Michigan State defense preparing for Washington State's 'Air Raid' passing attack
EAST LANSING – Two of Washington State’s top wideouts won’t play in the Holiday Bowl.
That really doesn’t mean much to Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio. He knows the Cougars’ offense is not reliant on just one receiver.
“They’re gonna throw it,” Dantonio said after his team banquet Sunday.
That’s Mike Leach’s style, one which Dantonio and his coaches are familiar with but something that few of the current 19th-ranked Spartans have experienced. Once college finals finish this week, they will begin preparing in earnest for the “Air Raid” offense and the Dec. 28 Holiday Bowl matchup against No. 21 Washington State (9 p.m./Fox Sports 1).
“It’s all about our execution and our preparation. If we come prepared and execute, I like our chances,” safety Khari Willis said. “They’re a great team, great quarterback. They’re different with how often they throw the ball.”
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The Cougars went 9-3 this season with the nation’s second-leading passing offense at 374.8 yards per game. Senior quarterback Luke Falk ranks 13th in the Football Bowl Subdivision with 3,593 passing yards this season 30 touchdowns 13 interceptions while completing 357 of 534 throws.
The Spartans (9-3) faced Leach’s pass-heavy, run-and-shoot-style “Air Raid” system in the Alamo Bowl on Jan. 2, 2010, though Leach was fired by Texas Tech less than a week before the game. His offense relies on a number of crossing patterns – “mesh” routes – that are meant to cross up man-to-man coverages and evolve into short passes in zone coverage.
In the Alamo Bowl, the Red Raiders, under interim coach Ruffin McNeill, passed for 460 of their 579 total yards of offense against an MSU team that was missing 14 players who were either suspended or dismissed after an on-campus altercation. Texas Tech pulled to a 41-31 victory with two touchdowns in the final 5:03.
Dantonio said that will be one of the tapes he watches – along with Ohio State’s 2002 game against Texas Tech, when he was the Buckeyes defensive coordinator – in preparing for Leach’s Washington State version.
“I was talking to coach (Mike Tressel) and he said when we played this staff eight or nine years ago when (Leach) was at Texas Tech, it was faster and they were throwing the ball deep more often,” MSU linebacker Chris Frey said.
That was before the Cougars lost their two leading pass catchers in second-team All-Pac-12 pick Tavares Martin Jr. and fellow wide receiver Isaiah Johnson-Mack. Martin ranked fourth in the Pac-12 at 75.5 yards per game (831 yards) and led Washington State with 70 catches and nine TDs, while Johnson-Mack had 60 catches for 555 yards and five touchdowns.
However, the Cougars still have seven others who have caught 24 or more passes this season. Running back Jamal Morrow is the top remaining pass catcher with 56 for 479 yards and five touchdowns to go with his 522 rushing yards and four TDs.
Junior Kyle Sweet has 50 catches for 481 yards and two touchdowns. Redshirt freshman Renard Bell, true freshman Jamire Calvine, sophomore Dezmon Patmon and true freshman Tay Martin have combined for 123 receptions, 1,462 yards and 10 TDs between them.
“They roll a lot of guys in there, both offensively and defensively,” Dantonio said. “Really, when you’re looking at numbers thus far when I’ve watched the film, and you see so many players playing and catching balls.”
Frey said he expects his team to practice against multiple offensive huddles to replicate the Cougars’ tempo, as the Spartans did when preparing in the past for pass-heavy offenses of Baylor and Oregon. Willis said the pace reminds him of Indiana.
And the amount of crossing routes MSU expects to see from Washington State, Frey said, are reminiscent of what the Spartans faced against Northwestern. They have had issues with short and intermediate passing routes this season.
“We over the years have gotten more of the mesh routes and the crossing routes, and especially this year,” Frey said. “You look back at Northwestern and they run it every other play. We’ve gotten it enough this year that we’re as a defense understanding it more. Depending on our coverages, we’re able to match it better. We’re gonna continue to work on it and get better at it every single day we have the opportunity to.”
Freshman nod
MSU cornerback Josiah Scott was named a freshman all-American by ESPN on Monday. The 5-10, 173-pound true freshman started all 11 games he played in this season, recording 30 tackles, two interceptions and nine pass break-ups.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Download our Spartans Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!