REACTION: Michigan State's Jonathan Smith on pass interference call, Milivojevic and 'not good enough'

MINNEAPOLIS - Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith has been asked for the past three weeks, after each loss, about his assessment for the job he has done as head coach of the Spartans, in relation to his expectations when he was hired in November of 2023.  Saturday’s near-miss, overtime loss at Minnesota didn’t change the answer he had after double-digit losses to Michigan and Indiana. The Spartans led late in a game for a change, and out-gained the opponent 467-301, but Smith’s feelings were the same. “I mean, look, not good enough,” Smith said following Saturday’s 23-20 defeat. “You look at the win-loss record. We're trying to win more than we lose, and we're not doing that.” The Spartans fell to 3-6. With games coming up against Iowa and Penn State prior to a season finale against Maryland at Ford Field in Detroit, the chances of getting to 6-6 and improving on last year’s record are dwindling fast, despite the fact that the Spartans showed improvement in this game, aided by a 311-yard passing performance from new starting QB Alessio Milivojevic. Three pressing topics dominated Smith’s postgame press conference: One, Milivojevic’s start; two, the officials’ decision to pick up a pass interference flag in overtime; three, Michigan State's play calling. (MORE inside SpartanMag. Join SpartanMag now - $1 for the first week - and enjoy a complimentary year of The Athletic included with your membership.)