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Mark Dantonio discusses work on special teams miscues: ‘If you’re not coaching it, you’re letting it happen’
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Michigan State’s offensive struggles were the story following a Week 3 loss to Arizona State, but the Spartans’ special teams unit has seen plenty of struggles over the past two weeks.
Placekicker Matt Coghlin was thrust into the negative spotlight after going 0-for-3 on kicks against Arizona State. Those misses were the difference between a win and a loss as Michigan State lost by three. And though the Spartans dominated Northwestern in Week 4, Coghlin missed again and finished 1-for-2 on field goals against the Wildcats.
Kicking was not the only problem against Northwestern. The Spartans also fumbled a punt and averaged eight yards on punt returns.
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Mark Dantonio addressed the special teams struggles on Tuesday, and he indicated it is definitely a point of emphasis for the team during Week 5 preparation. Indiana is this week’s opponent, and Dantonio does not want a repeat of the struggles against Northwestern.
Matt Wenzel with MLive shared Dantonio’s comments:
“From a special teams perspective, we need to do a better job overall,” Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said on Tuesday. “That’s our message to our football team and to our coaches and I truly believe if you’re not coaching it, you’re letting it happen, so we will coach that extremely hard this week.”
As far as kicking duties go, it doesn’t sound like Dantonio has any plans to make a change away from Coghlin. According to Dantonio, Coghlin is still confident so he will retain his field goal duties for the time being:
“He has his confidence so if he’s confident, I’m confident,” Dantonio said. “He’s a confident player.”
Hopefully, the Spartans correct the prior issues from the special teams unit.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.