Michigan State wants to explore offensive line depth against Furman

EAST LANSING – It might be coincidence that Michigan State’s rise to prominence on the college football landscape coincided with Mark Staten’s out-of-necessity decision in 2012.

Then again, the 36 wins and two Big Ten titles in the past three years might not be happenstance.

That season, the Spartans’ offensive line suffered a significant amount of attrition. Travis Jackson and Fou Fonoti suffered season-ending injuries early. MSU used six different line combinations over the first eight weeks that year. Since 2013, the Spartans have rotated between eight to 10 players along the offensive trenches with increasing success.

Coach Mark Dantonio said Tuesday that he knows his top six linemen, but this year’s MSU team goes into Friday’s opener against Furman still looking to discover depth beyond that.

“The group that is going to play Friday night has not really earned or done anything that the group did last year,” junior Brian Allen said. “So it’s just fresh start, a new season, but the same mindset going in as last year.”

Dantonio said MSU hopes to play eight or nine offensive linemen against Furman to gauge who could join their rotation. Four of his top six linemen on the opening-game depth chart are seniors, with sophomore David Beedle slated to replace Jack Conklin at starting left tackle. Allen is at left guard, Kodi Kieler at center, Miguel Machado at right tackle and either Brandon Clemons or Benny McGowan at right guard.

Most of them can play at multiple positions.

“I think that only gives you more confidence,” said Kieler, who has been at tackle for much of his college career. “Playing different positions only gives you a better knowledge of the playbook. You’re going out there knowing what the guy next to you has to do only helps you out, really.”

Seven different Spartans started along the line a year ago, but three of those players – Jack Allen, Jack Conklin and Donavon Clark – are now in the NFL. MSU has averaged 185.6 rushing yards a season since 2013, including 151.3 yards per game a year ago. Its quarterbacks were sacked just 21 times last season.

“It’s going to be different because we lost those talented guys,” Staten said last week. “But it’s going to be the same because we’re going to bring that same mentality.”

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Part of why the rotation has worked so well the past few years is that it allows the linemen to stay fresh deep into games, with no better representation than the 22-play, 82-yard, 9-plus-minute drive for the winning touchdown against Iowa in the Big Ten Championship Game. Kieler, Allen, McGowan and Clemons all saw action on that drive.

“If you can care and you can be a little bit athletic and have some smarts to you,” Staten said, “the O-line is a good place for you. … That’s the greatest thing about these guys. They know they’re all going to play, because they know how the rotation works.”

Staten talked about the development of a few of those untested underclassmen who could join the mix. That group includes redshirt fresehmen Colw Chewins and Tyler Higby, true freshman Thiyo Lukusa and sophomore Casey Schreiner. Junior Dennis Finley, who suffered a season-ending broken leg against Purdue last fall in his lone start, is listed as the No. 2 right tackle, though Staten added that he was out of the playing group when preseason camp ended.

“The first game, you always try to get as many guys as you can in to see who you can trust, who you can count on,” Brian Allen said. “But hopefully we do our job and give other guys an opportunity to play on Friday.”

How they develop alongside each other will be important. Staten has shifted his linemen around to develop that cohesiveness throughout the season and on the fly in games. They’ll be crucial in not only opening holes for running backs LJ Scott, Gerald Holmes and Madre London, but also in keeping pressure off first-year quarterback Tyler O’Connor and allowing him time to develop his own rapport with a receiving group that also hasn’t had much experience.

“I feel very comfortable – and I know coach Staten does as well – with how much our O-line has progressed,” O’Connor said. “I think they’ve had a very good fall camp as far as gaining chemistry with each other, understanding what each other’s doing, and everything like that. I feel as comfortable this year as I did last year sitting behind the five guys in front of me.”