Michigan State freshmen 'minute-to-minute' if they play vs. Furman
EAST LANSING – Donnie Corley and Mike Panasiuk know they’re going to play. Mark Dantonio had made that much public.
The rest of Michigan State’s most talented incoming class under its 10th-year head coach must wait to see if they, too, will take the field this season.
Dantonio on Tuesday singled out wide receiver Corley and defensive tackle Panasiuk as immediate contributors to the 12th-ranked Spartans’ playing group. A record 12 true freshmen – six on offense, six on defense – are scattered across the depth chart for Friday night’s kickoff against Furman (7 p.m./BTN).
However, regardless of the score, that doesn’t mean they’ll play in the opener. Or, for that matter, at all this season.
“It’s tough because when you look at freshmen, you want to make sure they are going to play a lot of time this fall, a lot of snaps,” Dantonio said. “So if you're going to put a guy in there for one or two plays and not play him the rest of the year, I don't think that's good. So we have to make a determination as we move forward.”
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The Spartans played six true freshmen last season – running back LJ Scott, receiver Felton Davis, linebacker Andrew Dowell, cornerback Tyson Smith and safeties Grayson Miller and Khari Willis. All of them saw significant action on either defense or special teams, or both.
Neither co-defensive coordinator Harlon Barnett nor co-offensive coordinator Dave Warner could recall having so many incoming players on the cusp of playing during their past decade with Dantonio at MSU as they do with this season’s group.
“We were laughing about this earlier today,” Barnett said Wednesday. “When we were at Cincinnati back in 2005, we looked out and were playing Penn State and we had like eight or nine freshmen on the field, the defense, at one time and we’re like, ‘Whoa, what are we doing, man?’ But it panned out for them later in years. …
“To be so young and talented, this is the best I think we’ve been in the years I’ve been with coach Dantonio.”
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Corley leads the incoming group in terms of high expectations. The 6-foot-2, 186-pound from Detroit King High enters the season as the No. 2 slot wideout, behind fifth-year senior Monty Madaris. Three of Corley’s classmates – Cam Chambers, Trishton Jackson and Justin Layne – got third- and fourth-string listings at receiver on the opening-night depth chart. Corley and Chambers enrolled in January and went through the Spartans' spring workouts, while Jackson and Layne arrived on campus this summer.
“I don't anticipate those guys playing if we're way ahead – unless we're going to play them the rest of the year, and I can't say that,” Dantonio said of the young receivers. “Donnie Corley is going to play. The other three, we'll see what happens. They may play, they may not.”
Thiyo Lukusa is the No. 3 right tackle and Messiah deWeaver the fourth quarterback. January enrollee Lukusa has a chance to play immediately, offensive line coach Mark Staten said last week, with deWeaver expected to redshirt since he’s behind veteran QBs Tyler O’Connor, Damion Terry and Brian Lewerke.
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“It’s sort of a minute-to-minute situation for certain positions, most especially the receivers and a guy like Thiyo,” Warner said. “We’ve talked about it, no decision has been made. I think it’s a situation you go through and, come game time when you want to put guys in or think about putting guys in, you have to go through the head coach and get his impression on it.
“For example, if there’s an injury situation and some guy looks like he might be in the situation where he can play throughout the whole season, then you obviously play him. You don’t want to put a guy in there for a couple of plays and lose a year of eligibility, though.”
None of the freshmen on defense are listed higher than third-string right now. That includes Panasiuk, who is at defensive tackle behind Kevin Williams and Raequan Williams.
Highly touted Josh King and Auston Robertson are both No. 3 at opposite defensive end spots. Kenney Lyke is behind Montae Nicholson and Khari Willis at strong safety.
Brandon Randle is No. 3 at Star linebacker, while Joe Bachie is third at middle linebacker. However, those are more or less placeholders because starting strong-side linebacker Jon Reschke has taken reps at all three positions and MSU hopes to get Ed Davis for a sixth season, pending NCAA approval.
Senior linebacker Riley Bullough knows how that wait goes. He redshirted as a freshman, then shifted to tailback the following year with the depth the Spartans had at his natural position in 2013. That included his brother, Max, who helped ease Riley’s eventual transition to assuming his spot in the middle of the defense.
“When you come into this program as a young guy, for the most part when we got here, we were redshirted,” Riley Bullough said. “We weren’t playing and we were watching all the older guys and how they led and how they played. So we learned from them. For me it was learning from Max, it was learning from Denicos (Allen), Will Gholston, guys like that.
“We definitely do feel like they’ve passed that down to us, so we feel that’s our role to do for the younger guys.”