The theme is still the injuries, though, while the list keeps growing the players and Coach Wannstedt don’t seem to want to use it as an excuse.

“The players stepping in have to pick up the slack and pull their weight,” senior offensive lineman Mike McGlynn said. “This presents an opportunity for other people to get playing time. That’s why they came here: to make plays. We’ll see how they play. I believe they’ll do a good job.”

Free safety Eric Thatcher knows what the injured players are going through. The starter missed the second half of last season with a broken ankle.

“It’s tough to lose all these guys this fast,” Thatcher said. “We just have to let it go. The guys out there now are the only ones who can help us out. We have to show we’re a strong character team. We have to show we have backups who are ready to play.”

…

Wannstedt has faith in Duhart and Williams.

“They’ve both played in both games,” Wannstedt said. “It’s not like it will be the first time they’re playing. They’re both very talented.”

I may be reading (hoping?) too much into this, but this strikes me as a message of accountability to DC Paul Rhoads about what Wannstedt expects from the defense on Saturday.

“We have to tackle well this week,” Wannstedt said. “Our tackling will be challenged this week. Both of these guys have the ability to run through arm tackles. They’ve both got very good quickness. They both can catch the ball well. The thing that jumped out at me was the toughness and the ability to break tackles after being hit.”

The tackling goes to the coaching and poor tackling has been one of the hallmarks of a Paul Rhoads defense.

Up in East Lansing, the Spartans are hoping that with new coach, a new identity is forming.

Since Nick Saban bolted at the end of the 1999 season, the Spartans have been known for a fragile psyche and an inability to stare down adversity. They were cruising along last season with a 3-0 record and on the verge of upsetting 12th-ranked Notre Dame when they unraveled in front of a national television audience.

“I don’t feel like we’ve proved anything yet,” said quarterback Brian Hoyer, whose team plays Pittsburgh at home Saturday. “There’s a long way to go. We’ve been 3-0 and then the bottom falls out, so we’ve got to take the initiative and make sure people are playing hungry and playing with that chip on their shoulder.”

I’m guessing most Spartan fans are hesitating just a bit before they absolutely declare the team mentality has shifted and gotten tougher.

Worth noting, one of the immediate impacts under Dantonio is that so far, the Spartans only have 7 penalties for 61 yards. The usually sloppiest team in the Big 11 is the least penalized in the conference. That’s something different.

Then there’s still the usual coach/team hypocrisy. Mark Dantonio is pissed that a former Cinci player wasn’t released from his scholarship to follow him to MSU.

New Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly did not release [Trevor] Anderson from his scholarship with the Bearcats, and Anderson has to pay his own way at MSU for a year. Anderson, a defensive end from Detroit Crockett, enrolled at MSU late last month and is practicing with the team.

Anderson must sit out the 2007-08 season under NCAA transfer rules. He was a two-year starter for Dantonio at Cincinnati.

“I think you probably need to ask him, but I was very disappointed in how that all transpired,” Dantonio said. “I think you try and do what you can for young people and you try and help them through their lives, and I don’t think that was done there.”

Yeah, this never happens. Not many schools I can think of would happily release a kid from scholarship to follow his coach to a new school. There has been no news suggesting he left Cinci for reasons involving hardship, family or such. This seems, simply, about a kid wanting to follow his coach.
Dantonio would have been better served not saying much in this case. He now sets himself up for having his words tossed back at him when he doesn’t release a kid from scholarship who wants to transfer. But, of course, that will be different.
Final notes, the Michigan State “honorary captain” for the game will be former MSU HC George Perles (1983-94). Perles was also a defensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 70s. And MSU has declared the game a “white-out.” Have to make the most of that one home ESPN appearance.