Michigan State's trip to the Citrus Bowl seems a lot more like a reward for a great season now that Bobby Williams has been elevated to take Nick Saban's place as coach.

	Related Links: Williams takes over at MSU Michigan State 1999 results Michigan State bowl results Florida bowl report Citrus Bowl coverage Citrus Bowl results Bowl schedule Forum: Can Williams beat Spurrier in his first game?
	T O P   N E W S

While Saban was long on tough talk and exhausting practices, Williams is known more for an ever-present smile and an easy-going manner.

Perhaps that's why 50 Spartan players showed up at MSU president Peter MacPherson's home to campaign for Williams to get the job.

"He's not in your face,'' sophomore cornerback Cedric Henry said. "He says what's on his mind. He's easy to talk to, but if you're getting beat, he'll let you know.''

Williams' different demeanor was glaringly apparent to the Spartans from the first pre- bowl workout he supervised in East Lansing.

"It was a lot different,'' senior cornerback Amp Campbell said. "There was no cussing going on. No yelling. Everything went according to plan. We started practice at 2:30 and got off the field at 4:02. We didn't do anything that was going to keep us late. We just went out there and got the job done.''

Williams spent 10 seasons as an assistant at MSU, and he affected more than just players during that time. Every assistant coach on the staff with him chose to remain at Michigan State, rather than accompany Saban to LSU.

"No one is going to stay and work for someone because he's a buddy,'' said offensive coordinator Morris Watts. "What do you get judged on in this business? Wins and losses. So you're not going to stay and work for somebody who's not going to give you a chance to win.''

Williams said that fact shouldn't be obscured by the differences between him and Saban in personality.

"The big thing I had to do was show the administration that I had plans to move the program forward,'' he said.

"I assured them that we were going to prepare hard. We're going to demand. We're going to try to develop all the relationships that are necessary in-house, and with alumni -- all the things that make a football program run. I had to convince them that I was the guy for the job.''

The Personnel File

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Wide receiver Plaxico Burress was Michigan State's most consistent big-play threat. He caught nine touchdown passes and had 957 receiving yards and ranked among the Big Ten leaders in three receiving categories.

The 6-6 Burress averaged 18.1 yards per-catch and 87 receiving yards per-game, both second in the Big Ten, and ranked fourth in the league with 4.82 receptions per-game.

The biggest question with Burress is whether he will return for his senior season next year or enter the NFL draft.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Both candidates were long not only on performance, but inspiration, so let's make defensive end Robaire Smith and cornerback Amp Campbell co-recipients.

Smith came back from a broken leg suffered late last year to lead a fearsome MSU defensive line that keyed the team's stingy run defense. Campbell's return was even more in doubt. He broke his neck last year in the season's second game and wasn't sure he would walk again, let alone play football.

Instead, he set the tone for the year with a fumble return for a touchdown in the opening victory against Oregon and capped the season by preserving MSU's victory over Penn State with a forced fumble late in the fourth quarter.

COACH UPDATE: Bobby Williams will be in his first game as a head coach, after serving as MSU's running backs coach for the past 10 years and as associate head coach in 1999. He previously served as an assistant at Ball State, Kansas and Eastern Michigan.

Nick Saban (34-24-1 in five seasons at MSU, 43-26-1 in six years overall) is off to seek his fortune at LSU. Money he will find, to the tune of a guaranteed $1.2 million annually that could escalate to $1.55 million with incentives. Baton Rouge, however, is a graveyard for coaches where a smidgen over .500 would leave Saban on the same scrap heap with Mike Archer, Curley Hallman and Gerry DiNardo.

STRENGTHS: Michigan State's run defense (60 yards per game) is the second best in the nation and its pass rush is equally effective. Those two elements allowed the Spartans to achieve their first nine-win season since 1987.

CONCERNS: Not many teams get to Jan. 1 bowl games with a quarterback controversy, but Michigan State did. Senior Bill Burke was so shaky the latter half of the season that sophomore Ryan Van Dyke was called on to hand off late in the fourth quarter of the season finale against Penn State. Van Dyke will have the job all to himself next year.

Noteworthy

HAPPY DAYS: Michigan State's players are wide-eyed at the attractions available to them in Orlando, and they aren't alone.

Coach Bobby Williams also wants to take in the sites.

"I'm going to go to Disney World, Universal Studios and do everything the team is doing.'' Williams said. "I'm going to do every single thing there is to do.''

Might all that off-field fun come back to haunt the Spartans on Jan. 1?

"It won't be hard to concentrate,'' defensive end Robaire Smith said. "Practices are just two hours long. It's not hard to take two hours out of the day and take care of business. There are a lot of things we want to do, but we will keep focused.''

NO HARD FEELINGS: Michigan State's players were initially upset at being bypassed by the BCS, particularly when Michigan gained a bid to the Orange Bowl. But now the Spartans claim to have no hard feelings over being snubbed and winding up in Orlando.

"The case is, we won head-to-head,'' co-captain Aric Morris said. "They shouldn't decide based on politics. They should have rewarded us for our hard work.''

"We know we're one of the top teams and we should have been in the BCS picture,'' Robaire Smith said. "I don't know how the computer rankings go. Michigan is ranked ahead of us (in the polls), but we have the same record and beat them convincingly.''

TIME TO ATONE: Michigan State doesn't have much recent bowl success, given its 38-0 loss to Stanford in the 1996 Sun Bowl and a 51-23 loss to Oregon in the 1997 Aloha Bowl.

COMING BACK: Wide receiver Gari Scott and cornerback Amp Campbell will return to Florida on Jan. 29 to play in the Team USA-Florida game. Proceeds will benefit spinal cord research, a cause close to Campbell's heart because of his brush with paralysis following a broken neck in a 1998 game at Oregon.

HOT TICKET: Michigan State sold nearly 14,000 tickets for the game prior to departing on Dec. 20 for Orlando. That's 2,000 more than it was required to purchase upon receiving the Citrus Bowl bid. That could go a long way toward dispelling MSU's reputation as a lukewarm bowl traveling team.

A Look Ahead

Here's a glance at who the Spartans will have to replace in the starting lineup next season.

OFFENSE: Five starters lost, with linemen Greg Robinson-Randall and Casey Jensen the hardest to replace. QB Bill Burke and TB Lloyd Clemons are also gone, but MSU has capable replacements who are as good or better. WR Gari Scott is a big loss that would be bigger if Plaxico Burress enters the NFL draft a year early, as expected.

DEFENSE: Five starters lost. S Aric Morris, CB Amp Campbell, DE Robaire Smith, DE Julian Peterson and T Desmond Thomas were all big-time players for MSU.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Kicker Paul Edinger is gone and that's a huge loss, given his 18-of-22 accuracy on field goals. Scott's departure also depletes the punt return game.