Q&A with Michigan State's football beat reporter

Michigan State’s The State News football beat reporter Dillon Davis answered some questions about IU’s upcoming match up with Michigan State this Saturday.

IDS: Michigan State is 11th in the Big Ten in terms of scoring offense. What has been the problem with the offense this year?

Davis: It’s really been a tale of two different seasons for the Spartans. The first couple of games against Western Michigan and South Florida, MSU’s offense looked out of rhythm and struggled to make plays. And really, it was a perfect storm of inconsistency at quarterback, dropped passes by the wide receiving corps and very few explosive plays, which Mark Dantonio defines as a 20-yard pass or a 15-yard run.

However, after thrashing Youngstown State 55-17, the Spartans have continued to improve and definitely looked better in a loss to Notre Dame and a road win against Iowa. Sophomore quarterback Connor Cook is getting more comfortable in the position and has thrown for 200 yards or more in two of the past three games while also building chemistry with senior wide receiver Bennie Fowler and sophomore wide receiver Macgarrett Kings Jr., among others.

I predict they’ll continue to take steps forward and probably finish in the middle of the pack in scoring offense in the Big Ten.

IDS: How has the departure of Le’Veon Bell (who is now with the Pittsburgh Steelers) impacted the running game?

Davis: Losing Le’Veon Bell has been significant for the Spartans. He had among the most carries in the country and arguably one of the nation’s best running backs.
Based on what he’s done in the NFL, it seems like his skills have translated as well.

However, Jeremy Langford, Nick Hill and Riley Bullough have split carries to this point and Dantonio recently took the redshirt off of freshman Delton Williams, who likely will get significant carries against Indiana.

The Spartans really don’t have a dominant Le’Veon Bell-type running back this season, but the running game hardly has been the chief concern of the offense to this point.

IDS: On the other hand, MSU has a great defense, allowing just 13.4 points per game. What makes their defense so effective? A great pass rush? Solid secondary? Combination of both?

Davis: There’s always a ton of hype around defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi and he seems to deserve every bit of it. He recruits well, he’s put position coaches in the positions to succeed and he’s managed a unit that’s as good as any in the country.

They’ve got playmakers on the defensive line (Shilique Calhoun, Marcus Rush), they’re strong at linebacker (Max Bullough) and the secondary has been strong from the start (Kurtis Drummond, Isaiah Lewis, Trae Waynes). There’s a ton of NFL-caliber talent to go around, which has been helpful given the inadequacies of the offense to this point.

IDS: MSU holds the overall series title against IU 42-15-2. Any chance they overlook the Hoosiers? If not the team, what about the fans?

Davis: Playing the way MSU has to this point, I seriously doubt the Spartans overlook Indiana — and they definitely shouldn’t. The Hoosiers, as you know, have a very quick offensive attack and have a tendency to run a lot of plays in a short period of time.

Although I doubt Indiana will be able to be as effective against a defense like MSU’s, there’s huge potential to score points when you run a quick paced offense (lots of defensive subbing, injuries, etc.). The fans might overlook Indiana but MSU’s fan base has a tendency to overlook anyone that’s not Michigan, Notre Dame, etc.

However, Mark Dantonio asked the fans to come out and be loud to disrupt Indiana but I guess that remains to be seen.

IDS: QB Connor Cook averages less than 140 passing yards per game but has an impressive TD to INT ratio (7 to 1). Needing a drive late in the game, in your opinion - can Cook come through?

Davis: Cook’s averages are deceiving because he spent the first several games splitting time with Andrew Maxwell and Tyler O’Connor. The MSU staff wanted to use several games to find the quarterback who’s best suited to run the offense and it seems they’ve found that guy in Cook.

Cook has a strong arm and has tremendous chemistry with Kings and wide receiver
Aaron Burbridge, among others. There’s still some concerns when it comes to footwork and sometimes he has a tendency to overthrow his receivers.

He’s cognizant of these shortcomings and has a lot of time to work on it if he’s going to be the starter for a couple of years (or at least until Dantonio hands the keys to Damion Terry). If he can continue to make progress and draw from what he learned against Iowa, he’ll be fine.

Follow reporter Evan Hoopfer on Twitter @EvanHoopfer.