The Michigan State Spartans return to the field Friday night to kick off the 2016 season against the Furman Paladins. When Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio was a player at SC, he faced Furman once, in 1978. The Spartans pulled off a huge upset, and although their offensive approach was conservative that day, O’Connor played a role in one of Michigan State’s greatest victories under Dantonio. His motivation will be much of the same this season as the Spartans have another chip on their shoulders after being picked behind Ohio State and MI in the Big Ten race.
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But all that really matters is that Michigan State will be playing a real football game for the first time in eight months on Friday. O’Connor threw for 133 yards and two touchdowns previous year.
Moments like that can help any players confidence, and OConnor has the backing of both his coach and his teammates.
He leads the huddle. He does everything the right way.
Two of the Spartans’ team captains this year come from the defense once deemed the “No Fly Zone”. I believe in any quarterback that we have here at Michigan State, receiver R.J. Shelton said. O’Connor has appeared in 12 games in his Spartan career but has only made one start – last season’s massive win over (then) No. 2 Ohio State. The Spartans have won their last seven season openers and their last 17 home openers. The Spartans have an open date next week, so they’ll need to use this game to figure out what areas they need to improve.
O’Connor has been somewhat limited in his attempts, but he has amassed a reasonable stat line across his three years of brief appearances. “It’s a long season, a lot of games, a lot of important games on the road”, O’Connor said.
Unlike Cook, OConnor will only have one season as the starter to leave a legacy at Michigan State. Friday is his final season opener at Spartan Stadium as a college player but it also feels like a new beginning for OConnor.
It’s no wonder he’s eager to get started.
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“Having played at SC, I’m very familiar with Furman University, ” he said. This week cant go quick enough..
