Opponent Notes: Michigan State's Spring Game

Some people say, "No news is good news." While that may be true in some cases, it's certainly not true with Michigan State.

There was no on the field news to report on during spring ball for them because they had no open practices and gave no access to the media. The first chance anyone got to see them this spring was the actual spring game.

The reason for the no news was the ongoing investigation into three players who were allegedly involved in a sexual assault. There is also a staff member that has been suspended this spring that is somehow connected to that investigation. The incident has stained their program and in order to protect the identities of the players who are accused while the investigation continues, head coach Mark Dantonio elected to not make any practices public or have his coaches or players give interviews.

There has been no news to report on the team because of that and has led to wild speculation as to who or who isn't involved. So when Michigan State played their spring game yesterday, many were hoping for some more clarity on everything that has been going on based on who was playing in this game and who wasn't.

Unfortunately, yesterday only made things murkier. 15 players were not dressed for the game and there was no indication whether these players were suspended, injured, or missing for some other reason. Included in those 15 were wide receiver Donnie Corley, defensive tackle Kyonta Stallworth, safety Demetric Vance, safety Kenney Lyke, and defensive end Josh King.

Many of these players were expected to have big roles for Spartans this season, but right now the only thing clear with their futures is that their status is unknown.

Without knowing what will happen with those players, it's probably better to get into the ones who did play on Saturday by sharing some notes from the game.

- Two players who weren't in uniform were mentioned as injured. Running back LJ Scott had off season surgery according to Dantonio after the game and quarterback Messiah deWeaver was mentioned by the game analyst as having been injured as well.

- Quarterback Brian Lewerke appears to be the starter for them and he had an up and down day. The former Elite 11 Finals participant made a few really nice throws, but also sailed his share as well. What has to be concerning to them is that he wasn't really pressured and was missing throws from a clean pocket.

He threw two interceptions on the day and both were on him where he flat out missed his receiver.

- If for some reason Scott isn't healthy, they should be fine in the backfield next season with Gerard Holmes and Madre London. Both of them didn't have much room to operate in this game as the offensive line struggled to move the interior of the defensive line off the ball, but London made the most of his opportunities.

He had one terrific run where he made a defender miss in the backfield and bounced it outside for about 40 yards.

- If Corley isn't around, they'll still have some weapons on the outside. Trishton Jackson was a 4 star receiver prospect that was in the same class as Corley and was the most impressive player in this game. He beat starting cornerback Vayante Copeland deep on a double move to start the day and kept producing throughout. His best play didn't even count as he was called for a push off, but made a spectacular one-handed catch along the sideline.

Jackson appears to be a lot bigger now than he was before his senior year of high school when I watched him at the Sound Mind Sound Body camp in Detroit. At that time he was a high school quarterback who had offers from MAC schools, but he dominated at receiver that day and it helped him earn an offer from Michigan State and caused him to shoot up the rankings. He looked better than Corley did at that camp and he may end up being better than Corley in the long term.

The other weapon on the outside that Notre Dame fans should worry about is Justin Layne. He is a starting cornerback for them, but played receiver as well. Another former 4 star, he can do it all. He's a physical tackler and has big time speed. I think they are going to need him at corner, but I'm sure they will use him on offense as well.

- Copeland has been a solid player for them at corner, but he was not great in this game. He got beat deep by Jackson and Layne and didn't look sharp out there.

- One surprise was a true freshman corner playing with the first team defense. Josiah Scott was not a big time recruit, but the early enrollee looks like he should be a solid player for them. He is smaller, though, and I would assume the Notre Dame staff will look to feast on his inexperience if he gets matched up against Equanimeous St. Brown or another big target for the Irish.

- I wasn't blown away by the linebackers even though I know Chris Frey is returning as their leading tackler on the inside. I don't think he is at the level of some of the others they have had play there in recent years.

The one guy who stood out to me was Andrew Dowell. He plays as a space backer for them. He jumped a slant route and almost had a pick six if he could have held on to the football. He also showed out by slipping blocks and finding his way into the backfield to make some plays.

- I'm not sure about the depth on the defensive line for them, but I think the starting front is going to be very good. I was very impressed with defensive tackles Mike Panasiuk and Raequan Williams in this game.

Panasiuk is a big strong kid who is only going to be a sophomore. He might be better suited to play one technique in the long run, but he is so stout at the point of attack. He is very tough to move off the ball and did an outstanding job versus the double team.

Williams could end up being one of the best nose guards Notre Dame plays all year. He has improved leaps and bounds from early last season. He showed flashes of being disruptive and batted down a pass that he almost ended up intercepting. Him and Panasiuk make their linebackers so much better. Neither of them have the explosive ability that Malik McDowell had, but not many do.

Many likely remember Fort Wayne's Auston Robertson as a Notre Dame target that the Irish lost out on. He was a very raw, but talented, prospect coming out of high school and he appears to be putting things together now. He showed some nice ability off the edge and is much stronger versus the run that I expected him to be so early in his career.

They need him to develop as a pass rusher, though, because the line didn't generate much pressure on their own. Most of the pressure came from the few blitzes (the inside cross blitz that Sparty loves so much) that they ran.

- Not surprisingly, there wasn't much scheme stuff to make note of. It was a spring game after all.

The overall impression I came away with based on this game is that they are going to be a relatively young team with most of their best players being in their second year. That's probably a good thing for the Irish, but many of those sophomores were big time recruits that have a ton of talent.

They'll need those recruit to carry them and will have to get a lot stronger on the offensive line based on what I saw today.