Sims Shines In Scrimmage No. 2

Michigan State’s offense reclaimed the green practice jerseys Saturday, scoring a 52-48 win during the Spartans’ second jersey scrimmage.
Junior tight end Dion Sims had 10 catches for 171 yards including a 12-yard touchdown catch after sitting out several practices this week due to a head injury.

Maxwell threw for 212 yards and one TD Saturday

Andrew Maxwell completed 13 of 24 passes for 212 yards and the touchdown to Sims. Elsewhere Larry Caper and Nick Hill rushed for a combined 84 yards, with Caper registering a one-yard touchdown run.

"Andrew Maxwell and Dion Sims really impressed today," coach Mark Dantonio said. "They connected for some exciting plays. Andrew looked extremely sharp and made some great throws. Dion is a big-play receiver, and he was very consistent today. Other guys made plays too. We held Le’Veon Bell out, but Larry Caper and Nick Hill both made some guys miss and got vertical. Their yards per carry might not look great, but I really liked the way they ran with toughness."

Backup quarterback Connor Cook completed 12 of 27 for 126 yards and also threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to true freshman wide receiver Macgarrett Kings Jr., along with two interceptions. True freshman quarterback Tyler O’Connor completed 6 of 11 passes for 70 yards.

DeAnthony Arnett added three receptions for 63 yards, true freshman Kyle Kerrick had three receptions for 62 yards while junior Bennie Fowler also had three catches for 35 yards.

“We had a slow start. In our first series out of the box, we weren’t completing many passes and we weren’t running the ball very well," Maxwell said. "So we left ourselves in a lot of third-and-long (situations), and that’s not where you want to be against our defense. It’s a testament to our guys that they just kept playing and playing. We came back the next couple of series and moved the ball well. We were so successful on third down because we ran the ball well (on the early downs) and left ourselves in third-and-short (situations). If we can be effective in the run game like we expect to be, then that will help our offense tremendously."

Defensively Arjen Colquhoun led the secondary with seven tackles, including one for loss. Junior TyQuan Hammock also had seven tackles while defensive back Darqueze Dennard had six tackles, one for loss and two pass breakups.

True freshman cornerback Ezra Robinson had five tackles, including three for loss, and one sack, while defensive end Tyler Hoover and Mitchell White each added interceptions for the defense.

“We’re still in camp mode next week, so we’ll focus on the task at hand while looking forward a little," Dantonio said. "Some guys need to transition into becoming scout team players while understanding their role is just as important as being a first- or second-team guy. We also need to expose our first-year players to what the game-week practices look like, so they can become acclimated. It’s also important that our players get their legs back underneath them, so we’ll begin to tail things off toward the end of the week. The start of classes is just around the corner, so their schedules will change dramatically very soon.”