The defending Legends Division champion Michigan State Spartans held one of their earliest scrimmages on Sunday as part of their fall training camp and it was the defense that stood out, according to coach Mark Dantonio. The Spartans should have one of the Big Ten's best defenses returning in 2012, and they carried the day today:
Dantonio: "The defense forced a couple of turnovers and won pretty handily."
— Spartan Football (@MSU_Football) August 12, 2012
Dantonio cited that the linebackers were impressive and there were multiple redshirt freshmen that stood out as players that will provide depth. Safety R.J. Williamson was one of those redshirt freshmen.
Offensively, it was running back Le'Veon Bell that had the best day:
Dantonio: "Le’Veon Bell made a couple of big plays running the football. He’s a great running back, so we know he’s going to make things happen (with the ball in his hands)."
Andrew Maxwell, the likely new starter at quarterback with the departure of Kirk Cousins, was not as pleased with the offense's performance even though he was 16-of-29 for 162 yards:
Maxwell: "We had some mental errors, but we’ll get those cleaned up. We’ll be ready to get back to work tomorrow."
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