One day after his team obliterated Illinois to improve to 4-0, Michigan State coach John L. Smith tried to fix something that wasn’t broken.
With a game against Michigan looming, Smith decided to permit only three of his players to speak to the media. And that session would take place Monday in a controlled setting.
“It’s a good excuse for me not to have to open the door to you guys,” Smith said before turning serious. “You know, it’s a big game, and you like to do anything you can to increase the focus.”
A worthy goal, to be sure. Only it didn’t work.
“We didn’t catch the ball well,” receiver Jerramy Scott said after Michigan’s 34-31 overtime victory. “I don’t know if we were not focused or if we underestimated them.”
One of coach Pete Carroll’s trademarks at Southern California is to invite the media and public to attend practice. Why? Because then practice becomes an event, and the players feed off the crowd’s enthusiasm.
USC also has the least restrictive media policy of any big-time school. The theory is that before a bowl game, the Trojans won’t freeze up when they see all the extra cameras and microphones. They’ll stay loose and they’ll play loose.
Seemed to work pretty well in last year’s Orange Bowl, when USC pounded an Oklahoma team that many felt was just as talented.
By changing his players’ routine last week, Smith might have inadvertently made them uptight.
“I think everybody took the game too seriously,” Spartans receiver Terry Love said. “We should’ve gone out there and had fun and played a little more relaxed.”
Ouch, babe
Purdue wouldn’t go down quietly Saturday night. Trailing Notre Dame by four touchdowns with less than five minutes to play, the Boilermakers used all three timeouts. And they were on defense at the time.
After ESPN play-by-play announcer Ron Franklin expressed his surprise, sideline reporter Holly Rowe applauded Purdue defensive coordinator Brock Spack for the tactic. Rowe said Spack had to prepare Purdue’s backups to play after the first-teamers struggled.
Said Rowe: “If the coaches are giving up, what does that say to the players?”
Franklin offered this reply: “Holly, it’s not giving up. It’s 49-21, sweetheart.”
He’s a believer
Franklin’s partner, ESPN analyst Bob Davie, clearly doesn’t feel an ounce of resentment over Charlie Weis’ success. The former Notre Dame coach raved about Weis during Saturday’s telecast, especially after Brady Quinn hit a wide-open Jeff Samardzija to put the Irish ahead 21-0.
“Charlie, I am on your bandwagon,” Davie proclaimed.
Later he added: “I promise you there are some NFL defensive coordinators watching this game saying thank you to Notre Dame for taking Charlie Weis out of the NFL.”
Irish season ticket-holders are equally grateful. Tickets to the Oct. 15 game against Southern California are being hawked for $500 to $2,700 on stubhub.com.
No game-breaker
Expectations soared after Michigan wide receiver Steve Breaston set a Rose Bowl record with 315 all-purpose yards against Texas.
But Breaston has not scored a touchdown this season. He has caught just six passes for 43 yards, and his impact on special teams has been limited to a 72-yard punt return against Eastern Michigan.
When he did not dress for Saturday’s game, some speculated that emotional factors played a role. Breaston is a thoughtful kid who writes poetry and takes losses very hard.
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr attributed Breaston’s absence to an undisclosed injury he’d suffered a week earlier at Wisconsin. The Detroit Free Press described it as a shoulder injury that is not believed serious.
Don’t strike the pose
It was a bad week to be a Big Ten Heisman Trophy hopeful.
Minnesota running back Laurence Maroney ran for 48 yards on 16 carries at Penn State.
And Michigan State’s loss to Michigan hurt Spartans quarterback Drew Stanton, who managed to complete 20 of 30 passes for 282 yards despite drops by Scott, Kyle Brown and Matt Trannon.
Wisconsin’s Brian Calhoun carried 26 times for 102 yards against Indiana, 54 yards below his average.
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tgreenstein@tribune.com
