Michigan State Camp Update: Early tackling, stadium reps prepare transfers for scrimmage

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State will stage its first scrimmage of preseason camp on Saturday, but that won’t mark the first live, 11-on-11 periods of tackling for the Spartans this month. In a twist, Spartans practiced at Spartan Stadium on Monday, the first day of full pads. The Spartans haven’t done that previously, but the decision marked a small example of head coach Jonathan Smith doing a few things a little bit differently in his second season as Michigan State’s head coach. “We have some new people that were additions to the roster (since the spring),” said Michigan State defensive coordinator Joe Rossi. “We're going to be scrimmaging later in the week, so it was, ‘Hey, get them over there in the practice. Let them see what it's like, and when we go over there for the scrimmage, create the most game-like situation as possible.’” In other words, they didn’t want Saturday’s scrimmage to be the first time the new Spartans have worn cleats in the gameday home of Michigan State football. (MORE inside SpartanMag).