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Mentally, So Far So Good
Michigan State's focus has sharpened each day since beginning on-site practices for the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.
How that will carry over to game day is hard to know, Head Coach Mark Dantonio said Monday."My wife asks me that all time, how it's going to be," Dantonio said. "I just say, 'Hey, we'll see when the game gets here.'"
"I think our attention to detail is very good. I think the focus is good. You have to have great attention to detail. You have to play great fundamentally and tackle in space, get off blocks, play the ball, catch the ball. There are so many fundamental things to do in football that you may know what to do but you have to transfer that to the field."
The Spartans (12-1, 7-1 Big Ten), who are third in the CFP rankings, practiced at AT&T Stadium for the third consecutive day. They play No. 2 Alabama (12-1, 8-1 SEC) on Thursday. The game plan has been installed and the Spartans are refining it as they go through the week.
"We keep preparing," Dantonio said. "We keep looking and trying to make sure everything is squared away and look at every different aspect of the football game situationally, special teams, offense, defense."
The team was scheduled to attend the Dallas Mavericks game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night at American Airlines Center. After that, the entertainment part of the week will downshift as the team concentrates on the game in the final 48 hours.
The Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic celebrates its 80th anniversary on New Year's Eve while hosting its first College Football Playoff Semifinal. Airtime on ESPN is set for 7 p.m. CST, with kickoff slated for 7:10 p.m.
This marks the second year for the Goodyear Cotton Bowl to be a part of ESPN's bowl lineup. Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit will provide the call from the booth with Heather Cox and Tom Rinaldi reporting from the sideline.
ESPN Radio returns as the Classic's national radio partner for the fourth consecutive year. Brad Sham, the "Voice of the Dallas Cowboys," teams with Danny Kanell in the booth and Ian Fitzsimmons on the sideline to describe all the action from AT&T Stadium. This is Sham's 19th consecutive year as the Classic's play-by-play voice and his 23rd overall.
