Kirby Smart, Alabama players shower Michigan State QB Connor Cook with praise

But in the NFL, Tom Brady does not get feted for his numbers as much as his number of Super Bowl rings.

That kind of talent makes Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide perennial national championship contenders.

And he’s done all of that at a school that previously went decades without any notable milestones. For Michigan State to pull the upset – doesn’t it always seem as if the Spartans are trying to pull an upset? – it will be on Allen and his crew to win a fight in which they will be significantly outnumbered.

Lately, co-offensive coordinators Dave Warner and Jim Bollman have been handling the tailback corps like a pitching staff with Holmes cast as the starter in the last six games, all three taking turns as setup men and Scott going in as the closer. “You get exhausted of hitting that big back. We’ve got each other in here, and that’s all you need”. Tom Herman managed to split duties at Ohio State and Houston last season. That said, he beat both of those teams this calendar year.

The College Football Playoff is going to be nuts between the Michigan State Spartans and the Alabama Crimson Tide.

“I think it’s really just all a mindset”, he said. “To not coach in this game, I couldn’t imagine”. I like the way he plays.

“These guys want to win this game, they want to win the next game”.

For some time now, Cook’s lofty status as an NFL Draft prospect has seemingly outpaced his relatively modest college accolades.

DALLAS | When Kirby Smart accepted his first coaching job in 2000, Valdosta State offered him $10,000 a year, a Nissan Altima and a place to stay to be its secondary coach. Smart said with gusto.

Smart compared Cook to former Boston College star Matt Ryan. He’s a prototypical step-up-in-the-pocket, avoid the rush, make all the throws – and they run deigned runs for this guy.

Added defensive lineman Jarran Reed: “I don’t think we’re about to let anybody drag us into the end zone”.

So why, then, has he sometimes been a less-than-unbelievable collegian?

Each has started to develop his own style and in some cases his own role, but they all say that no one in the Michigan State huddle has figured out a pattern of who is playing when. Saban has won four national championships since leaving the Spartans, so under different circumstances, Michigan State fans might view him as the one who got away. Spread QB Vernon Adams Jr. of OR leads the nation this season, but Stanford’s Kevin Hogan is fourth.

Michigan State ranks ninth in the country in rushing yards allowed per game at 113.1 and 22nd in yards per carry at 3.55. No Le’Veon Bell or Jeremy Langford has yet emerged on a consistent basis in the Spartans’ backfield, and senior Aaron Burbridge has essentially been Cook’s lone reliable target. Cook wasn’t thinking about the shoulder injury that was bothering him the latter half of the season at this point.

Which is why Thursday night’s game truly could be a dramatic legacy-changer. Given no one has yet been able to run the ball on Alabama, a Michigan State victory likely hinges on its quarterback.

“There’s a positive attitude to this group that I didn’t feel like we had with the last group”, said Smart, who has already accepted the Georgia head coach job.

“Something in finance”, Smart said Monday. “You know, Peyton Manning is my favorite quarterback”. It’s fitting that Cook will have a shot at winning it all.

Cunningham, who had 218 catches from 2008-11, is also the only player with more than Burbridge at Michigan State. “I mean, that’s just part of football”.