Spartans’ Stanton
heads prolific offense

One week after playing against the 2004 Heisman Trophy winner (USC's Matt Leinart), Hawaii takes on a player who could be a serious contender for the award in 2006.

The Warriors got a taste of Drew Stanton's talents last year, when the versatile quarterback directed the Spartans' offense to 598 yards, including 330 passing.

The 6-foot-2, 222-pound junior figures to be one of the best quarterbacks leading one of the best offenses in the Big Ten this season after passing for 1,601 yards and eight scores and running for 687 and five TDs in a part-time role last year.

Change comes slow to the Midwest, but it is gradually losing its ground-pounding image. Stanton said a lot of it has to do with the offense John L. Smith brought to the powerful but staid conference three seasons ago.

"I think the Big Ten ... doesn't welcome the spread offense too much because it's known for its physicality and stuff like that, so you don't see it too much," Stanton told the Associated Press. "Purdue kind of did that and Coach (Randy) Walker brought it in with Northwestern and they had success doing it their first year.

"I think the game's kind of evolving that way because it gives you an opportunity to spread the ball out to the type of athletes that are being produced nowadays coming out of high school."

There's no question MSU has the athletes to surround Stanton. But consistency and discipline kept Michigan State from better than a 5-7 record last year.

Example: If not for a goose-egg third quarter, MSU would not have found itself on the wrong side of a 41-38 score at Hawaii last year. And there were 16 penalties for 119 yards, which got the Spartans talking about home cooking at Aloha Stadium.

Well, MSU was flagged 13 times for 130 yards in a 140-play scrimmage last week, and those weren't WAC officials.

"We were flagged for way too many penalties and we had too many effort breakdowns. ... If we eliminate the effort mistakes, then we'll win a lot of football games this fall," Smith said after the scrimmage.

In addition to Stanton, three wide receivers (Matt Trannon, Jerramy Scott and Kyle Brown), three offensive linemen (left tackle Stefon Wheeler, left guard Kyle Cook and center Chris Morris) are all listed as returning starters.

So is Jason Teague, who rushed for 688 yards and eight touchdowns last season.

Michigan State allowed 27 points a game on defense, a big number in the Big Ten.

Nose guard Brandon McKinney, defensive end Clifton Ryan, linebacker David Herron, cornerback Jaren Hayes and strong safety Eric Smith are the returning starters who hope to change that.

Punter Brandon Fields averaged 48 yards per kick last season, and SirDarean Adams is a threat on kickoff returns.

John Goss and Kyle Mayer are battling for the kicking chores.

Michigan State Spartans

Basic Offense: Spread
Basic Defense: Multiple 4-3
2004 Record: 5-7 (4-4 Big Ten)
Lettermen Returning/Lost: 39/21
Starters Returning: 13
Head coach: John L. Smith (123-72, 13-12 at MSU)

2004 Results

Date	Opponent	Result
Sep. 4	Rutgers	L, 19-14
Sept. 11	Central Michigan	W, 24-7
Sept. 18	Notre Dame	L, 31-24
Sept. 25	Indiana	W, 30-20
Oct. 2	Iowa	L, 38-16
Oct. 9	Illinois	W, 38-25
Oct. 16	Minnesota	W, 51-17
Oct. 30	Michigan	L, 45-37 (3OT)
Nov. 6	Ohio State	L, 32-19
Nov. 13	Wisconsin	W, 49-14
Nov. 20	Penn State	L, 37-13
Dec. 4	Hawaii	L, 41-38

2005 Schedule

Date	Opponent
Sept. 3	Kent State
Sept. 10	HAWAII
Sept. 17	at Notre Dame
Sept. 24	at Illinois
Oct. 1	Michigan
Oct. 15	at Ohio State
Oct. 22	Northwestern
Oct. 29	Indiana
Nov. 5	at Purdue
Nov. 12	at Minnesota
Nov. 19	Penn State