defense at a high level, if they
can play smart and use its
length.
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
The Michigan State football team comes into the game 4-5 this season.
Will the Spartans?
Over in East Lansing, hope dwindling, MSU confronts a crossroads in its identity, and what this game might mean
BAILEY JOHNSON
Daily Sports Writer
ETHAN SEARS
Managing Sports Editor
BRENDAN ROOSE
Daily Sports Writer
Are good bounces enough?
ROHAN
KUMAR
Right now
we’re just
making a little
detour.
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Senior guard Akinereh Johnson recorded 27 steals off the bench last season, spearheading a talented defense.