Pigskin Ponderings

With a flurry of basketball news (team awards: good; signing a point guard: great!) out of the way, I need to put a bow on spring football with some thoughts left over from the weekend’s Sonny Holland Classic. Some random thoughts…

INJURIES = OPPORTUNITIES: For every player that misses time in during spring drills – and this year the list was lengthy – at least one other player, and often more than one, gains the opportunity to impress. Here is one man’s list of players that responded to opportunity this spring… with Darius Jones and Zach Coleman injured, sophomore walk-on Heath Howard was terrific in a primary role at cornerback, earning Most Improved Defensive Player honors; Denarius McGhee was terrific at quarterback, particularly once Cody Kempt’s spring ended with a knee tweak, but so was backup Cody Davies, who finished the spring getting reps as the number two and finished with a 6-for-10 effort in the finale; Everett Gilbert was hardly an unknown entering the spring, but he took advantage of the chance to enter a new role by playing some running back, and I’m excited to watch how the speedster is used and how he responds to that role in fall camp; with injury epidemics striking the running back and linebacker groups, Cody Kirk proved to be a battering ram back and Aleksei Grosulak stepped up as a physical presence in the middle of the defense; Zach Minter looks for all the world like the next wrecking force on MSU’s front four, and Kruiz Siewing looks like the program’s next small-school (he and his twin brother Kazz hail from Saco, and played football at Malta) star.

LEADERSHIP: One rite of spring I miss is the guessing game former Voice of the Cats Kris Atteberry and I engaged in about who the team’s captains would be coming out of spring ball. This year’s captains were no-brainers to all concerned, earning what Rob Ash characterized as “overwhelming” support from their teammates in entering the captaincy. Person extends the trend of the Bobcat offensive line serving as a leadership point on the team, Rider offers a cool and inspiring walk-on-to-captain tale, and the two give MSU a pair of senior captains from Montana who have done all the right things during their career, and who undoubtedly bring all the positive aspects of college athletics to their role. And make no mistake about it, these two guys have helped lead throughout their careers and would have done so no matter who had officially been elected captain. Congratulations, Michael and Mike – this was an honor well-earned.

WHAT WAS NEW NOW SEEMS OLD: It seems like just a few weeks ago that Brian Wright was MSU’s brand new offensive coordinator and uncertainty surrounded the Bobcat offense. Well, OK, that was true only a few weeks ago, but on concluding spring drills it’s clear that everything that was then new is now old hat. The changes in MSU’s offense are structural in nature – terminology, mostly – but that’s largely because Wright made a decision that will undoubtedly pay dividends in the fall. He reduced the players’ learning curve by jacking up his own. He took it upon himself to adapt to the MSU system in a large way, and what fans saw on the field looked different in only superficial ways. That the change was barely noticeable from the stands and the press box is a tribute to the Bobcat offensive players, but also to a veteran coach who put team success first.

WHERE’S EVERETT? It’s not exactly Mike Garrett running behind Jim Tyrer, but when MSU’s leading receiver Everett Gilbert lines up in the backfield, he offers a dynamic weapon. Gilbert displayed an increasing knack for finding holes from the running back position as the spring went, and continued to offer big-play possibilities whenever he touched the ball. Watching his role evolve and expand will be one of the fascinating developments of fall camp.

--Bill Lamberty, MSU SID