Skip to main content
Michigan State

V-Cast: effort is there, but Michigan State not good enough in rivalry loss

On3 imageby: Paul Konyndyk15 hours agoPKonyndyk
VCast msu-michigan

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State (3-5, 0-5) saw its losing streak extend to five games with a 31-20 loss to its in-state rival at home on Saturday night in game where the Spartans showed some scrappiness but made far too many mistakes to pull off an upset win in a trophy game of this magnitude.

Afterward, SpartanMag staffers Jim Comparoni and Paul Konyndyk sorted through the good and the bad in the annual battle for the Paul Bunyan trophy in the latest V-Cast.

V-CAST TOPICS

Run Defense: Michigan State held the Wolverines to 362 yards of total offense under the lights in Spartan Stadium on Saturday night, but the Spartan defense had a tough time stopping the run in this game from start to finish. The Michigan State defense was on the field for a lot of snaps in the first half of this game on a night where the Spartans needed their offense to possess the ball as it had against an Indiana defense one week earlier. That IU defense was statistically superior to the Spartans played this weekend. The Wolverines ran for 276 yards, while averaging 5.5 yards per carry. UM scored all four of its touchdowns in this game on the ground. The Spartans forced their in-state rival to punt six times in this game.

Aidan Chiles struggles to get on track: Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith bemoaned the fact that the Spartan offense struggled to get on track for as long as it did in the first half of this game. One of the reasons why the Spartan offense struggled to get into a rhythm early in this game was the inaccurate passing of starting quarterback Aidan Chiles. One week after he had one of his most efficient passing games as a Spartan against a very good Indiana defense, Chiles had difficulty completing passes against the Wolverines. Chiles was 14-for-28 passing for 130 yards without a touchdown. Chiles did not throw an interception in this game, but a first quarter fumble led directly to a Wolverine field goal.

Where does Michigan State go from here? For the second consecutive week, the Spartans have done some good things and shown flashes of progress despite losing games. At 3-5, however, Michigan State simply needs to win some games to prove to its fanbase that progress is being made under Smith in his second-year as Spartan head coach. Doing so, will require Michigan State to clean up some of the self-inflicted mistakes that have been a consistent problem throughout the season.

You may also like