As good - excuses abound ——
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DotComp: Sunday Morning Coming Down
Jim Comparoni, Publisher
EAST LANSING - So we wake up Sunday morning with the latest proof that Michigan State can’t hang with teams in the Top 10. As if that’s shocking news.
Michigan State lost to No. 6-ranked Penn State, 28-7. Penn State is probably headed to 11-1. They’re pretty good. Don’t forget that part of the equation.
There’s probably 100 other teams in the same situation as Michigan State - unable to hang with the Top 10. Some of those teams are at least capable of rising up and competing with Top 10 teams once in awhile, or surprising them, like Kansas State and Illinois have done in the last two weeks. But did you see the field-storming reactions at those places when they did it? It’s kind of a big deal. At Michigan State, we’ve grown to expect that kind of big deal. And it’s not supposed to be an upset if and when it happens.
When did we get so full of ourselves that 4-4 becomes a crisis? And we make fun of Nebraska when they overreact?
When things go sour, when Michigan State gets gassed by Top 10 teams, as has happened in the last three weeks at Michigan State, it makes people around here want to go Cedar Village on each other. That’s commendable. These people have needs.
The first two blowout losses to Top 10 teams took place on the road. The latest one was strewn all over the home lawn. Now, the neighbors are talking. But nothing they’re saying is worse than what’s being said on the inside, by kneejerks and diehards alike.
Some are angry about the direction of Michigan State football, some are sad, some are worried. They all see the same thing - three straight losses and only two touchdowns in those games.
Going 0-3 in this stretch shouldn’t surprise anyone who has watched football since September. Ohio State, Wisconsin and Penn State are good. But, back in August, none of us thought thought they were going to be this good. They’ve been a surprise, which has made MSU’s schedule harder than we forecasted.
I thought Wisconsin and Penn State were winnable games in July. But as those games approached, the assignment grew steeper - partly due to MSU’s problems.
MSU’s defense has disappointed and the offense remains dormant. The result is a free fall to the bottom third of the Big Ten.
Theoretically, the schedule will ease up with a visit from suddenly-hot Illinois, after another off week to stew in defeat. Don’t look now but Illinois is going to come in here with a better record than Michigan State. The Illini will be 5-4 after they beat Rutgers next week.
In the meantime, Michigan State fans are trying to find enough wins to get to six or seven and earn bowl eligibility. Sneer at that if you will. You say it’s no big deal to become bowl eligible - until your team is actually one of the ones that fails to make it - as has been the case only once in Mark Dantonio’s previous 12 years as head coach.
But here’s the reality for Michigan State: If the Spartans trip up against the Illini, the Spartans will have to sweat to get to 6-6. That would be three unsavory seasons out of four, since the 2015 College Football Playoff season. Makes you want to try to find your cleanest dirty shirt.
Michigan State players felt terrible after this game.
“I’m going to tell my guys it could get worse,” said senior defensive end Raequan Williams, a captain who witnessed 2016’s 4-8 debacle. “And we’ve got to respond. We definitely have to respond.”
Williams is one of eight players on the team who were around in 2015 and were in the program when the Spartans began the season 12-1 and advanced to the College Football Playoff.
After this year, no one will remain who witnessed that run, other than the coaches and the fans. For the fans, that’s the standard. For the coaches who built that expectation, they are now backed into a corner by it.
The staff has grown older, and the results are not reflective of a tight, poised, venerable operation. Nor is recruiting. At least that’s the way it looks after three straight losses to Top 10 teams. That could change if Michigan State starts looking like a Top 25 team again, when facing more manageable opposition.
A growing number of people are mumbling whether or not Dantonio still has it. The mumblers were saying the same thing about Tom Izzo 11 months ago. You don’t remember? You might be one of them: “Why didn’t he play Jaren Jackson more against Syracuse? Izzo can’t coach against a zone.” Then he lost to Louisville last December in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, and he was definitely over the hill.
Now he’s No. 1. He raised his eighth Final Four banner on Friday night.
Dantonio isn’t going to have a team back in football’s Final Four any time soon, if ever. Football is a different mountain than basketball around here. But expectations remains high.
“Nobody is more disappointed in production than the offensive coaches or the offensive players and we've just have to keep recollecting ourselves and move forward,” Dantonio said. “We are 4-4, as tough as it is to say that because I know everybody wants us to be 8-0 right now, but we're 4-4 and we played four very good football teams and I think we should be a very good football team again too. But right now, we are not playing well enough to be that very good football team. We need to recollect ourselves and get ready for Illinois.”
This was the third or fourth Saturday evening we’ve heard Dantonio use that phrase this year: the need to recollect themselves.
“I think as much as anything, (you need to) recollect yourselves, stay positive with what we're doing,” he said again. “You can't abandon ship right now. That does not work, I know that. You have to remain positive.
“The only way I know how to do that is like I said before - stay tough, stay tough-minded, stay positive; don't get negative on people, place blame and say it's your fault. Stay positive and build into people and keep grinding. That's the only way I've known how to do it and that's what we'll continue to do.”
He’s repeating phrases. The wordsmiths among us pine for him to come up with other phrases, more creative ways to express control and wisdom.
That’s horse pucky.
He’s a coach, not a fiction writer.
When he talks about recollecting and staying positive, he’s not making it up. He has lived it. He has coached it. That’s what he did after the 6-7 season of 2009. His team came back strong at 11-2 in 2010.
That’s what he did after the 7-6 season of 2012. They came back strong at 13-1 in 2013.
That’s what he did in 2016. They came back strong at 10-3 in 2017.
Here’s the problem: There have been no instances in which Dantonio has been able to rescue a sinking season in mid-stream and salvage an eight-win season.
Eight wins isn’t a benchmark by any means. But it’s an interesting point of reference. With the exception of the 2016 season, Dantonio has usually won 10 or more games, or flailed right around .500.
In his third year as head coach, back in 2009, the Spartans started 1-3, including a loss to Central Michigan. But Michigan State beat Tate Forcier and previously unbeaten Michigan, won five of seven and got back in the bowl picture.
Then the Spartans lost to Penn State, Rather Hall happened, and they lost to Texas Tech in the Alamo Bowl and finished 6-7. If you want to call that salvaging a season, maybe after the 1-3 start, it was somewhat of an accomplishment. Back then, Michigan State hadn’t gone to bowl games in three straight years since Nick Saban’s first three seasons (1995-97).
Based on the trends, Dantonio is either likely to finish this year with five straight wins and a 9-4 record, or the .500 mode is going to continue right through the holidays. The latter is most likely, judging by the problems the Spartans have had against the last three opponents.
I heard people on Saturday night say it’s becoming like the John L. Smith days or Bobby Williams days all over again. Well, no it’s not. Michigan State was bowl eligible in the first year of the Smith era, and failed in the next three. Michigan State was bowl eligible in the first year of the Williams era, and failed in the next two. That’s five years of failure out of seven. This might feel like that. But if it does, please slap yourself. You’ve become desensitized.
If Michigan State loses to Illinois, then we’ll talk.
We know Michigan State can’t hang with Ohio State, Wisconsin and Penn State. I’m not ready to concede that the Spartans aren’t capable of playing well against lesser opponents. Meanwhile, another problem has arisen. Michigan, which struggled to barely beat Army (3-5) and was blown to bits by Wisconsin, has saved its season at mid-stream. The Wolverines have righted themselves and suddenly that opponent, too, looks more difficult than it did in late September.
Now it’s up to the Spartans to make themselves a better opponent than they have appeared throughout October. How can they get there? Here are five paths to improvement:
1. End the Weekly Defensive Busts
This was a problem for MSU’s defense through the first five games of the season last year. Then, during a victory at Penn State, the Spartan defense ended its weekly penchant for giving up one or two free touchdowns via miscommunication or assignment error.
Against Penn State on Saturday, the Spartan defense played fairly well for most of the game, but gave the Nittany Lions an easy pass to the end zone on a 16-yarder in the first quarter when veteran cornerback Josh Butler misplayed the ball. Butler was replaced by Shakur Brown for the next series.
On Penn State’s second touchdown, senior captain Joe Bachie lamented that he and the defense had seen the Nittany Lions’ touchdown play on film “30 times.” He called it a Y-pop. (A pop pass over the middle to the Y, the tight end).
Bachie saw Penn State do the Y-pop against Iowa and Pittsburgh. He knew it was coming.
“We’ve seen it,” he said. "The guard pulls. We know exactly how to fit it up, we know exactly how to cover it. Execution is what it comes down to.”
Senior linebacker Tyriq Thompson didn’t sink into coverage with the tight end. Was he supposed to? Probably. Was he supposed to at least jam and reroute the tight end? Probably.
“Tyriq thought he had someone behind him that was going to help him,” Bachie said.
But the tight end, Pat Freiermuth, was given a free release to the 5-yard line. Quarterback Sean Clifford hit him with a pass. Michigan State safety Xavier Henderson, whom Thompson must have assumed would arrive at the ball earlier, approached Freiermuth at the 4-yard line. Rather than wrapping him low with a tackle and giving Michigan State a chance for a goal-line stand, Henderson unsuccessfully went for a strip, like Michigan State did a few times at Ohio State.
They’re repeating mistakes the way Dantonio is repeating phrases.
It’s impossible to play without error on defense. But Michigan State came pretty close to doing that during a stretch of games against Penn State, Michigan, Purdue, Maryland, Ohio State, Nebraska, Rutgers and Oregon to close out the season last year. Michigan and Ohio State pulled away against the Spartans, but Michigan State hung tough on defense, sure and sound, physical and correct most of the way.
If they can harness that level of defense, then the Spartans have a chance to make noise in the last one-third of the season. I don’t think any outsiders are expecting Michigan State to achieve that level of play against Illinois, Michigan, Maryland and Rutgers. But the Spartans are still chasing that standard.
“We just have to play mistake-free football,” said junior linebacker Antjuan Simmons.
He said it like it’s almost easy.
“Mistakes can be fixed. It’s just up here,” he said, pointing to his head. “Keeping everybody together and moving in the same direction, that’s going to be harder than worrying about a misfit on a gap.
“We just have to loosen up. We carry a lot of pressure. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves. It kind of wears on you. We have to go back to the basics, just have fun, just trust in our job. In the second half (against Penn State), I feel we did that.”
Penn State wasn’t exactly a wide-open engine at that point. The Nittany Lions throttled down a bit, with a big lead, in a driving rainstorm. Michigan State didn’t stop a juggernaut at full-bore in the second half. But if they feel they did some things on defense in the second half that they can build on, well maybe that will help the part of the body Simmons pointed at when saying that’s where the Spartans need to be strong.
2. Straighten Up At Cornerback
Problems have sprung up at the cornerback position opposite Josiah Scott. Butler struggled on the TD pass in this game. Brown gained a rhythm after early struggles in this game as well. Give Brown a mulligan, because it was his first game since going down with an injury on opening night.
At Ohio State, Kalon Gervin replaced the injured Brown, and struggled badly with his tackling.
At Wisconsin, sophomore safety Xavier Henderson missed an assignment on a fourth-and-short pass to the goal line. He also missed more tackles in one game than he had missed in the previous month.
Henderson was back playing sharp football against Penn State. He rebounded nicely.
Now, the survivor of the Butler-Brown competition, needs to do the same. This is a competition that raged during August camp, and should have continued into the early weeks of September, eventually yielding a solvent tag team partner for Scott. But Brown went down with an undisclosed injury. Michigan State had to sink or swim with Butler. He’s been okay, but not up to the usual Michigan State standard. Whether or not Brown, or Gervin, can rise up and give Michigan State better dependability at that position will go a long way toward determining whether this team’s defense can make a late-season run like last year.
3. Get Back to Stuffing the Run
Michigan State did a decent job of containing a quality Penn State running game on Saturday. Michigan State kept Wisconsin’s ground game under its averages too.
Now, Michigan State needs to make the most of a second bye in three weeks. Mike Panasiuk was healthier this weekend, and played with more firmness.
Despite jumping off-side on a third-and-one, reserve defensive tackle Naquan Jones had a quality comeback game, too. Butler had a problem in coverage on the touchdown, but tackled well. So did nickel back Tre Person.
Illinois has a fine running back in Reggie Corbin. Illinois rushed for 242 yards in a 24-6 victory over Purdue on Saturday. Illini quarterbacks had to attempt only six passes on the day while dominating the game, in the same Midwestern rainstorm that soaked most Big Ten stadiums this weekend.
Michigan State isn’t likely to put a straight jacket on Illinois’ run game the way the Spartans did a few times to other opponents earlier this season. But Michigan State needs to get back to a strong level of respectability with its ground defense, beginning on Nov. 9. And they have the capacity to do it.
4. Resurrect the Old Brian Lewerke
Does anybody remember laughter?
Does anybody remember laughter?
He looked like mentally-damaged goods at Wisconsin, due in part to the beating he took in the fourth quarter at Ohio State, and to an understandable lack of confidence in his pass protection and receivers. After a week off, I was expecting to see a smoother version of the senior against Penn State, although Penn State’s defense is just as tough as Wisconsin’s. But it didn’t happen. Was the rain a factor? Absolutely. So I’m not ready to conclude that Lewerke is incapable of rallying in November.
However, he probably doesn’t know which receivers he’s going to be working with. C.J Hayes missed the game with an undisclosed injury. He’s not great, but he was somewhat familiar to Lewerke, if not completely reliable.
Darrell Stewart missed the second half with an undisclosed injury. Laress Nelson was pressed into duty and lasted less than a quarter before he went down with an injury.
The good news is that tight end Matt Dotson played four quarters without dropping a pass. He had four catches, including a nice 19-yarder.
True freshman Tre Mosley shed the redshirt and made a dazzling debut with four difficult catches in traffic for 37 yards.
Junior Cody White had his best game of the year, with two difficult catches, plus a deep one for 49 yards.
One of the problems with this offense is that every single catch seems like a major accomplishment. They don’t make it look easy.
There were sparks of optimism in the receiving corps. Will they turn in a strong, reliable performance for Lewerke on Nov. 9? I’ll have to see it to believe it. But that’s one of the elements that’s needed if the Spartans want to make a run at eight wins.
5. Iron Out the Special Teams
Punter Jake Hartbarger had a bad game. That probably won't happen again. Don’t worry about him.
Place kicker Matt Coghlin didn’t get a chance to break out of his season-long slump. He’s still a worry, as is his field goal protection. Left tackle Mustafa Khaleefa allowed penetration as the Nittany Lions blocked a 46-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter. The most humiliating thing about that field goal block is that Penn State wasn’t even going for a block. They were in field goal safe, trying to protect against a fake. But Khaleefa allowed himself to be turnstiled.
Michigan State had field goal protection problems at Ohio State, too.
MSU’s punt coverage allowed a touchdown return to speedy K.J. Hamler. It was called back due to a running into the punter penalty. Lucky.
Senior punt returner Brandon Sowards is as experienced as any at the position in the Big Ten. But he erred in deciding to field a punt inside the 10-yard line, and then made that decision even worse by fumbling it at the 6-yard line. Penn State scored on the next play to make it 28-0.
Michigan State is so challenged on offense, and playing so far below its expected level on defense, that the Spartans simply can’t afford to play like stooges on special teams. There will be no November rally if the Spartans keep committing gaffes in the kicking game.
* As for the offensive line, it continues to be an area of mystery. A.J. Arcuri started at left tackle for the first time in his career. He allowed two sacks.
Tyler Higby didn’t see action, due to an undisclosed injury. Higby had replaced Kevin Jarvis at left tackle in September, who replaced Arcuri in August, who replaced Cole Chewins. Last week, true freshman DeVontae Dobbs was listed as Higby’s back-up at left tackle. But Dobbs wasn’t available on Saturday due to an undisclosed injury.
Jarvis, Dobbs, Higby, Jarvis and Chewins are all working to try to return.
Senior center Matt Allen left the game in the fourth quarter with a lower body injury. He gingerly left the field under his own power.
Blake Bueter, who missed three games with an injury, returned to the playing group at right guard this week. If Allen has trouble returning to the field in November, Bueter likely becomes the man at center, with true freshman Nick Samac in line as a back-up.
Arcuri wasn’t all bad against Penn State. He looked like a guy making a debut. He ranked second-to-last on the team in pass protection grades, according to Pro Football Focus. He ranked No. 2 on the team in run blocking grades, trailing only J.D. Duplain.
Duplain, a true freshman, played 19 snaps at left guard.
MSU’s run game wasn’t terrible against a Penn State defense which leads the nation in yards allowed per rush attempt. Redshirt freshman Elijah Collins averaged 3.1 yards per carry, and ran through contact a little bit.
There’s hope up front. The run game has a pulse. Run blocking and pass blocking might look better when the Spartans get away from this parade of NFL pass rushers they’ve faced the last three games.
THE TAKEAWAY
Here’s the Deal: Being 4-4 means Michigan State is no longer pursuing the lofty goals of the preseason, or the trophies you’ve seen Dantonio hoist in past years. But there’s still college football remaining, and a chance to not feel as crappy about your life as you currently do.
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DotComp: Sunday Morning Coming Down
Jim Comparoni, Publisher
EAST LANSING - So we wake up Sunday morning with the latest proof that Michigan State can’t hang with teams in the Top 10. As if that’s shocking news.
Michigan State lost to No. 6-ranked Penn State, 28-7. Penn State is probably headed to 11-1. They’re pretty good. Don’t forget that part of the equation.
There’s probably 100 other teams in the same situation as Michigan State - unable to hang with the Top 10. Some of those teams are at least capable of rising up and competing with Top 10 teams once in awhile, or surprising them, like Kansas State and Illinois have done in the last two weeks. But did you see the field-storming reactions at those places when they did it? It’s kind of a big deal. At Michigan State, we’ve grown to expect that kind of big deal. And it’s not supposed to be an upset if and when it happens.
When did we get so full of ourselves that 4-4 becomes a crisis? And we make fun of Nebraska when they overreact?
When things go sour, when Michigan State gets gassed by Top 10 teams, as has happened in the last three weeks at Michigan State, it makes people around here want to go Cedar Village on each other. That’s commendable. These people have needs.
The first two blowout losses to Top 10 teams took place on the road. The latest one was strewn all over the home lawn. Now, the neighbors are talking. But nothing they’re saying is worse than what’s being said on the inside, by kneejerks and diehards alike.
Some are angry about the direction of Michigan State football, some are sad, some are worried. They all see the same thing - three straight losses and only two touchdowns in those games.
Going 0-3 in this stretch shouldn’t surprise anyone who has watched football since September. Ohio State, Wisconsin and Penn State are good. But, back in August, none of us thought thought they were going to be this good. They’ve been a surprise, which has made MSU’s schedule harder than we forecasted.
I thought Wisconsin and Penn State were winnable games in July. But as those games approached, the assignment grew steeper - partly due to MSU’s problems.
MSU’s defense has disappointed and the offense remains dormant. The result is a free fall to the bottom third of the Big Ten.
Theoretically, the schedule will ease up with a visit from suddenly-hot Illinois, after another off week to stew in defeat. Don’t look now but Illinois is going to come in here with a better record than Michigan State. The Illini will be 5-4 after they beat Rutgers next week.
In the meantime, Michigan State fans are trying to find enough wins to get to six or seven and earn bowl eligibility. Sneer at that if you will. You say it’s no big deal to become bowl eligible - until your team is actually one of the ones that fails to make it - as has been the case only once in Mark Dantonio’s previous 12 years as head coach.
But here’s the reality for Michigan State: If the Spartans trip up against the Illini, the Spartans will have to sweat to get to 6-6. That would be three unsavory seasons out of four, since the 2015 College Football Playoff season. Makes you want to try to find your cleanest dirty shirt.
Michigan State players felt terrible after this game.
“I’m going to tell my guys it could get worse,” said senior defensive end Raequan Williams, a captain who witnessed 2016’s 4-8 debacle. “And we’ve got to respond. We definitely have to respond.”
Williams is one of eight players on the team who were around in 2015 and were in the program when the Spartans began the season 12-1 and advanced to the College Football Playoff.
After this year, no one will remain who witnessed that run, other than the coaches and the fans. For the fans, that’s the standard. For the coaches who built that expectation, they are now backed into a corner by it.
The staff has grown older, and the results are not reflective of a tight, poised, venerable operation. Nor is recruiting. At least that’s the way it looks after three straight losses to Top 10 teams. That could change if Michigan State starts looking like a Top 25 team again, when facing more manageable opposition.
A growing number of people are mumbling whether or not Dantonio still has it. The mumblers were saying the same thing about Tom Izzo 11 months ago. You don’t remember? You might be one of them: “Why didn’t he play Jaren Jackson more against Syracuse? Izzo can’t coach against a zone.” Then he lost to Louisville last December in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, and he was definitely over the hill.
Now he’s No. 1. He raised his eighth Final Four banner on Friday night.
Dantonio isn’t going to have a team back in football’s Final Four any time soon, if ever. Football is a different mountain than basketball around here. But expectations remains high.
“Nobody is more disappointed in production than the offensive coaches or the offensive players and we've just have to keep recollecting ourselves and move forward,” Dantonio said. “We are 4-4, as tough as it is to say that because I know everybody wants us to be 8-0 right now, but we're 4-4 and we played four very good football teams and I think we should be a very good football team again too. But right now, we are not playing well enough to be that very good football team. We need to recollect ourselves and get ready for Illinois.”
This was the third or fourth Saturday evening we’ve heard Dantonio use that phrase this year: the need to recollect themselves.
“I think as much as anything, (you need to) recollect yourselves, stay positive with what we're doing,” he said again. “You can't abandon ship right now. That does not work, I know that. You have to remain positive.
“The only way I know how to do that is like I said before - stay tough, stay tough-minded, stay positive; don't get negative on people, place blame and say it's your fault. Stay positive and build into people and keep grinding. That's the only way I've known how to do it and that's what we'll continue to do.”
He’s repeating phrases. The wordsmiths among us pine for him to come up with other phrases, more creative ways to express control and wisdom.
That’s horse pucky.
He’s a coach, not a fiction writer.
When he talks about recollecting and staying positive, he’s not making it up. He has lived it. He has coached it. That’s what he did after the 6-7 season of 2009. His team came back strong at 11-2 in 2010.
That’s what he did after the 7-6 season of 2012. They came back strong at 13-1 in 2013.
That’s what he did in 2016. They came back strong at 10-3 in 2017.
Here’s the problem: There have been no instances in which Dantonio has been able to rescue a sinking season in mid-stream and salvage an eight-win season.
Eight wins isn’t a benchmark by any means. But it’s an interesting point of reference. With the exception of the 2016 season, Dantonio has usually won 10 or more games, or flailed right around .500.
In his third year as head coach, back in 2009, the Spartans started 1-3, including a loss to Central Michigan. But Michigan State beat Tate Forcier and previously unbeaten Michigan, won five of seven and got back in the bowl picture.
Then the Spartans lost to Penn State, Rather Hall happened, and they lost to Texas Tech in the Alamo Bowl and finished 6-7. If you want to call that salvaging a season, maybe after the 1-3 start, it was somewhat of an accomplishment. Back then, Michigan State hadn’t gone to bowl games in three straight years since Nick Saban’s first three seasons (1995-97).
Based on the trends, Dantonio is either likely to finish this year with five straight wins and a 9-4 record, or the .500 mode is going to continue right through the holidays. The latter is most likely, judging by the problems the Spartans have had against the last three opponents.
I heard people on Saturday night say it’s becoming like the John L. Smith days or Bobby Williams days all over again. Well, no it’s not. Michigan State was bowl eligible in the first year of the Smith era, and failed in the next three. Michigan State was bowl eligible in the first year of the Williams era, and failed in the next two. That’s five years of failure out of seven. This might feel like that. But if it does, please slap yourself. You’ve become desensitized.
If Michigan State loses to Illinois, then we’ll talk.
We know Michigan State can’t hang with Ohio State, Wisconsin and Penn State. I’m not ready to concede that the Spartans aren’t capable of playing well against lesser opponents. Meanwhile, another problem has arisen. Michigan, which struggled to barely beat Army (3-5) and was blown to bits by Wisconsin, has saved its season at mid-stream. The Wolverines have righted themselves and suddenly that opponent, too, looks more difficult than it did in late September.
Now it’s up to the Spartans to make themselves a better opponent than they have appeared throughout October. How can they get there? Here are five paths to improvement:
1. End the Weekly Defensive Busts
This was a problem for MSU’s defense through the first five games of the season last year. Then, during a victory at Penn State, the Spartan defense ended its weekly penchant for giving up one or two free touchdowns via miscommunication or assignment error.
Against Penn State on Saturday, the Spartan defense played fairly well for most of the game, but gave the Nittany Lions an easy pass to the end zone on a 16-yarder in the first quarter when veteran cornerback Josh Butler misplayed the ball. Butler was replaced by Shakur Brown for the next series.
On Penn State’s second touchdown, senior captain Joe Bachie lamented that he and the defense had seen the Nittany Lions’ touchdown play on film “30 times.” He called it a Y-pop. (A pop pass over the middle to the Y, the tight end).
Bachie saw Penn State do the Y-pop against Iowa and Pittsburgh. He knew it was coming.
“We’ve seen it,” he said. "The guard pulls. We know exactly how to fit it up, we know exactly how to cover it. Execution is what it comes down to.”
Senior linebacker Tyriq Thompson didn’t sink into coverage with the tight end. Was he supposed to? Probably. Was he supposed to at least jam and reroute the tight end? Probably.
“Tyriq thought he had someone behind him that was going to help him,” Bachie said.
But the tight end, Pat Freiermuth, was given a free release to the 5-yard line. Quarterback Sean Clifford hit him with a pass. Michigan State safety Xavier Henderson, whom Thompson must have assumed would arrive at the ball earlier, approached Freiermuth at the 4-yard line. Rather than wrapping him low with a tackle and giving Michigan State a chance for a goal-line stand, Henderson unsuccessfully went for a strip, like Michigan State did a few times at Ohio State.
They’re repeating mistakes the way Dantonio is repeating phrases.
It’s impossible to play without error on defense. But Michigan State came pretty close to doing that during a stretch of games against Penn State, Michigan, Purdue, Maryland, Ohio State, Nebraska, Rutgers and Oregon to close out the season last year. Michigan and Ohio State pulled away against the Spartans, but Michigan State hung tough on defense, sure and sound, physical and correct most of the way.
If they can harness that level of defense, then the Spartans have a chance to make noise in the last one-third of the season. I don’t think any outsiders are expecting Michigan State to achieve that level of play against Illinois, Michigan, Maryland and Rutgers. But the Spartans are still chasing that standard.
“We just have to play mistake-free football,” said junior linebacker Antjuan Simmons.
He said it like it’s almost easy.
“Mistakes can be fixed. It’s just up here,” he said, pointing to his head. “Keeping everybody together and moving in the same direction, that’s going to be harder than worrying about a misfit on a gap.
“We just have to loosen up. We carry a lot of pressure. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves. It kind of wears on you. We have to go back to the basics, just have fun, just trust in our job. In the second half (against Penn State), I feel we did that.”
Penn State wasn’t exactly a wide-open engine at that point. The Nittany Lions throttled down a bit, with a big lead, in a driving rainstorm. Michigan State didn’t stop a juggernaut at full-bore in the second half. But if they feel they did some things on defense in the second half that they can build on, well maybe that will help the part of the body Simmons pointed at when saying that’s where the Spartans need to be strong.
2. Straighten Up At Cornerback
Problems have sprung up at the cornerback position opposite Josiah Scott. Butler struggled on the TD pass in this game. Brown gained a rhythm after early struggles in this game as well. Give Brown a mulligan, because it was his first game since going down with an injury on opening night.
At Ohio State, Kalon Gervin replaced the injured Brown, and struggled badly with his tackling.
At Wisconsin, sophomore safety Xavier Henderson missed an assignment on a fourth-and-short pass to the goal line. He also missed more tackles in one game than he had missed in the previous month.
Henderson was back playing sharp football against Penn State. He rebounded nicely.
Now, the survivor of the Butler-Brown competition, needs to do the same. This is a competition that raged during August camp, and should have continued into the early weeks of September, eventually yielding a solvent tag team partner for Scott. But Brown went down with an undisclosed injury. Michigan State had to sink or swim with Butler. He’s been okay, but not up to the usual Michigan State standard. Whether or not Brown, or Gervin, can rise up and give Michigan State better dependability at that position will go a long way toward determining whether this team’s defense can make a late-season run like last year.
3. Get Back to Stuffing the Run
Michigan State did a decent job of containing a quality Penn State running game on Saturday. Michigan State kept Wisconsin’s ground game under its averages too.
Now, Michigan State needs to make the most of a second bye in three weeks. Mike Panasiuk was healthier this weekend, and played with more firmness.
Despite jumping off-side on a third-and-one, reserve defensive tackle Naquan Jones had a quality comeback game, too. Butler had a problem in coverage on the touchdown, but tackled well. So did nickel back Tre Person.
Illinois has a fine running back in Reggie Corbin. Illinois rushed for 242 yards in a 24-6 victory over Purdue on Saturday. Illini quarterbacks had to attempt only six passes on the day while dominating the game, in the same Midwestern rainstorm that soaked most Big Ten stadiums this weekend.
Michigan State isn’t likely to put a straight jacket on Illinois’ run game the way the Spartans did a few times to other opponents earlier this season. But Michigan State needs to get back to a strong level of respectability with its ground defense, beginning on Nov. 9. And they have the capacity to do it.
4. Resurrect the Old Brian Lewerke
Does anybody remember laughter?
Does anybody remember laughter?
He looked like mentally-damaged goods at Wisconsin, due in part to the beating he took in the fourth quarter at Ohio State, and to an understandable lack of confidence in his pass protection and receivers. After a week off, I was expecting to see a smoother version of the senior against Penn State, although Penn State’s defense is just as tough as Wisconsin’s. But it didn’t happen. Was the rain a factor? Absolutely. So I’m not ready to conclude that Lewerke is incapable of rallying in November.
However, he probably doesn’t know which receivers he’s going to be working with. C.J Hayes missed the game with an undisclosed injury. He’s not great, but he was somewhat familiar to Lewerke, if not completely reliable.
Darrell Stewart missed the second half with an undisclosed injury. Laress Nelson was pressed into duty and lasted less than a quarter before he went down with an injury.
The good news is that tight end Matt Dotson played four quarters without dropping a pass. He had four catches, including a nice 19-yarder.
True freshman Tre Mosley shed the redshirt and made a dazzling debut with four difficult catches in traffic for 37 yards.
Junior Cody White had his best game of the year, with two difficult catches, plus a deep one for 49 yards.
One of the problems with this offense is that every single catch seems like a major accomplishment. They don’t make it look easy.
There were sparks of optimism in the receiving corps. Will they turn in a strong, reliable performance for Lewerke on Nov. 9? I’ll have to see it to believe it. But that’s one of the elements that’s needed if the Spartans want to make a run at eight wins.
5. Iron Out the Special Teams
Punter Jake Hartbarger had a bad game. That probably won't happen again. Don’t worry about him.
Place kicker Matt Coghlin didn’t get a chance to break out of his season-long slump. He’s still a worry, as is his field goal protection. Left tackle Mustafa Khaleefa allowed penetration as the Nittany Lions blocked a 46-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter. The most humiliating thing about that field goal block is that Penn State wasn’t even going for a block. They were in field goal safe, trying to protect against a fake. But Khaleefa allowed himself to be turnstiled.
Michigan State had field goal protection problems at Ohio State, too.
MSU’s punt coverage allowed a touchdown return to speedy K.J. Hamler. It was called back due to a running into the punter penalty. Lucky.
Senior punt returner Brandon Sowards is as experienced as any at the position in the Big Ten. But he erred in deciding to field a punt inside the 10-yard line, and then made that decision even worse by fumbling it at the 6-yard line. Penn State scored on the next play to make it 28-0.
Michigan State is so challenged on offense, and playing so far below its expected level on defense, that the Spartans simply can’t afford to play like stooges on special teams. There will be no November rally if the Spartans keep committing gaffes in the kicking game.
* As for the offensive line, it continues to be an area of mystery. A.J. Arcuri started at left tackle for the first time in his career. He allowed two sacks.
Tyler Higby didn’t see action, due to an undisclosed injury. Higby had replaced Kevin Jarvis at left tackle in September, who replaced Arcuri in August, who replaced Cole Chewins. Last week, true freshman DeVontae Dobbs was listed as Higby’s back-up at left tackle. But Dobbs wasn’t available on Saturday due to an undisclosed injury.
Jarvis, Dobbs, Higby, Jarvis and Chewins are all working to try to return.
Senior center Matt Allen left the game in the fourth quarter with a lower body injury. He gingerly left the field under his own power.
Blake Bueter, who missed three games with an injury, returned to the playing group at right guard this week. If Allen has trouble returning to the field in November, Bueter likely becomes the man at center, with true freshman Nick Samac in line as a back-up.
Arcuri wasn’t all bad against Penn State. He looked like a guy making a debut. He ranked second-to-last on the team in pass protection grades, according to Pro Football Focus. He ranked No. 2 on the team in run blocking grades, trailing only J.D. Duplain.
Duplain, a true freshman, played 19 snaps at left guard.
MSU’s run game wasn’t terrible against a Penn State defense which leads the nation in yards allowed per rush attempt. Redshirt freshman Elijah Collins averaged 3.1 yards per carry, and ran through contact a little bit.
There’s hope up front. The run game has a pulse. Run blocking and pass blocking might look better when the Spartans get away from this parade of NFL pass rushers they’ve faced the last three games.
THE TAKEAWAY
Here’s the Deal: Being 4-4 means Michigan State is no longer pursuing the lofty goals of the preseason, or the trophies you’ve seen Dantonio hoist in past years. But there’s still college football remaining, and a chance to not feel as crappy about your life as you currently do.
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