Win the trenches

Be it rushing or protecting the quarterback, MSU’s offensive and defensive lines were pass-happy against Iowa. With the ball in their hands, the Spartans’ offensive line has given up two sacks through six games, one of which came Saturday when Iowa defensive tackle Mitch King brought MSU senior quarterback Brian Hoyer down in the third quarter. Despite the single blemish, Hoyer has been able to set up camp, pitch a tent and start a bonfire in the pocket this year, and in no game was it more evident than against a strong Hawkeyes front seven.

“It’s kind of hard to get used to, because you can just sit back there and look and find things,” Hoyer said. “There’s definitely a lot of time to throw and two sacks in six games is pretty impressive.”

The MSU offensive line has yielded the fourth-fewest sacks per game in the nation and the fewest sacks among teams that have played six games.

“When we run the ball, we have to be tough and when we throw the ball we also have to be tough,” senior guard Roland Martin said. “It is something that I think we have improved on, and we need to keep it that way as our opponents are only going to get tougher.”

Martin’s counterparts on the other side of the ball have picked up their production after three sacks of Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi on Saturday.

“Pass rushing is a mind-set and today we had that mind-set,” senior defensive tackle Justin Kershaw said. “Overall, as a defensive line, it’s the best game we have played.”

Junior defensive end Trevor Anderson, billed as a possible replacement for last year’s playmaker at defensive end, Jonal Saint-Dic, snapped out of a funk with two and a half sacks and four tackles for loss Saturday. With five sacks in six games, Anderson’s sack average ranks 19th in the nation.

“Any time you can get a big play, it’s a confidence builder,” said Anderson, who sat out last season after transferring from Cincinnati with MSU head coach Mark Dantonio. “You say, ‘Man, I’ve got to get another one, and another one and another one.’”

Salvaging the secondary

If you told Dantonio at the season’s start that his secondary in the fourth quarter of a tight Big Ten game would feature freshman Johnny Adams, sophomore Marcus Hyde, junior Jeremy Ware and junior Danny Fortener, he’d probably wonder if another team kidnapped his starting defensive backfield and held it for ransom.

With in-game injuries to senior safety Otis Wiley and sophomore cornerback Chris L. Rucker, as well as a pregame sickness that caused junior cornerback Ross Weaver to need intravenous fluids, the quartet of backups held down the secondary and had bone-jarring hits that raised emotion on the field.

“We rotate in during practice, so I wasn’t really worried,” Fortener said of the combination of backups. “As long as we all know what we need to do, it doesn’t really matter.”

Sneaking by

Needing less than a yard for a first down to put away the Hawkeyes with one minute to play, Hoyer lined up behind junior center Joel Nitchman for a quarterback sneak. Nitchman snapped the ball and Hoyer fumbled forward, putting the ball on the ground and possibly the game into overtime with an Iowa recovery.

At the bottom of a pile of green, white, black and yellow was the youngest Spartan on the offensive line, redshirt freshman guard Joel Foreman, reaching and pulling in the live ball for an unconventional first down.

“It happened so fast that I’m not exactly sure what happened,” Hoyer said. “I’m just looking for the ball and then I see Foreman with the ball on the ground in the fetal position. I just said, ‘Thank God!’”

Hoyer took the next snap — successfully — and kneeled down for the victory.

Published on Sunday, October 5, 2008