MSU starting S RJ Williamson Out for UM Game

Submitted by alum96 on

Huge blow.  The presumed star of the secondary true SO Montae Nicholson has been pulled repeatedly this year as he is not progressing and RJ Williamson was their veteran presence and playmaker back there.   The MSU defense is predicated on safeties making tons of plays, and CBs out on an island.  Looks like Cox will have to move back to safety and MOAR true youngsters will have to be corners.

 

Dantonio said RJ Williamson had surgery on a torn bicep this morning. Out indefinitely, possibly back for last game/bowl game.

— Mike Wilson (@MikeWilson247) October 4, 2015

Backup OT (who was starting for injured Conklin vs Purdue) also gone for year - Finley from Cass Tech.  They had to pull their All American center out to tackle for the Purdue game halfway thru.

MSU now up to three season-ending injuries (Davis, Copeland, Finley) and one long-term (Williamson).

— Mike Wilson (@MikeWilson247) October 4, 2015

Once Narduzzi left it seems their "secret" sauce to avoid injuries left with him!

Dear Rudock, take advantage of the "weird guys".

http://michiganstate.247sports.com/Bolt/Williamson-has-surgery-on-torn-…

The Spartans have already played true freshmen safeties Khari Willis and Grayson Miller in addition to redshirt freshmen Matt Morrissey and Jalen Watts-Jackson.

Dantonio said Miller “will become more active in there” with Williamson out.

Danwillhor

October 4th, 2015 at 7:51 PM ^

even when it's a rival I don't take pleasure in it. Now, I'm not going to let it be an excuse if we won but I simply never wish injury on players. We'll take all the help we can get so if he was going to get hurt anyway I guess I'd prefer he miss our game.

Magnus

October 5th, 2015 at 11:49 AM ^

Apparently, it's that day to be That Guy on the internet...

...so "we" don't play Northwestern next. The players on the Michigan Wolverines football team are playing Northwestern next. You, on the other hand, will probably be sitting on your couch or perhaps in the stands.

Mortimer

October 4th, 2015 at 7:51 PM ^

I know it's still early in Nicholson's career, but is it possible some of the flak Brian has been giving Hoke for passing is unwarranted?

Relatedly, is it really possible that MSU's good second level defense was all a result of Narduzzi? How long has he been with Dantonio?

alum96

October 4th, 2015 at 7:57 PM ^

I also have been on the Nicolson bandwagon.  Very rare for true freshman to play or start for Dantonio on D (he redshirts all but 2-3 kids a year) and both he and McDowell did last year so I doubt he is a washout of any sort.

Sometimes people have slumps in their career and with his athleticism I would not count him out.  But so far he is having a sophomore slump.  Showed a ton of promise last year and career is very young as you said.  I still expect good things - MSU D is very tough on safeties in terms of assignments.  You dont get the help you get in most defenses and that is why their run D is usually very stout as they are so aggressive up the field.  

AZBlue

October 4th, 2015 at 8:38 PM ^

lack of even one top-end CB in the system.  (Even Copeland doesn't fit this description yet if he was healthy.)

IIRC Under the MSU/Narduzzi system - the 2 corners had almost island responsibilities for the outside receivers while the safeties had only slot and/or TE responsibilities and could mainly focus on run fill.  (I Know cover 4 goes much deeper than that but that is the gist I took from it)  I have heard/read that MSU has been forced to do a lot more zone with their current personnel which probably leads to a lot more weight on the safeties.  (Magnus - Space Coyote any help here?)  Most of the complaints I have seen on Nicholson have been with angles etc.

Seems similar to what we are doing with Peppers - restricting his responsibilities primarily to 1-on-1 coverage, run fill, or blitzing while letting Hill and/or Wilson play centerfield.

East German Judge

October 4th, 2015 at 8:22 PM ^

dantonio will start the we are injured drum beat!  So if they lose to us, he will have a great reason and if they some how win, he will beat his chest.  The disrepect meme will never end for him.

Image result for mark dantonio angry

saveferris

October 5th, 2015 at 7:48 AM ^

It's a blow to them overall for their season, but I don't know how much of a blow it is to them for the Michigan game unless Rudock can find a way to consistently connect on the deep passing route.  We still haven't hit one yet this season.

Scarlatina

October 4th, 2015 at 7:54 PM ^

So to date... MSU has lost 5 starters and a back-up: left tackle, right tackle, backup left tackle, cornerback, safety and linebacker?  This is almost Iowa level.

alum96

October 4th, 2015 at 8:03 PM ^

Yes its a blow - more than Mone even if I think Mone is a superior player.  Because behind Mone you had Hurst who is playing well and you could always put guys like Godin or Wormley in a pinch.

Mario is not a superstar but the drop off to RJS is probably significant - he has not played end before this year although its supposedly a hybrid position.   Probably hurts us in pash rush a bit - time for Taco to step up too although its at the other side.

AZBlue

October 4th, 2015 at 8:48 PM ^

toward more of a conventional 4-3 if RJS and Marshall have issues filling the Buck role. Seems we have a lot more conventional DL bodies than Buck.

I also was wondering if Bolden might be able to fill in here.  He seems to have the power and rush ability and (almost) the size, and maybe this position would simplify the read-and-react and lateral movement stuff that seems to be his weakness at MLB.  Added bonus would be getting Ross and Gedeon more snaps.

WNY in Savannah

October 4th, 2015 at 9:00 PM ^

I should have done all of my reading before posting--before reading this, I was just posting this same thought in other threads.  Mario's replacement being weaker than other replacements makes his loss worse.  This worries me immensely.  I'm sure the coaches can adjust things if the backups can't cope, but that is not ideal, either.  I hope losing Mario doesn't hurt as much as I fear it will.

Pit2047

October 5th, 2015 at 10:40 AM ^

Especially with Northwestern's zone read/option offense coming to town. Ojemudia was a master at stopping these types of plays and RJS has not really impressed in his time so far (though I though he looked fine at Maryland). With the way our offense struggled against Maryland's defense and with Northwestern already having played and shutdown a similar Harbaughffense in Stanford, I'm really worried about this game being our next loss.

FauxMo

October 4th, 2015 at 7:57 PM ^

Apparently, Narduzzi had the steroids hook-up, eh?

If Pitt players suddenly get all jacked and impervious to injury, we will know what's up...

FauxMo

October 5th, 2015 at 8:30 AM ^

That's not why Bullough was suspended, at least not directly. He apparently beat one of his best friends from high school to a pulp. Roids may have inspired the act, but the suspension was for the beating.

Mr. Owl

October 4th, 2015 at 7:58 PM ^

Doesn't matter.  My standard line to any Sparty will continue to be that Sparty is under-ranked (should be #1) and the best team to ever take the field.  That Michigan will be fortunate to even be on the field with the team in green/white.

October is Sarcasm Awareness Month.

alum96

October 4th, 2015 at 8:10 PM ^

Yep that Meyers kid is sort of like Dymonte Thomas in that he is a "end of game" guy who gets some sparse playing time but you play as an emergency in case someone goes down.

So now is an emergency - you are now forced to play Cox (who they wanted to play CB) back to S along with slumping Nicholson and they've burnt 2 redshirts already playing freshman at S.  So Myers would have been a good stopgap I guess.  Something to keep an eye on. 

Question: is Myers a "playmaker"??? Because really that is all you need to know in regards if he will play vs UM!