Michigan State targets run game, red zone fixes in year two of Brian Lindgren/Jonathan Smith system

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The first step toward beating more opponents in 2025 for Michigan State is not beating themselves. The Spartans haven’t done any 11-on-11 scrimmaging yet in fall camp, but offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren is optimistic that critical errors will be decreased in 2025, and head coach Jonathan Smith is bullish about offensive traction in year two of his tenure. When asked what areas of improvement he’s seen on offense in the spring and early in fall camp, Lindgren talked about the sharpness of the overall operation. “The consistency in execution,” Lindgren said. “Last year, we just killed ourselves a lot, whether it was a pre-snap penalty, not being aligned or a missed assignment up front, so much of that stuff. We just couldn't even get started because we were killing ourselves. Ten guys doing it right, one guy doing it wrong.” The Spartans allowed an average of 6.75 tackles for loss per game, which ranked No. 112 in the nation. The Spartans had an ugly penchant for giving up losses of two, three, four yards on first-and-10 running plays. And the Spartans almost never recovered from those situations to sustain drives.  Michigan State ranked No. 17 in the Big Ten in penalty yardage per game at 63.3. Michigan State didn’t have the explosiveness to make up for those ills. The Spartans ranked No. 95 in the county in yards per play at 5.36. An overhaul of the offensive line and wide receiver positions, plus a year of added maturity and experience at QB with Aidan Chiles, WR with Nick Marsh and at TE with Jack Velling, Michael Masunas and Brennan Parachek are showing dividends.  What's been the difference? (More inside SpartanMag).