April 14, 2007

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Under mostly cloudy skies and temperatures near 40, first-year Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio sent his team through a three-hour, 166-play "controlled" scrimmage in Spartan Stadium on Saturday, April 14 to conclude the fourth week of spring practice. Utilizing a modified scoring system, the offense (White team) - thanks to its productive ground game - posted an impressive 120-94 victory over the defense (Green team). With the win, the offense reclaimed the Green jerseys for the final week of spring practice and on into preseason camp.

A trio of running backs - Javon Ringer (5-9, 202, Jr.), Jehuu Caulcrick (6-0, 255, Sr.) and A.J. Jimmerson (5-10, 202, So.) - combined to rush for 307 yards and five touchdowns. Ringer paced the well-balanced ground attack with 130 yards on 15 carries, including a 65-yard TD run. Caulcrick rushed 20 times for 95 yards, including TD runs of 1, 7 and 2 yards, while Jimmerson added 82 yards on 16 attempts, including a 32-yard scoring run.

"Once again, I was pleased with the intensity and effort," Coach Dantonio said. "What I liked most was that I saw guys making plays on both sides of the football. Again, it was a competitive scrimmage with the outcome not decided until the last series or two.

"We saw some great individual performances by the running backs today. All three of those backs - Javon (Ringer), Jehuu (Caulcrick) and A.J. (Jimmerson) - produced big runs. When the running game is flowing like that, you have to give credit to the guys up front. The linemen got the job done.

"As a head coach, I have to sit in the middle, so on the other hand, I wish that the defense had done a better job of stopping the run. We must become more sound on defense, so it was a learning experience. Sometimes, we didn't have a defender in the gap and as a result, the running back found a crease and some open field."

Brian Hoyer completed 12-of-21 passes for 206 yards, including a 42-yard TD strike to T.J. Williams.

Brian Hoyer (6-2, 212, Jr.) again took all the snaps with the first-team offense and completed 12-of-21 throws for 206 yards, including a 42-yard TD toss to T.J. Williams (6-3, 184, So.) on the final play from scrimmage. He threw one interception. During one stretch, Hoyer connected on 5-of-6 attempts for 119 yards.

"During the season, it's said that a team improves the most from its first to its second game," Hoyer said. "The same thing holds true in the spring. The offense has made a lot of progress over the last two weeks.

"Today, the offensive line did a great job of creating running lanes. And when the running game is clicking like that, it really opens up the passing game. The offense was determined to make a statement today and win back the Green jerseys."

Clay Charles (6-1, 199, So.) and Connor Dixon (6-4, 191, R-Fr.) shared snaps with the second-team offense. Charles hit 5-of-8 passes for 80 yards, including a 50-yard TD strike to Devin Thomas (6-2, 214, Jr.).

Williams and Love each had four receptions for 73 and 59 yards, respectively. Thomas caught three passes for a scrimmage-best 91 yards, while tight end Kellen Davis (6-6, 254, Sr.) had two catches for 77 yards.

"Devin Thomas keeps getting better, and you can see him growing in confidence," Dantonio said. "He's a big, strong receiving threat. Devin has the ability to become a consistent playmaker."

"Devin Thomas has a linebacker body, with the speed of a wide out," Hoyer said. "This spring, he has really emerged as a playmaker."

Linebacker Eric Gordon (6-0, 225, R-Fr.), who saw action with both the first- and second-team units, recorded a scrimmage-best 12 tackles, including two for losses (8 yards). Strong safety Nehemiah Warrick (6-1, 200, Sr.) produced nine tackles to go along with a pass break-up and one quarterback pressure. Linebacker Andrew Hawken (6-2, 235, So.) made eight stops, including two behind the line of scrimmage (3 yards). Cornerback Kendell Davis-Clark (5-11, 199, Jr.) contributed four tackles, including one for a loss, and returned an interception 41 yards for a touchdown.

"Kendell Davis-Clark gave the defense a lift with a big pick," Dantonio said. "Kendell has played well in every practice that he's been healthy (quad injury). He's probably been our most consistent corner this spring."

The scrimmage format provided the defense with 17 different scoring opportunities, while the offense had 10 ways to put points on the scoreboard, including the traditional touchdown and field goal.

Here are some scrimmage highlights: • On its first possession, the first-team offense put together an 11-play, 50-yard drive but Brett Swenson's (5-8, 160, So.) 42-yard field-goal attempt fell short.

• Tight end Eric Andino (6-4, 246, Sr.) threw a block that helped spring Ringer for his 65-yard TD run, giving the White an 18-12 lead.

• Caulcrick finished off an 11-play, 97-yard drive with a 1-yard TD plunge that extended the White's lead to 39-15. Hoyer's 38-yard completion to Davis on a third-and-10 play kept the drive alive. On the scoring drive, Hoyer went a perfect 4-for-4 for 80 yards.

• The defense dominated the next 25 minutes of action, outscoring the offense 35-1 to build a 50-40 lead. Davis-Clark's 41-yard interception return for a score accounted for 15 of those 35 points.

• Hoyer's 39-yard completion to Davis set up Swenson's 35-yard field goal as the White cut its deficit to seven points at 53-46.

• On a third-and-nine play from midfield, Charles hooked up with Thomas for a 50-yard scoring pass as the White pulled to within two at 57-55.

• Hoyer's 25-yard completion to Love set up Caulcrick's second TD run, a 7-yarder, as the White regained the lead at 67-64.

• Trailing 74-68, the White took the lead for good (76-74) on Jimmerson's 32-yard TD run around left end.

• The offense broke the scrimmage open in the second-to-last period, scoring on back-to-back goal-line series. Second-team fullback Jeff McPherson (6-1, 240, Jr.) scored on an 8-yard run on a third-and-goal play. On the next series, Caulcrick recorded his third rushing TD, scoring on a 2-yard run on another third-and-goal play.

"The defense had its back against the wall in the goal-line period, and that's when the offense opened up its lead," Dantonio said. "Each series began at the 6-yard line, but the defense has to find a way to make a stop."

• The first-team offense closed out the scrimmage with an impressive three-play, 55-yard scoring drive during a two-minute drill. Back-to-back quick throws to Love (4 yards) and Williams (9) gave the offense a first-and-10 at the Green 42. On the next play, Hoyer again hooked up with Williams, this time for a 42-yard scoring play.

"It's been a good spring," Dantonio said. "The team has shown a lot of growth over the last four weeks. Now, we want to close out spring ball with three productive practices. Tuesday, the guys will be in full pads and we expect that they'll get after each other one more time. Thursday, they'll be in shorts as we concentrate on fine-tuning some things for the spring game."

Michigan State concludes its 15 spring practices with the Green-White intrasquad game on Saturday, April 21 at 1:30 p.m. in Spartan Stadium.