Weekly Answering your Michigan State Football Questions Column

  Answering your Michigan State Questions…  We started last week a weekly Saturday morning MSU football question and answer column. If you would

 

 

Answering your Michigan State Questions…

 

We started last week a weekly Saturday morning MSU football question and answer column. If you would like to contribute a question send it in at any time and we will use it. If for some reason your email is not used (and not answered by another email answer) we will respond to your question in a personal email back.

 

Hey Hondo,
I had a question regarding summer practices/workouts for the football team. Is there a rule against the players working out with each other over the summer while coaching contact with them is limited? Thanks.
J. Adam Briggs

 

Good morning and thanks for the email. There is no rule against it. Many players, while doing winter and post spring conditioning (prior to fall camp), do this. Although the NCAA limits coaching, this is a great time of growth and maturity. Often times you can get a feel for how guys are maturing by the time that they spend when coaches aren’t holding them accountable. This is also another point where captains rise to the top. Guys that do the extra work when they aren’t being watched earn respect from their teammates.

 

Hondo,
How much impact can Fonoti make on the O-line if he is not on the practice field until fall?
Thanks
Todd

 

Hi Todd. This is a great and insightful question. We at Spartan Nation have talked often about Fonoti as you know and when you listen to the coaches they have talked about his arrival. You are right in your ascertain about him not being on the MSU practice field. He is however practicing. Many people that live in the upper Midwest (I don’t know where you live) assume that junior college football is a joke. While in the upper Midwest it certainly is not good, out west and in the south it is extremely good. It is played at a very high level. Fonoti is a high motor and tough J.C. All American. He is daily working and practicing to get ready. If Dan France is not able to secure the spot he will get pushed. Fonoti is a high level player that I believe will fight for that starter spot from the moment he hits the ground in East Lansing.

 

Hondo

What is the story on Jared McGaha? It seems like he is a great player that can play all of the offensive line positions, but can’t create any separation and win a starter spot. What is the issue?

Kyle

 

Hi Kyle and that is an interesting question. McGaha is a high character young man and a great kid. He is tough and is one of the players you need to win a Big Ten title. You are right in that he can step in at any spot for an injured player and do well, very similar to Ethan Ruhland in that way. I am not sure if you remember but when Joel Foreman took the LG spot, McGaha was on his tail. There are two factors at play here and NONE of them are McGaha’s fault. #1 is that the level of talent has grown EXPONENTIALLY since McGaha arrived with Dantonio. The McGaha of today would have been a starter in the first two years of the Dantonio regime. The talent is so deep now that there are a lot of players fighting and battling. #2 Because Jared is so good at so many spots (similar to Ruhland), he hasn’t been able to settle at one spot and just become great there. He has never complained, never opened his mouth and pouted, he simply plays every position when asked and does it as a true Spartan. McGaha has one of the best attitudes ever and no matter if he wins a starting job or not this year, will leave MSU as one of my all time favorites. He is a quality person and if we had 105 players with his attitude and hard work team first attitude the Spartans would be holding up the national championship trophy this year.

 

Hondo

Travis Jackson has got a lot of press for his play at center. Are you surprised that he is doing so well? Prior to the spring there was some written and talked about with him, but not a lot.

Steve in Big Rapids

 

Hello Steve in Big Rapids

Great question. Travis is the exact kind of player I was talking about in the above Jared McGaha question. He is a super talented red shirt freshman above immense talent. He will be a true star before he leaves East Lansing. They knew Jackson was a young man with great talent. He is getting better every single day. He isn’t cocky, but his confidence is growing and he is earning trust. I will be stunned if he is the starting center when the season starts simply because of Treadwell being in front of him and he is playing well, while improving technique. I mentioned in a recent article how there is not one position on this MSU team that a starter could go down and this team would suffer. If he is the second string C or the first this is an example. He is a great player. He is just young. No doubt he is a star in the making.

 

Hondo

I know you love talking lineman, but I have a skill player question. How are Tony Lippett’s teammates taking him getting so much press? Is it causing trouble? I worry about chemistry.

William

 

William, that is a great question and the answer is that chemistry is good. This team has really continued the great chemistry of last year. They don’t mind because in practice and in scrimmages he is making them step back and say wow. This team isn’t a bunch of guys that feel entitled and are upset with young players pushing them. The 2009 team had issues with young players shining and the team had MAJOR chemistry issues. With 5th year seniors like Jared McGaha who simply root for the Spartans and not for themselves individually, as long as players like Lippett continue to amaze them, all is good.

 

 

Hey H.

I keep reading the scrimmage results and the comments and it sounds like Maxwell is really playing well. He had no interceptions in the last scrimmage and Cousins had three. Is there a QB controversy going on or a threat?

Nicki in Midland

 

Good morning Nicki. Being from Midland (as is Andrew Maxwell) this question isn’t a surprise. I am kidding of course, but that is a super question. Maxwell is a super QB. We have talked a lot lately that he could be the starter on nine of the twelve Big Ten teams THIS YEAR. Yet again, he is another player that would have started in the first two or even THREE years of the Mark Dantonio regime. He will not beat out Kirk Cousins this year, BUT if Cousins should get injured and miss two games he could possibly not relent the job. Like McGaha mentioned above, he is another team first guy and you hear no complaints. He respects Cousins and they have a great relationship. Is there a controversy? No way. Is he a threat to take Cousins job? Only by injury. That doesn’t change the fact that other than experience, in 2012 when he leads the Spartans on the field he won’t be lacking in ANY way.