Michigan State defenders have the back of counterparts on offense

East Lansing, Mich. – On a day where the Michigan State offense had 27 first downs and just nine points to show for it as the result of five turnovers, team leaders from the Spartan defense made it clear to their teammates on the other side of the football – we have your back.

“Everybody is on the same page, and everybody wants to win,” senior linebacker Aaron Brule said.

During last weekend’s game against Maryland, Brule and other defensive leaders did their best to provide encouragement and keep their offense teammates upbeat.

“I am really close with those guys, and they are this close,” Brule said. “They talk about it on the sideline. They tell us that they are going to score. We are confident no matter what goes on. We are confident in them to score points.”

Michigan State defensive players understand what it’s like to struggle. One week prior to putting up a strong showing in a 31-9 loss to Maryland in the Big Ten opener, the Spartan defense was on the hook for a school record 713 yards of total offense against a Washington team that leads the FBS in total offense.

“We try to (keep them up) when we aren’t talking about our adjustments,” said junior linebacker Cal Haladay. “Our job is to get the ball back to the offense. Whatever happens with them doesn’t matter. We have to give it back to them so they can go down the field and score.”

Although they are disappointed with their performance against Maryland, members of the Michigan State offense are not discouraged. They believe that they have the playmakers to get the job done on offense if they execute better than they did against Maryland.

“We know we can move the ball and we know that we can have a great offense and do what we have to do to score,” running back Nathan Carter said. “We have to execute. We have to do our job, and finish out the long drives that we are having. It wears defenses down and help our defense out. At the end of the day, we have to do what we have to do to finish those drives so that they are seven-point plays and not three-point plays.”

Veterans like Brule also understand that Michigan State must band together for any chance at salvaging its season and put a winning product on the field. Refusing to fracture is the only way forward.

“Obviously, we’ve got a long going on,” Brule said. “We’ve had sudden change on and off the field. We are just really staying together and getting even closer. We are doing more team bonding things, just making sure that we are staying close throughout this whole process.”

Michigan State players have held several meeting to gauge the pulse of their teammates in the two weeks that have passed since Mel Tucker was suspended without pay following a win over Richmond in Week 2.

“We have team meetings and if anybody has something to say, or anybody is asked about how they feel, they literally just let it all out, no matter what it is,” Brule said. “Guys are definitely still bought into the program.”

That sentiment is echoed by Carter.

“Guys in the locker believe in Coach Barnett and believe in each other,” Carter said. “We want to stay unified. We want to stay together and we want to fight through all of this.”

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