Spring football: Stanton flattered by Heisman mention, focused on W-L record
MSU football only recently began spring practices and Drew Stanton is already getting Heisman hype. NationalChamps.net listed Stanton as their #4 pick to win the Heisman Trophy heading into next season. Stanton doesn’t seem focused on individual awards though according to this press release from MSU.
“It’s a great honor to be ranked among the NCAA’s elite players,” Stanton said. “However, I didn’t come back for my fifth year to pursue individual honors or set any school passing records. I came back to help Michigan State win football games. At the end of the year, I’ll be judged just like any major league pitcher: by my win-loss record.”
In the same press release, MSU head coach John L. Smith also assessed his team’s progress so far this spring.
“The first practice in full pads went okay,” Smith said. “We had great excitement and enthusiasm in practice, but it seemed like the players forgot almost everything they learned in the first two practices. This is normally occurs because the guys are excited about putting the pads on so they can get after each other, and they pay a lot less attention to detail. There’s a noticeable change in the practice atmosphere this spring because the players are having fun.
“We’re still in the (playbook) instillation mode. We’re going to continue to throw a lot of new material at them, so we expect to see a lot of mental mistakes. During the second half of spring ball, the focus will shift to sharpening the execution and eliminating the mental mistakes.”