3&Out: offensive line was better than expected in Michigan State Spring Showcase
East Lansing, Mich. – Spring Football is a wrap at Michigan State following a 31-24 victory by the offense over the defense in the Spring Showcase.
Continue below for three takeaways from the Spring Showcase in a spring football 3&Out:
1. Michigan State o-line exceeded expectations
The Michigan State defense won the first two scrimmages this spring and did so decisively based on the intel we have been able to gather. So, it came as some surprise that the Michigan State offense played as well as it did in the Spring Showcase. The primary reason why the Spartans played well on offense was the consistently solid play of the Spartan offensive line.
Afterward, head coach Jonathan Smith indicated that the Spring Showcase was the best version of the Spartan o-line that he had seen over the course of 15 spring football practices. That sentiment was echoed by starting safety Dylan Tatum, who gave a shoutout to the o-line during interviews after the Spring Showcase.
Offensive line coach and run-game coordinator Jim Michalczik has the reputation of being one of the best offense line coaches in college football. I’ve been impressed with Michalczik based on the glimpses I’ve seen in practice periods that we’ve been allowed to watch this spring. On Saturday, however, I was impressed with the overall run-game operation, and that is something that I haven’t been able to say in a long time.
It takes time for the run-game operation to gel, and Michigan State isn’t needs to be in the fall to run the football on its own terms. That’s okay. But the Spartans did take a significant step in that direction in the Spring Showcase. The timing off this developmental jump by the o-line is important because it gives the group momentum going into the next phase of the off-season.
Michigan State did a far better job run blocking than I expected. And it was pretty darn refreshing to record a post-game V-Cast without referencing some type of miscue in the run-game operation by tight ends. Tight ends may not have caught many passes in this game, but the group did its job as blockers and that is a huge deal for this offense.
The Spartans lack depth on the offensive line, without question. But even the walk-ons looked pretty good as run-blockers in the Spring Showcase. Guys like Jacob Merritt and Cooper Terpstra looked the part out there. As far as the first-string guys go, it was good to see Tanner Miller, Ashton Lepo, Geno VanDeMark, Kristian Phillips, and Brandon Baldwin working together and playing well as a unit. There were some plays that the ones would probably like to have back, but overall this was a solid showing by the group.
2. Chiles was better than his numbers might indicate
I received a text message from a buddy of mine after the Spring Showcase asking what was wrong with Aidan Chiles, who completed 7-of-14 passes in Spartan Stadium. I responded that nothing was wrong with Chiles. He played well in the Spring Showcase.
Truthfully, I was impressed by what I saw from the Michigan State starter.
That’s not to say that back-up quarterback Tommy Schuster didn’t have a solid performance as well. He was good, something that Chiles himself acknowledged afterward. The fact that Schuster was good doesn’t surprise me in the least bit. He has as much experience as any quarterback in the country as the all-time leading passer at North Dakota. He was also playing against the second-string defense
Chiles went against the ones. He had a good day. He didn’t turn the ball over. He threw a good-looking touchdown pass to Nathan Carter. He showed some serious wheels on a play where he got free down the sideline on a quarterback scramble.
Chiles is a young quarterback with a lot of growing to do and tremendous upside in the Michigan State program. He has a great personality, and that should help him handle the pressure of playing on a stage as bright as the Big Ten. The Spartans are fortunate to have one of the best young quarterbacks in college football leading their offense. Michigan State is also lucky to have one of the most experienced back-ups in the game in Schuster.
After watching the Spring Showcase today, I have full confidence that Michigan State is sitting in as good a spot as they can be at quarterback. That is wild, considering that when Smith took this job, there wasn’t a single scholarship quarterback in the program.
I was also impressed with the maturity of Chiles during post-game interviews. When he was asked about true freshman Nick Marsh, Chiles compared Marsh to himself a year ago, and also committed to taking the young receiver under his wing and ensuring that he gains a functional understanding of the Spartan offense.
Chiles is still a young football player. There are, however, some old-soul qualities to him that give him intangibles beyond elite athleticism and arm talent.
3. Michigan State needs to add depth on the interior d-line
Michigan State is solid on the interior defensive line with the trio of Derrick Harmon, D’Quan Douse, and Maverick Hansen, but the Spartans need to reinforce that group with some help from the NCAA transfer portal, after losing Simeon Barrow last week.
It looks like the Spartans will add upwards of two interior defensive linemen from the NCAA transfer portal. There is really no way around it. Middle Tennessee State transfer Quindarius Dunnigan can play both inside and outside, but the Spartans also have needs at defensive end and Dunnigan showed some solid potential off the edge in the Spring Showcase.
When we interviewed defensive line coach Legi Suiauonoa earlier this spring, I asked him if Michigan State had become overly dependent on the portal for interior defensive linemen and needed to get back to recruiting and developing four-year prospects at d-tackle. He indicated that the Spartans did need to do a better job of recruiting high school defensive tackles, and that was a priority moving forward. He also acknowledged that breaking the cycle of portal dependency isn’t something that happens overnight. That was before Barrow jumped to the portal, making it doubly important that the Spartans get some big-bodied physically mature defensive tackles into the program as quickly as possible. The portal is the only way the Spartans can adequately fill the hole in their roster created by Barrow’s departure.
To me, one of the biggest fallacies of the Mel Tucker era at Michigan State was the belief that recruiting was somehow strong. Any staff that only signs two high school defensive tackles in four recruiting classes is failing at their job.
Those interior d-line signees were Derrick Harmon and Alex Vansumeren. Harmon was a steal in the Class of 2021, and I still can’t figure out how recruiting analysts missed the boat as badly as they did on him. Vansumeren was the highest rated defensive recruit in Michigan State’s 2022 recruiting class as a consensus Top 5 in-state prospect as a senior at Essexville Garber. Vansumeren saw the field in four games as a true freshman and missed the entire 2023 season with an injury. He was held out of practice this spring with a lower body injury.
It is unfortunate that Vansumeren was unavailable during spring football. The Spartan need him practicing and developing to bolster depth at a critical position on defense.
The addition of Douse, a former Georgia Tech standout was an important off-season acquisition for the Michigan State defensive line. Douse has been solid for Michigan State this spring and was he good in the Spring Showcase. He was the defensive player credited with a tackle for loss in the red-zone that gummed up a solid short-yardage scoring opportunity for the Spartan offense.
That said, the interior d-line needs reinforcement. If the Spartans are able add two more defensive tackles like Douse, they will be able to overcome the loss of Barrow. Finding two d-tackles, or even one as good as Douse will be a challenge for Michigan State.
The portal can help Michigan State with an immediate need at defensive tackle. For the long-term health of the program, however, the Spartans need to start recruiting and signing high school defensive tackles, or big-bodied athletes that could grow into that position.
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