Joe Bachie, Kenney Lyke latest MSU freshmen to join mix
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – As Riley Bullough trotted back to locker room, ejected and dejected, Joe Bachie dashed onto the field to begin his Michigan State career.
It wasn’t as planned, and it came much sooner than Bachie might have expected. But with Byron Bullough back home nursing an injury, Mark Dantonio turned to the true freshman to replace his fifth-year senior middle linebacker and team captain.
And for the next 3 1/2 quarters of MSU's 28-17 loss at Maryland, the Spartans’ defense revolved around the rookie.
“He showed he’s got some talent,” Dantonio said of Bachie on Sunday. “He didn’t always fit it up exactly the way you want it fit up. But for the most part, for a guy coming in off the bench and his first time playing in a major college football game, I thought he performed pretty well.”
It was an introduction that got Bachie and other young players prepared for Saturday’s showdown against No. 2 Michigan (noon/ESPN). Like it or not, a number of the Spartans’ young players have pivotal roles in the upcoming rivalry game.
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Bachie finished with seven tackles, 1.5 for a loss. The on-the-job training showed a learning curve exists for the 6-foot-2, 232-pound former three-star recruit from the Cleveland suburb Brook Park, Ohio. He needs to understand concepts such as fitting gaps and what defensive calls to make.
However, Dantonio played Bachie over junior Shane Jones, who had started the three games Bullough missed while injured earlier this season and was healthy enough to play on special teams units. Dantonio said Bachie possesses strong leadership and tackling ability and “should be a great player for us.”
Bachie wasn’t alone in his baptism to college football. Safety Kenney Lyke was pressed into duty as the nickel back in third-down packages after Montae Nicholson and Demetrious Cox left the game with undisclosed injuries. The 6-2, 187-pound defensive back delivered a hard third-quarter hit on Teldrick Morgan, but only after the Maryland receiver had made a 15-yard catch on third-and-12.
“We had some guys today who burned their redshirt, and I think they realized that they need to get in the film room and really study the team that we’re playing,” junior linebacker Chris Frey said. “Because even if you study the film, they're going to come out and do different stuff, so you have to prepare yourself for that.”
Bachie and Lyke – two of nine true freshmen who have played this fall – should get more playing time after being used seven games into a season that won't involve practice in December if the Spartans don’t make a bowl game. Saturday, a number of other youngsters also got a significant amount of playing time after not seeing the field as much earlier in the year.
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On defense, it included true freshman defensive ends Josh King and Auston Robertson, true freshman cornerback Justin Layne, redshirt freshman safety David Dowell, redshirt freshman defensive tackle Kyonta Stallworth and true sophomore defensive backs Khari Willis and Tyson Smith.
On offense, true freshman Thiyo Lukusa and redshirt freshman Cole Chewins got time alongside starting offensive lineman redshirt freshman Tyler Higby. They were protecting while redshirt freshman quarterback Brian Lewerke was throwing to true freshman receiver Donnie Corley.
And even though Dantonio has said MSU is not focusing on the future, he added that he is playing the best players to help his team win now and end its five-game losing streak. They’ll have the rest of the season to show they can perform consistently and confidently in their roles.
“I’ve been though these situations before. Not in a while, but we have,” Dantonio said. “These are things – some of life’s experiences – that will play dividends later on. … Now they’re experiencing it and they’ll understand how hard they have to work and what they have to do to be able to play more successfully at a later time.
“This is all part of a process, whether you’re winning or losing.”
Contact Chris Solari:csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@chrissolari.
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