Michigan State football: Offensive line needs to step up in Saturday scrimmage
EAST LANSING — With Michigan State football shuffling its second scrimmage to Saturday, offensive coordinator Jay Johnson pointed Thursday to some of the positives from the first scrimmage.
His offense did a good job protecting the ball and preventing turnovers, a primary goal of Mel Tucker’s program. The veterans mostly performed as expected.
The negatives? Some explosive plays, but not enough. Some situational development, but with plenty of room to improve.
DEPTH CHARTING: Spartans have QB pecking order behind Thorne — for now
ON THE LINE: How MSU navigates 'challenging' task of installing new OL
Johnson hopes some of the Spartans’ newer players take the next step Saturday, as the quest to define the “rep chart” Tucker preaches becomes clearer.
“I think you kind of find those certain situations where some of the younger guys got in that first live scrimmage and it didn't quite go as planned,” Johnson said. “They needed to grow through that a little bit. I thought the veteran guys were on point, but I'm looking for those younger guys, hopefully through another week of preparation, to take a big step.”
Perhaps no group is more critical for that development than the offensive line.
MSU enters the season having to replace five linemen who combined for 213 games played and 136 starts from 2017-21.
Left guard J.D. Duplain (23 starts) and right guard Matt Carrick (18 starts) return with the most experience. Center Nick Samac started 10 games in 2019-20. Left tackle Jarrett Horst started the first eight games last season after transferring from Arkansas State, and center/guard Brian Greene made 10 starts at Washington State before arriving this season via transfer.
The other offensive linemen are relatively inexperienced; their highlight was right tackle Spencer Brown making his first career start against Pitt in the Peach Bowl. MSU had significant issues with injuries and outbound transfers during the spring that limited the numbers up front and altered practices. That also gave other young players, such as sophomores Dallas Fincher and Brandon Baldwin and redshirt freshmen Ethan Boyd and Kevin Wigenton, more chances for reps.
“We were pretty maligned there in the spring, so some of those guys got an awful lot of reps,” Johnson said. “I think the likes of Brandon Baldwin and Ethan Boyd are starting to show some signs (at tackle). Still, again in my opinion, they have to grow, but that's part of the process that we're going through. So I feel strongly about them. Even the interior guys, the addition of Brian Greene has been good for us — he's kind of been all over the place. One guy that has really done a nice job is Dallas Fincher. Shoot, we play him at center, guard, tackle. He's able to do it, he handles it from a mental capacity and is doing some positive things.
“So I think collectively as a group, we're making strides there. And some of those young guys are gonna have to step up and play.”
Johnson pointed to Samac, a fourth-year senior, and Carrick, a sixth-year senior coming off a knee injury that cost him the final six games of last season, as the emerging leaders of the room.
“I think they're beginning to jell, and Nick is kind of taking charge of that unit,” Johnson said. “You kind of have a little bit as the center, you're kind of the vocal point of it, with those other veteran guys' help. … I think there’s some very talented young people, but they got to be able to do it and do it consistently. And it's probably more than anything from the mental capacity. And so that's what needs to happen, that’s what needs to grow.”
WR update
One place where veteran depth isn’t an issue is wide receiver, though freshman quarterback Katin Houser said star wideout Jayden Reed has been in and out of practice with injuries during camp.
That opened some opportunities up for Houser’s former high school teammate, Germie Bernard. The freshman and former four-star recruit, who enrolled in January, continues to battle with sophomore Keon Coleman for the No. 3 job behind Reed and junior Tre Mosley.
“We push each other every single day,” Bernard said Thursday about battling Coleman. “We both tell each other what we need to work on and what works. He teaches me a lot, and I teach him a lot. And we just grow off each other.”
AIR IT OUT: Passing attack goes beyond Payton Thorne-Jayden Reed combo
FROM ILLINOIS TO EAST LANSING: Daniel Barker sees MSU as next step to NFL.
While both Johnson and Tucker mentioned the development of freshman Tyrell Henry, a three-star recruit from Roseville, little has been said about four-star Dearborn Fordson product Antonio Gates Jr. He is one of the young players Johnson hopes will show growth Saturday.
“Antonio Gates — very talented, very talented. He shows flashes, but he's got to continue to take steps,” Johnson said. “And that's just with his complete game. He knows that, and he does a pretty good job off the field of trying to learn it. … But I like him as a player. He shows some willingness and physicality and some good skills.”
Running ahead
Johnson coached new MSU running backs coach Effrem Reed at Louisiana, then worked with him as a graduate analyst the past two seasons.
When William Peagler left for Florida, Johnson convinced Reed to return from a job at Georgia Southern he had accepted a few weeks earlier to lead the Spartans’ running back room.
“Effrem, he's a great coach,” junior running back Jordon Simmons said. “He's done a great job so far after he took over the running back room. Just overall, he's teaching us new things for the season.”
Though Reed has plenty of work ahead to help find MSU’s replacement for Kenneth Walker III, Johnson is pleased with what he has seen so far from his new assistant and his knowledge of the players he’s working with.
IN THE BACKFIELD: MSU's RB transfers may be 'thunder and lightning'
ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH: A 'new chapter' at Michigan State was easy choice for Colorado transfer Jarek Broussard
“I had a chance to coach Effrem in college, so I knew what he was made of,” Johnson said. “Just really hard-working, very detailed. That's a room that I wanted him to be in, because I knew he's been there. He knows what that room is all about, and I knew he could handle it. And I think right now, he's developed really good relationships with those guys.”
Johnson pointed to transfers Jalen Berger (Wisconsin) and Jarek Broussard (Colorado) as the top two in a five- or six-player battle for carries. He also singled out Simmons in the deep group that includes seniors Elijah Collins and Harold Joiner and redshirt freshman Davion Primm.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football: Offensive line needs to step up Saturday
