Team knows more was expected against Vandals

A win is a win, but sometimes just winning isn't good enough

Despite racking up 400 yards, going 4-4 in the red zone, blocking a field goal and picking off a pass in their opening game 27-17 win over Idaho, many Spartans know they have work to do if this is going to be a successful season.

Just read what senior defensive tackle Clifton Ryan had to say after the game:
- On the victory overall: “I’m very concerned. We win by 10? They play in a decent conference in the WAC (Western Athletic Conference), but we play in a premier conference in the country. We should have made a better statement. We have a lot of work to do. We’ve got to get this train on the right road. If not, it’s going to be a long season.”
- On MSU's run defense: We’ve got to get tougher up front. We’ve got to do a better job of playing on their side of the line of scrimmage. They got too many rushing yards on us (113). In our conference, you’re facing backs like (Michigan’s) Michael Hart, the guy at Northwestern, Tyrell Sutton. We’ve got those guys on our schedule. I’m giving credit to Idaho’s backs, but they’re nowhere near those guys’ caliber (in the Big Ten). We’ve got to do a whole lot better job of stopping the run"

Senior quarterback Drew Stanton:
- On the offense helping the defense: Offensively we need to work on our drives. We can't go three-and-out, especially against an offense that is going to control the ball like that. We need to help our defense and keep their offense off the field."

Senior linebacker David Herron, Jr. who had an interception in the game:
- On the run defense: "We just need to stop the run better, and we need to take it upon ourselves to improve on that. That wasn't our best showing, we can be better than what we showed today. We have to give Idaho credit though - they ran the ball hard."

Coach John L. Smith was a little more positive in his comments, but sees the same problems:
- On MSU's run defense: "They ran the ball on us more than I would have liked to see. We have to work on that."
- On the offense: "I would have liked to see us work the ball a little better. I think our offensive staff is going to take a look at this and learn a lot from it."

We thought next weeks game against Eastern Michigan was an afterthought, but the Spartans need to show something more.