Michigan State football: Young secondary learning, growing toward key test vs. Washington
EAST LANSING — Michigan State football’s revamped secondary passed its first test Friday. Dillon Tatum and Co. will get a second exam Saturday against Richmond.
All of it remains a learning curve for the midterm exam coming up against Michael Penix Jr. and the explosive Washington passing attack.
In their season-opening 31-7 win over Central Michigan, the Spartans flashed promise in limiting quarterback Bert Emanuel Jr. to 87 yards on 11 of 17 passing. His longest completion went for 17 yards, though the Chippewas rarely attempted to stretch the field vertically.
Secondary coach Harlon Barnett saw plenty of what he wanted from his defensive backs — fast, physical and aggressive play.
“I thought the guys flew around,” Barnett said Tuesday. “We're constantly talking to them about running through contact, which is one of my favorite things of football. Guys going full speed and through contact. We had several guys doing that. It was very encouraging and fired me up.”
Yet CMU’s lone touchdown came through the air and showed an area of concern going into the season — communication — remains a work in progress in the post-Xavier Henderson era.
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The Chippewas’ Chris Parker ran a crossing route out of the slot and slipped between linebacker Cal Haladay and safety Jaden Mangham. They gave chase, but Parker caught a wide-open 12-yard strike from Emanuel in the back of the end zone before junior cornerback Charles Brantley could try and recover to help.
“The one touchdown they scored, they had never shown before,” safety Dillon Tatum said Tuesday. “That was just a little different. But we went over it, and now we're prepared for something like that.”
Still, the Spartans’ potential was on display, particularly with three sophomores drawing starting assignments to begin their second season. And CMU managed just 23 yards passing on 13 attempts after halftime.
Tatum, who made his first start to close last season at Penn State, made five tackles with a pass breakup, looking quick and aggressive in coverage opposite Brantley. Mangham, who started twice last season, and first-time starter Malik Spencer combined for 15 tackles at safety.
Veteran Angelo Grose led MSU with two pass breakups, one of them a deflection at the line of scrimmage that led to Haladay’s third-quarter interception, and the senior produced six tackles from the nickelback position.
Barnett complimented the tandem of Mangham and Spencer for how rapidly they have come along as leaders in the back.
“They're accelerating now. They do a really good job, those two guys work well together,” said Barnett, himself a former MSU defensive back. “A little analogy I use with the guys, I say the safeties are the parents and the corners are the kids. So the parents gotta be on the same page, and then they tell the kids what to do. And they're good parents.”
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The Spartans’ secondary had just one interception in 2022, a pick-6 by Brantley against Ohio State, and a Football Bowl Subdivision worst two for the season. Brantley and veteran Angelo Grose each got their hands on potential picks Friday but couldn’t hang on, a stat Barnett says he and the defensive staff charts.
“When we miss an intersection that we feel like we got our hands on it and should have caught it, we don't count it as a PBU. We count it as a missed opportunity,” Barnett said. “So that's a minus on their grade sheet. Yeah, that's a minus — we want the ball.”
Next up is Richmond (0-1), which like CMU broke in a new starting quarterback with a penchant to run in its home-opening loss Saturday to Morgan State.
Kyle Wickersham, a 6-foot-3, 225-pound sophomore, got sacked five times and finished with 39 yards on 21 carries after losing 29 yards on those sacks. He was 23 of 30 passing for just 169 yards, no touchdowns and an interception. Wickersham had a 32-yard completion to receiver Ja'Vion Griffin late in the loss while 16 of his completions went for 7 yards or fewer.
“He's not as fast and as loose as Emanuel,” Tatum said of Wickersham. “But he is big, and he will put his shoulder down on you and try to run through you. No question he's good football player.”
Ultimately, these first two weeks build up to the home showdown with No. 8 Washington, which opened its season Saturday with 56-19 blowout of Boise State, in which Heisman Trophy candidate Penix threw for 450 yards and five touchdowns. And Penix, an Indiana transfer, has been a nemesis for MSU’s secondary for much of the past five years.
He completed 20 straight passes in his first career road start at Spartan Stadium as a redshirt freshman for the Hoosiers, finishing 33 for 42 for 286 yards and three touchdowns. He returned to East Lansing in 2020 and went 25 for 38 for 320 yards and two touchdowns for an Indiana victory. He was injured at IU in 2021, but he transferred after that season and dissected the Spartans again last September, completing 24 of 40 passes for 397 yards with four touchdowns in the Huskies’ 39-28 victory in Seattle.
That rematch remains two weeks away, however, giving Barnett and his understudies time to cram in a few more lessons before trying to solve MSU’s Penix problem.
“Can I be honest with you? I didn't even watch the Washington game. I'm dead serious,” Barnett said. “We got Richmond. That focus is on Richmond. That's where we are right now, and let's go.
“We'll be ready. Or we'll be prepared, how about that? We'll be prepared.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.
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Next up: Spiders
Matchup: Michigan State (1-0) vs. Richmond (0-1).
Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. Saturday; Spartan Stadium, East Lansing.
TV/radio: Big Ten Network, WJR-AM (760).
Line: None.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football: Young secondary learning, growing
