'Bandit' Wiley sparks Spartans' defense

EVANSTON, Ill. - One year after allowing 48 points to the Northwestern offense, changes were expected for the Michigan State defense this time around against the Wildcats.

Defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi's players did not disappoint.

The Spartans altered the defensive formation and brought back the "bandit" position in its 37-20 victory Saturday against Northwestern.

"We bent a little bit but we tried not to break. We executed the game plan," said Narduzzi, whose unit endured 92 offensive plays by the Wildcats. "The kids made plays. We talked to them all week about it's not about what they do, it's what we do.

"The kids made plays when they needed to and I am happy for them."

The Spartans gave up 459 offensive yards, but Northwestern quarterback C.J. Bacher also threw two interceptions.

In last year's game, strong safety Otis Wiley was often the goat for many of the big plays against the Spartan defense.

This year, he switched positions to a spot made famous by the John L. Smith regime: the bandit.

A combination of linebacker and safety, he played next to the line of scrimmage to help against the run, but was used more to cover one of the four or five wide receivers the Wildcats used on most plays.

"We wanted to get more speed on the field and that allowed us to do so," Narduzzi said. "As much as they might have thought our secondary didn't have depth, our secondary still has depth. We have a lot of guys back there that can play. It was a strategic move as far as getting him on the field."

Wiley played as the weak side linebacker, which moved Greg Jones to the middle and Eric Gordon to the strong side.

Jones said the change was not drastic.

"Eric actually played the (strong side) spot last year and I played the (middle) throughout the spring, so we felt pretty comfortable. Otis played great next to us."

To compensate for the loss of Wiley in the secondary, Kendell Davis-Clark returned to his safety position.

After being sidelined for the last five games with a shoulder injury, Davis-Clark joined Danny Fortener as the starting safeties.

"He brings a lot of things (to the secondary)," Fortener said of Davis-Clark. "He is fast back there."

In addition to Wiley, the linebackers got a boost from the play of Ryan Allison. With more speed than Adam Decker, and Brandon Denson still overcoming an injury, the wide receiver-turned-linebacker came up with the best game of his defensive career.

The senior from Lake Orion tied for a team-best 11 tackles. Jones and Gordon also had 11.