Struggling Spartans get back to basics

EAST LANSING – When so many areas are struggling, like Michigan State’s football team has experienced the past month, it makes coaches question even the most rudimentary elements of their program.

So Mark Dantonio has spent this week drilling his players on the basics as the Spartans try to end a four-game losing streak Saturday at Maryland (7:30 p.m./Big Ten Network).

“You have to look at everything. That's what we've done,” Dantonio said this week. “We’ll look at our leadership on the field, as well, how we do things structurally, how we do things on the sideline. We'll look at it all and try and get everything in order.”

It hasn’t been one area that sent MSU spiraling into a freefall at 2-4 overall and 0-3 in the Big Ten. Dantonio has called it a collective issue, and he’s right.

Against Wisconsin, turnovers were the big problem. Confusion and missed assignments proved costly against Indiana. Offensive inefficiency plagued the Spartans in a home loss to BYU, and defensive and special teams breakdowns led to last week’s 54-40 homecoming loss to Northwestern.

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“We’re called out and challenged pretty much every week,” junior offensive lineman Brian Allen said. “I’ve said it week and week again – you can talk so much, we gotta go out and do it.”

MSU lack of run production has been one of the biggest detriments offensively. The Spartans are averaging just 96.5 rushing yards during the current four-game losing streak and have failed to reach 100 ground yards in three of those defeats. That’s partly on poor blocking up front and partly on running backs missing holes.

Dantonio also has opened up the quarterback competition again between Tyler O’Connor, Damion Terry and Brian Lewerke as a way to try and help spark the offense.

Quarterbacks coach Brad Salem said the staff is trying to reinstill confidence in the struggling offensive unit.

“I think you need to focus in and what is it we’re trying to get across,” he said. “I think a lot of it is not as much teaching but psychological help maybe. … You know, confidence. I think those are the things you start breathing life into your players, too.”

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On defense, MSU has missed assignments and tackles at an alarming rate while getting worn down in the second half. Indiana and Northwestern exploited them via the pass for 281 yards apiece, while BYU and the Wildcats both eclipsed 200 yards of rushing in their wins.

A lot of that stems from a lack of pressure up front from MSU’s inexperienced and thin defensive line, a group that has struggled to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks. The Spartans’ 1.0 sacks per game ranks 120th out of 128 Football Bowl Subdivision schools.

Those issues has meant the defense has spent a lot of time on relearning gap assignments and basic tackling techniques this week.

“It is more of a mental thing,” safety Montae Nicholson said. “Physically, your body can do it, our bodies are trained to do it. It is a mental thing, though. You have to go back and focus on the small details and re-evaluate the game as a whole. I’m doing this because of this reason, he’s doing this because of this, and this is why our defense works. I think once we get that traction again, I think we’ll be good.”

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Players have called the first four-game losing streak of Dantonio’s tenure “uncharted territory” for a program that has won two of the last three Big Ten titles and went 36-5 over the past three seasons.

“We’ve even gone back … to fall camp stuff and breaking it down for the young guys,” Nicholson said. “Just so they know how we got here and what the foundation it started on. That has been the main focus, getting back to the roots of what got us where we’ve been.

“As a team as a whole, we have to remember what got us the success that we’ve had.”