MSU injuries NOT an excuse

Submitted by m_go_T on

According to Mark Dantonio, MSU injuries are not going to be used as a crutch (i.e., excuse) for their poor play.   To paraphrase:  

"Injuries are not an excuse.  To be clear though, we do have a lot of injuries.  So if we were to lose this week, we should be allowed to claim injuries as the main reason, but we won't, because that would be excusing the loss because of injuries, which we don't or won't do, becuase we don't use injuries as excuses...but we have tons of injuries."  

 

Link below; It's Drew Sharp and its drivel.  FL;DR (freep link; didn't click):  Michigan State is very injured but not going to use injuries as an excuse (Spoiler: They are setting up the injury excuse).  

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/columnists/drew-sharp/2015/10/12/drew…

This has been the common narrative throughout the last two weeks.  Not an excuse, but we are super injured.  Just to pull some quotes from the linked to drivel:

"Pardon the pun," coach Mark Dantonio said Saturday night following the Spartans' 31-24 win, "but we can't use it as a crutch."

"He was hurting out there, and everybody recognized it," Dantonio said about Kieler's determination. "We tried to get him out a little bit, but I know that he wound up playing at the end as well. He's a tough guy, and he just kept playing."

 

"You keep thinking to yourself that it can't get any worse, and then it does," said middle linebacker Riley Bullough.

IMO I can see it getting worse next week.  But to be clear, if it does, it has nothing to do with injuries.  

 

Scarlatina

October 12th, 2015 at 9:27 AM ^

Mark Dantonio:

"Pardon the pun, but we can't use it as a crutch."

"[RT Kieler] was hurting out there, and everybody recognized it. We tried to get him out a little bit, but I know that he wound up playing at the end as well. He's a tough guy, and he just kept playing."

"Things happen. Football's a tough game. You're going to lose some guys. But you have to play through those things, and it makes the guys around you more experienced. We'll get some guys back next week, and we'll see how it goes."

Conner Cook:

"Obviously, anyone who's watched us this year knows we've had our fair share of injuries, but that's not going to stop us. We've got guys who aren't as experienced playing O-line, and the protection wasn't all that great. But it's stuff you have to deal with."

Riley Bullough:

"You keep thinking to yourself that it can't get any worse, and then it does. Injuries are going to happen in football, but you would think that we would start getting some better luck at some point. But there's nothing you can do except say, 'Next guy up,' because you have to find way to work through the injuries."

A Fan In Fargo

October 12th, 2015 at 12:42 PM ^

are just a bunch of schmucks. Need to kick em right now this Saturday then if they are so down and out. The best of the best never make excuses because they don't need to. Time to open up the good old fashioned can of whoop ass on these creme puffs.

707oxford

October 12th, 2015 at 11:49 AM ^

I'm surprised Cook's quoted about his own O-line hasn't blown up in the media.  If this were to become a focus by the press, I could see it causing some serious internal issues on the team.

Cook has built his resume on the back of a very solid OL at MSU over the last few years.  Unfortunately they only have a couple legit defenses on their shedule because it would be interesting to see if his stats would suffer this year behind just an average line, resulting in a drop in his draft status.

Scarlatina

October 13th, 2015 at 12:14 AM ^

The press could also spin it as Cook challenging the young guys to get better. During the Rutgers' game they were using their 4th-string LT(?), backup LG, backup center, 1st-string RG, and backup RT. 3/5 of those guys are guys Cook never sees, so he was either super critical of them, or telling them to step it up.

BlueCube

October 12th, 2015 at 12:04 PM ^

Harbaugh type answer - I'm not going to talk about injuries. They're a part of football. Other guys need to step up when someone gets hurt. No one's going to feel sorry for you. All teams have injuroes.

Dantonio type answer - I'm not going to use it as an excuse. (I hope you are picking up that I really think they are an excuse and if we lose it will stick in your mind that it's because of injuries.)

Michigan has injuries too but we aren't crying about Mario, Mone, Smith, Drake, stribling or anyone else that is injured.

Dubs

October 12th, 2015 at 10:37 AM ^

I don't know why, but Mark's "we are not going to use injuries as an excuse, but we have them," just made me think of this quote from a great Wizard...

"I assure you, Wikileaks is anything but stupid, except when he said I made that teenage fish perform ass to trout. That was stupid and untrue. Did I say ass to trout? I meant to say bass to mouth, though I guess it's basically the same thing, not that I did it."

Eye of the Tiger

October 12th, 2015 at 9:20 AM ^

How many horrible injuries to starting players has our program suffered over the past few years? Countess, Ryan,  Morgan, Peppers, Green, etc. And now Ojemudia and Mone. I don't see Dantonio or Sharp putting asterisks next to any of their wins because of that either.

Also, Sharp is the worst. 

Scarlatina

October 12th, 2015 at 9:34 AM ^

I can't remember a time when Michigan was as depleted as MSU is now. It's like all their injuries were being held back for the last 2-3 seasons, and now the dam broke.

  1. RJ Williamson (starting S)

  2. Ed Davis (starting LB)

  3. Vayante Copeland (starting CB)

  4. Jack Conklin (starting LT)

  5. Kodi Kieler (starting RT)

  6. Josiah Price (starting TE)

  7. Dennis Finley (backup LT)

  8. Madre London (co-starting RB)

  9. Jack Allen (starting C)

  10. Darian Hicks (backup CB)

  11. LJ Scott (co-starting RB)

  12. Lawrence Thomas (starting DE)

Maybe, my memory is foggy, but has there ever been a time where Michigan was missing potentially half of their 2-deep?

ijohnb

October 12th, 2015 at 9:45 AM ^

and Allen are the two most impactful injuries on that list.  Our defensive line is very good and those are their two best lineman.  If neither of them play it is going to be hard for them to give Cook enough time especially against a solid secondary.

I guess I don't see a team identifying a lot of injuries as using it as an excuse.  It looks like most of these statements are direct responses to questions about injuries.  I like Dantonio's response better than Hoke's famous "we don't talk about injuries."  It looks like he basically said "yeah we got a bunch of guys out but it is not an excuse for our poor play."  So he stated the obvious and then went politically correct.  He could not have said "I am not aware of that many injuries" or "we have a lot of injuries and if we lose that is why."  Looks like he just gave a throw away answer.

Scarlatina

October 12th, 2015 at 9:54 AM ^

Jack Conklin injured his knee, but MSU hasn't really released any more details other than it is not a season ending injury.

Jack Allen was actually playing in the Rutgers' game, but looked like he rolled/sprained his ankle and had to leave to get it taped up. Allen came back the next series and a Rutgers defender looked like he dove purposefully at Allen's ankles when he was engaged in a block. It was pretty shady looking on the replay. Anyways, Allen left the game after that happened.

Ivan Karamazov

October 12th, 2015 at 11:17 AM ^

That Rutgers lineman was being doubled by 75 and 76. It's crazy to think he could disengage enough for the sole effort of going for a cheap shot. Rutgers is not that good or underhanded (on the field at least).

lilpenny1316

October 12th, 2015 at 12:41 PM ^

From that, it doesn't look like anything but a coincidence.  It would probably be best to see the full play instead going based on the two seconds before impact.

GoBlueNorth

October 12th, 2015 at 11:11 AM ^

I've looked at this countless times and agree with you,  He's moving right on the snap and then gets double teamed with his momentum.   Many Sparty fans seeing this differently but several looking at this without the green and white glasses believe that the injury looks like an unfortunate football thing.  Wishing him a speedy and full recovery.

alum96

October 12th, 2015 at 9:45 AM ^

Is Gary Patterson whining about the 8 starters he lost on ONE SIDE OF THE BALL ALONE this year every week?  I don't follow TCU close enough but yeah shit happens.  Especially to MSU which somehow has avoided a single significant injury in 2 entire years in a brutal sport.  Law of averages.

Scarlatina

October 12th, 2015 at 10:01 AM ^

I guess it depends on what you consider whining. Patterson has said very similar things to what Dantonio said in this article...

Gary Patterson:

"Sometimes you lose players. Last year, we didn't. Sometimes you're lucky. I don't know if I've ever been in a situation where it's specifically starters."

"It's like going home and you have to sleep in a different bed every night. Couch, mother-in-law's bedroom, loft bedroom."

"The bottom line is everybody's got injuries. You just have to do what you need to do, and it is what it is. The next guy's got to step up. We need to grow up."

"We lost three linebackers from last year. Now you lost one and two this year. So, you're on linebackers six and seven. You don't look at it that way, but from the knowledge standpoint, it's sixth and seventh."