Gardner on MSU Game: It's About Us
10/21/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 21, 2014
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner will be in the spotlight for Saturday's game at Michigan State.
The Wolverines were heavy underdogs last year against the Spartans in East Lansing and lost, 29-6, with Gardner unable to spark the offense or get adequate blocking protection. But he nearly pulled off an upset of Ohio State later that same month in Ann Arbor, broken foot and all. Michigan came up one point short, 42-41.
So, Gardner experienced both ends of the performance spectrum in his school's biggest rivalry games in 2013. But while he's been part of teams that beat the Buckeyes in 2011 and the Spartans in 2012, Gardner has yet to defeat either as a starting quarterback.
He gets one more game against each opponent in the last five regular-season games of his college career, and the first opportunity comes Saturday against the Spartans (6-1, 3-0) in the battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy.
"It's a trophy game for a reason," said Gardner, whose Wolverines are 68-33-5 in the series but have won only once since 2007. "It's a game where you get in-state bragging rights for a whole year."
Gardner has had an up-and-down season, completing 63 percent of 144 passes for six touchdowns and eight interceptions while running for 149 yards and one touchdown across three consecutive games. The team has tended to play as well as Gardner does, but head coach Brady Hoke cautioned that there is more to the outcome than that.
"I think we've all got to play our best football, whether it be Devin or whoever else," said Hoke. "Those negative rushing yards last year (at MSU) weren't just on Devin. When a guy gets sacked, you're turning some people loose. And also, he's got to get rid of the ball. There's a rhythm to it.
"Him going out and playing, and playing as he's capable of, that's all he needs to do."
Hoke said that Gardner, who rallied the Wolverines to a win over Penn State in the last game on Oct. 11 after missing two possessions in the third quarter with an injury, is "full-go" for Saturday. Gardner said he's back to where he was prior to the injury.
Hoke was asked what the biggest difference was in Gardner between 2013 and 2014.
"I think the one thing you have to look at is that he had to learn a whole new system last spring," said Hoke, referring to Doug Nussmeier replacing Al Borges as the offensive coordinator. "And that can't be easy."
Gardner also played quarterback in Rich Rodriguez's spread offense as a freshman, before Hoke became the head coach in 2011.
"And for a player learning three different systems, I give him credit for that," Hoke said. "I think he probably now is getting more comfortable in this system. And even though we're going into game eight, he's finding a confidence with it, he's finding an aggressiveness with it. And that's when Devin plays his best."
Hoke said the offense is now coming naturally to Gardner.
"I think Doug's done a nice job of taking some of the things off of him so he doesn't have too much," Hoke said. "But I think that the more time he's spent in the system, the better he's become."
I asked Nussmeier where Gardner has shown the most improvement this season.
"The biggest thing he's made progress with is his understanding of defenses," Nussmeier said. "It's simple, on paper, to identify the plays offensively and what you want to do. But the next step of it is, 'Okay, what defensive am I getting? How is that defense built? What are the strong points of that defense? What are the weak points of that defense? And how does that relate to the play we're running?'
"And then you talk about repetitions in your system, and that's why a lot of times you see quarterbacks in a new system, and it takes them awhile. They get it; they know what they want to do. But it's the process of getting it done, and all of that's repetition, tying your feet and eyes together and getting to the right place at the right time. There's so much timing involved in everything.'"
Gardner said, "I think it's been really good for me just being able to see what I need to see out there, and it helps when you know where you want to go with the ball. (Nussmeier) brought a lot of different coverages in that we didn't really know about, and we didn't understand how they were played. But we're doing a good job of understanding now."
Gardner added that his increased knowledge "definitely" helps with the pre-snap reads that are critical to a play's success.
And then there's the matter of dealing with a defense trying to disrupt your timing. Michigan State created problems last year for Gardner by blitzing up the middle with great success.
"That's one of their base blitzes," Nussmeier said. "It creates pressure in the interior line and pressure in the quarterback's line of vision."
And so the challenges for Gardner and his offense are many. They must establish a running game with starting tailback Derrick Green out for the season with a broken collarbone, and they must better protect Gardner in the pocket. And Gardner must find a rhythm in his offense while making the proper pre-snap reads to adjust to the Spartans' defensive approach.
Michigan (3-4, 1-2 Big Ten) needs a win to keep momentum, enhance its bowl possibilities and keep alive its outside chance of advancing to the conference championship game.
When it was mentioned that winning provides the Wolverines an opportunity to ruin MSU's season, Gardner said, "It's not about us ruining their season. It's about us."
