Michigan State Football Update: Spartans Scrimmage in Spartan Stadium
The #5 Michigan State Spartansare in the midst of spring football. Spartan Nation will be there with plenty of coverage tomorrow for both practice and pro day. But here is the official report on today's first scrimmage in Spartan Stadium of the spring courtesy of the MSU SID.
EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan State football team held its first scrimmage of spring practice on Thursday afternoon under sunny skies and temperatures in the low-40s at Spartan Stadium.
The scrimmage, which utilized a modified scoring system, was 60 plays long (including special teams) and won by the defense, 12-3. The Spartans spent the first portion of the day on the outdoor practice fields behind the Duffy Daugherty Building before scrimmaging in Spartan Stadium.
“You have to watch the film to see how everybody played, but the positive thing is you step back and let people play,” said Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio. “We have some young quarterbacks and we let them go today. They made some throws and they made some mistakes, but that’s all part of it. I thought it was a good day today. We practiced and scrimmaged both, so we got a lot done.
“You come over to the stadium and let them play. The coaches are off the field and there’s no do-overs. There’s referees, you pipe in some crowd noise, and everything is game like. So we try and simulate game-like situations the best we can for them. I think that’s the biggest thing and how you grow the best. You put pressure on them and put them in different situations, or allow the situations to take place, rather than script them.”
Michigan State will host its annual Pro Day on campus tomorrow (Friday, March 23) before returning to the practice field later in the afternoon for its eighth workout of spring ball.
“Pro Day will be a little smaller for us this year, but that’s not a bad thing, because it means most of your guys are back,” said Dantonio. “We have five guys working out tomorrow (Brian Allen, Demetrius Cooper, Chris Frey, Gerald Holmes and Brett Scanlon), and that’s the fewest we’ve ever had, but they’ve been good players for us and a lot of NFL teams will be here represented. It should be a great day.”
