Football team to battle in intrasquad game

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If one team heavily beats up on the other during Saturday’s intrasquad spring game, MSU football head coach Mark Dantonio won’t be pleased.

Sure, watching half his team fly across the field for big hits and clutch plays is exceptional, no doubt about it. But at the end of the day, he has another half to account for — the part of the team that just had its confidence extremely lowered.

Sophomore linebacker Greg Jones, a Green team starter, said that won’t be an issue, as both teams are evenly matched with potential to put on a show for the fans who make their way into Spartan Stadium at 1:30 p.m.

“My mentality is to be consistent and be a leader on the field,” said Jones, the draft’s No. 1 overall pick. “It’s seemed pretty even to me. It’s going to be fun — this is something we need, something a little bit different. You play better, you play differently, you’re refreshed.”

But on Saturday for Jones and his gang, it’s not “Go Green, Go White” — it’s just “Go Green!”

Senior running back Javon Ringer, who will represent the Green team but sit out while recovering from shoulder surgery, said his team may have made a mistake when drafting its offensive line before anything else.

“Me personally, I wish we would have went for the (defensive) line first, but I think we have a good overall team,” he said.

And then there are athletes like senior safety Otis Wiley, who couldn’t anticipate the spring game more than he has during the course of the week.

“This is more of a showcase now — we’re going live but it’s just exciting for everyone to come out,” he said. “During the spring we are just banging each other in practice and getting better as a team as a whole, so this game is gonna be fun. You get a little taste of what you’ll see in the fall.”

And as far as showing the crowd a little something — such as an interception for big return yards — “Oh yeah, I’m gonna go up and get one,” Wiley said with a big grin. “I got to, I just got to.”

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