EAST LANSING, Mich. — Defense, defense, defense.
If there was one thing that could be extrapolated from the Spartans annual spring game, it was that this is still a defense-heavy team.
The 14-2 final in favor of the White team looked more like a lopsided baseball score than a football tally, but offense was not so easy to come by on Saturday.
The game was stuck at 2-0 in favor of the Green team until seven seconds remained in the first half.
In front of a crowd of 21,000, Connor Cook completed a 3-yard touchdown pass to Andre Sims Jr. in the closing moments of the second quarter to break the scoreboard monotony.
The pass capped a nine play, 97-yard drive, which represented the first semblance of gridiron continuity on the day. If only to further cement the defensive supremacy, the drive was highlighted by a 45-yard completion to cornerback — yes, cornerback — Johnny Adams.
"I'm keeping that in my back pocket," White team coach Terrence Samuel. "(Adams is) one of our smartest players, and one of our most athletic players, and it was just an opportunity during the spring game to throw some extra wrinkles out there."
The Green team crawled out to their early 2-0 lead when William Gholston tackled Nick Hill in the end zone after the White team was buried at its own 2 by a Mike Sadler punt.
Sadler's accurate foot left the White team with a starting field position inside their own 10-yard-line on three consecutive possessions.
Fortunately for the White squad, however, two of those three possessions ended in touchdowns (the other was Gholston's safety).
Hill was the feature back for both teams — Le’Veon Bell and Larry Caper had just five carries between them after they were both dinged up in the early going — and he pushed the White team's lead to 14-2 after a 32-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
"It was a stretch to the left side," Hill said about his touchdown. "My fullback was out there blocking in front of me, but I got bottled up so I went to cut it up and there was just one big pile.
"I kept my feet moving and I felt like something was happening. I knew I wasn't going down, guys were just sliding off of me. So I peeked to the outside, and I saw there was a huge hole and exploded through it."
What was a nice moment for Hill, could have been slightly precarious for the Spartans. On the same touchdown run, Gholston — the star of this Spartans defense — remained down after the play.
He was helped off the field, but did leave under his own power. Head coach Mark Dantonio said he was fine after the game.
"Will nicked his knee up a little bit, you know, bruised it," Dantonio said.
The coach later joked, "But I'm not sure if his feelings were hurt, or his knee hurt. I think Nick just slipped underneath him and got out into the open.
"Nick Hill has big play ability, there's no question about that."
The fix is in
No, of course there wasn't a fix or anything of that sort (that we know of) in a mere spring game, but two Spartans played for both teams, and both performed quite unevenly.
Hill had 95 yards on the game, but 76 of those came on 14 carries for the White team (including runs of 32 and 25 yards). He averaged 5.4 yards per carry for the White team, and just 3.8 for the Green team.
Cook, meanwhile, completed 20-of-45 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown and an interception. His production for the White team (11 of 19, 134 yards and a TD) far outmatched his work for the Green team (9 of 26, 160 yards and an interception).
"I was disappointed," Green team coach Brad Salem said. "I was disappointed that they did it all for the White team. But we know about Nick's big play ability, you're seeing something that we see every day."
News and Notes
— Jerel Worthy, the first Michigan-based player to be selected in the 2012 NFL Draft, was at Saturday's game. The former Spartan DT, who was picked by the Packers with the 51st overall pick on Friday, was interviewed on the sideline midway through the first half.
— Offense is a concern, and it should be, but kicking should be as well. Dan Conroy, a fifth-year senior, missed his only two field-goal tries on attempts of 26 and 47 yards.
— The highlight of the first half was the 45-yard pass-and-catch from Cook to Adams. Adams broke clean off the line, gave himself a couple yards of separation and then caught Cook's cleanest, deep ball of the day over his left shoulder, registering the games longest play and simultaneously confusing everyone in attendance (Adams wears the same number 5 as receiver DeAnthony Arnett).
— Caper, who owns the second slot on the depth chart behind Bell, was limited to one carry for 1 yard because what is thought to be a mild leg injury. Bell was limited to just the first series, leaving Hill to pick up the load for both teams.
— Sparty, always the biggest guy on the field, checked in at running back for a play with 2:26 to go in the first quarter. The consummately jovial Grecian could use a bit of work on his ball-security as he fumbled his lone carry inside his own 5. The play was later overturned — or it never counted. It's up to the imagination.
