but they still looked imposing in Friday's opener against the overmatched Gamecocks of the Football Championship Subdivision.Jacksonville State's offense was fairly well regarded, and there was talk that this would be a decent tuneup for Oregon's pace. The Gamecocks did manage a touchdown — the first allowed by Michigan State at home since Oct. 12."The one series that they scored on, they gassed us," Spartans coach Mark Dantonio said. "We have to get our guys out quicker when we see they are gassed. We had one guy get gassed on three straight plays when he was at the point of attack. . Otherwise, I thought we were effective out there and got people on and off the field."Defensive lineman Shilique Calhoun is one of the top players inthe Big Ten, and linebacker Taiwan Jones received solid reviews in the opener with Bullough gone. It remains to be seen whether Michigan State's defense can reach the level of last year's unit, but this next game will surely be a good indicator of the Spartans' progress.Whoever wins will probably be a very early favorite to reach college football's new four-team playoff — and perhaps both teams will be in the hunt for a while. That alone underscores how far Michigan State has come since the first game of last season, when the Spartans weren't sure who their top quarterback was and struggled to move the ball.Against Jacksonville State, Cook completed his first nine passes, the score was 38-0 at halftime, and the defense held the Gamecocks to