The Michigan State football depth chart was released Tuesday morning before Mark Dantonio’s press conference and there was one common thread amongst those listed in the starting line up. Experience. For the first time since before the game against the University of Michigan on Oct. 17, the Spartans don’t have any freshmen’s name in bold (starters) on the depth chart (with the exception of LJ Scott and Madre London as the OR starters at RB, although Holmes has started multiple weeks in a row and seems on pace to start this week again). Montae Nicholson had arguably the best game of his career last week, and is listed as a starter against Ohio State.(Photo credit: Mike Carter/USA Today) True freshmen Grayson Miller and Khari Willis started each of the past three weeks at safety, but after having rough starts to the game against Maryland, Demetrious Cox rotated back from cornerback to safety — where he is more effective — Hicks rotated into the vacant cornerback spot and Montae Nicholson, seemingly, earned his starting spot back with a game high nine tackles and an interception one week ago. However, even though no freshman are listed on the starting depth chart, Dantonio says everyone will have to rotate in. “I think we can go a number of different directions there, we will look and see how people practice throughout the week to make a determination on who’s going where,” said Dantonio. “I also think that they’re a no huddle offense so we’re going to play our guys, you’re going to see different guys rolling in there. So, the most important thing is that we tackle well, stay fresh and cover, play the ball down the field, so we’ve got to be able to do those things and do them well.” Fifth year senior linebacker Darien Harris is playing in the final road game of his career and likes the momentum his team has built going into it. Darien Harris has been an unsung hero of the MSU defense in 2015. “I think it’s key to roll with the guys that have been playing well,” said Harris. “The combination we say at the end of the week last week, they were very successful out there and played extremely well. But I think everybody in the backend played extremely well last week and we challenge them as a defense to come out and play with confidence, play loose, have fun out there, don’t think too much and make plays.” In last year’s matchup, the Spartan secondary was exposed like never before. Yielding 300 yards and three touchdowns through the air, in addition to 268 yards and four touchdowns on the ground, MSU had its worse defensive game of the season against the Buckeyes last year. …
Continue Reading: Michigan State Football: Spartans using most experienced secondary against Buckeyes
