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Michigan State

V-Cast: Where does Michigan State go from here?

On3 imageby: Paul Konyndyk10/05/25PKonyndyk
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LINCOLN, Neb. – Michigan State fell to 3-2 on the season with a second-consecutive road loss in Big Ten play. The difference between this loss at Nebraska and the previous loss on the road at Southern Cal is that the Spartans led by a touchdown late in the third quarter before falling 38-27 to the Huskers.

After the loss, SpartanMag staffers Jim Comparoni checked in from the field at Memorial Stadium with the V-Cast.

V-CAST TOPICS

Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve: Michigan State comes away from this game knowing that it easily could have left Lincoln with a much-needed win if the Spartans hadn’t made critical mistakes at inopportune moments. Special teams errors alone proved damning to Michigan State in this game. Big punt returns by Nebraska put the Spartan defense in difficult situations. Nebraska also turned Michigan State miscues on special teams into scoring opportunities. In the first half, Nebraska scored its second touchdown on a blocked Ryan Eckley punt that was returned for a score. Late in the third quarter with the game tied, a muffed kick return recovered by Nebraska resulted in a go-ahead field goal.

Mixed back for Chiles: Aidan Chiles struggled to throw the football on windy day at Memorial Field against a pass defense that is statistically among the best in college football. Poor pass protection for Chiles both early and late in this game resulted in stalled drives when Michigan State was badly in need of a scoring. As poorly as Chiles threw the ball in this game, there were also instances where the second-year Michigan State quarterback also put the team on his shoulders and carried the offense. Without the scrambling ability of Chiles it is doubtful that the Spartan offense would have had as many successful scoring drives as they did.

Smith animated after loss: Spartan football coach Jonathan Smith was as animated as we’ve seen him get after a game to this point in his tenure as head coach at Michigan State. Smith congratulated Nebraska for being the better team, and saying the Huskers deserved to win. But he also made it clear that the Spartans could have and should have played better in a game that was theirs for the taking. Smith was disappointed with the struggles of his offense to move the ball when they to in the second half of this game. He also wanted to see more from both the Spartan offense running the football and in pass protection.

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