Moving day for MSU football

April 11, 2012

Spring football is all about answering questions.  Coaches will routinely move players around to test their limits and test theories on where their best positions can be on the field.

Tuesday afternoon Dan Mullen shuffled a few things, particularly with the offensive line.

“At this point we have everything kind of installed. So it’s not new stuff we’re teaching that they have to do, everything is kind of review,” said the MSU head coach. “So it is really a time to see who can grasp and do what. I’ve talked to John (Hevesy) about it, I don’t know what the exact rotation was going to be. He and I have been together so long I trust what he’s doing. He’s just trying to mix and match some guys.

“And you have to have guys dual-ready if we’re going to play our best. So try to get our best five on the field at all times. Some guys are going to be a starter at one position and potentially a backup at another one.”

Damien Robinson moved from his normal right tackle slot to left tackle, while Blain Clausell and Charles Siddoway flip-flopped to the right tackle slot.  The moves along the front simply demonstrated just how open the competition is for the starting slots.

“It’s open in the two-deep sense right now. Not only is it open for the starters, but who is the next guy on to the field; who is our third tackle, who is our third guard, who is our second center? You have to minimally have that. And that is what we’re really trying to find out.”

On the defensive side the thought process was to try more things. State has a versitle group a linebacker this season and that gives the coaching staff the confidence to be more aggressive and mix things up a bit.

 “Yeah, because there is a little bit more experience there. And there is actually for the first time since I’ve been here some depth I think at that position. I don’t want to say there’s six or seven feel we comfortable on the field yet because they might not be that deep experienced on game day. But when you watch the practice tape the separation from the top ‘backer to the seventh is pretty minimal. And that is where you want to be as a team, we don’t want a big separation.”

Now, the Bulldogs will turn their attention to a light Thursday practice session and a heavy Friday night scrimmage inside Davis Wade Stadium.   The scrimmage will be under the light at 6:00 p.m. and will be open to the public.