MSU Football had its final spring practice today and opened it up to the public. Even though I stayed up way too late watching Coachella Livestream, I still was undeterred by the cold, rain and my three year old who did not want her hair brushed this morning. I was curious to see what things were looking like and my family managed to accompany me so here are a few takeaways I noticed.
It was a no tackling, keep everyone healthy demonstration and that makes it difficult to really see strength and weaknesses
in the trenches. Obviously we all know the trenches were torturous to watch last year, but it did seem Alessio had some time to make plays and did a nice job of stepping up in the pocket and checking down. It is pretty obvious that McCray is the WR1 and he and Alessio seem to have some chemistry and that will only further develop. Alessio did have a back to back play sequence that we as Spartan fans have to hope gets cleaned up. He had a beautiful play where he stayed in the pocket stepped down out of the pressure and found an open receiver down the middle. Unfortunately, it was followed by an ugly interception that Grose read all the way and took it with ease. That back and forth play will make it tough for fans but the good news is this is spring. The pocket passing mixed with the ability to scramble are a positive sign and the accuracy seems closer than what we were getting with Chiles. Ultimately the QB play left me with optimism knowing there is room for growth but nice fundamentals in place. Kayd Coffman also looked solid with limited action. He was 4-7, 45 yards and 16 yards rushing.
The kicking game looked like it needs some work. When you are used to Eckley punts, todays short shanks left a lot to be desired. There was one nice pin down punt inside the 5. Field goal wise Boyd and Ahmetbasic combined for 2-6. Both makes were from Boyd at 35 and 44 yards. Ahmetbasic missed badly on both of his and it looks like both kickers will continue to work and hopefully improve.
The secondary was a place I was intrigued to watch. Since there was no tackling, the corners vs receivers match ups became the most exciting moments to watch. There were some flags thrown and there probably could have been more. I will say it was nice to see the aggression of the corners who were actually playing up on receivers and getting physical with their hands. Tyran Chappell was all over the place as Brantley was out with an injury. He had two solid pass break ups and was a difference maker in some incompletions too. There are still some questions and once we get a look at more contact play later in the summer we’ll see if the corners are still playing tight and physical.
The running game was really tough to gauge with no tackling. Kenneth Williams had a nice 67 yard sprint down the sideline that he managed to be untouched on. Hard to tell if that was a positive for him or a big negative on the defense for not laying a finger on him. Jaziun Patterson had the most carries at 5 for 19 yards.
I will say it was pretty great seeing Max Bullough on the sideline. The defensive staff in general was really animated and rowdy. It was nice to see sideline energy, the players vibing off of that and getting excited about big stops. It was a pretty small crowd turnout and that may have been due to the cold and rain but those that were there were studying the action. The Spartan faithful are looking for a turnaround and they are paying attention. We even got to see the debut of Zeke V and watch him nail his first catch. My kids hung around and stayed in line for some player autographs and they lucked out with the line they chose as they got to meet the likes of Hall and Alessio. I will say Alessio and Hall were pretty awesome with my kids, giving them the time of day and chatting for a bit. My son even told Zion Gist that the fireworks are his sister’s favorite part of the game and he can make those happen so he better score a lot. Gist replied with, I’ll get that first one just for her. It was nice of the players to take that time to sign and meet with the fans. I know it made a big difference with my kids as they have already hung the posters up in their bedrooms.
Next time we see some practices, it gets even realer. I think we are going to see a very different type of team out there this fall. Will it be one that wins? Maybe, maybe not. It will be a team that sets the tone to turn the program around as the energy did not feel like a team that wants to plunge further into obscurity.
