Grading the Spartans' loss to Northwestern
OFFENSE 5
The Spartans put up 40 points and tallied 424 yards through the air with two different quarterbacks. It was the other variables that led to defeat. Brian Lewerke and Tyler O’Connor were sacked four times together and fumbled once on a protection breakdown. MSU converted just 5 of 16 third-down tries and, most telling, MSU’s three running backs combined for 13 carries and just 16 yards. The lack of carries had a lot to do with playing from behind. The lack of yards speaks to an offensive line that isn’t getting the job done.
DEFENSE 2
MSU finally found a semi-regular pass rush by moving Malik McDowell around, sometimes having him at end and being creative with blitzes. But it wasn’t consistent — it netted only one sack — and the Spartans’ secondary couldn’t hold up. The pick-six by freshman Justin Layne was the highlight of the day for a defense that allowed 11 third- and fourth-down conversions and 45 points (The offense and special teams were responsible for the other nine.). Afterward, co-defensive coordinator Mike Tressel questioned his defenses effort in flying to the ball to gang tackle. The missed tackles were certainly plentiful.
SPECIAL TEAMS 4
It was a day of extremes for MSU’s special teams unit. T.J. Harrell downed a perfect Jake Hartbarger punt at the 1-yard line. Hartbarger had another punt that went 61 yards. Michael Geiger made both field goals, including a 41-yarder that would have been good from 55 yards. The Spartans blocked a punt that, per every script, wound up in the arms of Jalen Watts-Jackson. But MSU also allowed the most backbreaking play of the season — a 95-yard punt return touchdown after it had trimmed the deficit to 33-31. And a penalty on one of its own kickoff returns, led to horrible field position, which set up a safety on a sack of Brian Lewerke.
COACHING 5
On one hand, MSU’s coaches seemed to try everything. They changed the quarterback and then weren’t too stubborn when it was clear they needed to change back. They moved Malik McDowell to defensive end, which sparked a previously inept pass rush. They took chances deep — with success — and called several trick plays. On the other hand, midway through the season, this team isn’t getting better. And many of problems that have dogged the Spartans from the beginning are still dogging them now. The coaches have to own a good portion of that.
BOTTOM LINE 10
The question now is what’s left for MSU in this season. The answer is the same as last week, but the margins have changed. The Spartans can still play in a bowl game. But they can’t lose another winnable game. They have four of them left — at Maryland next week, at Illinois on Nov. 5, Rutgers on Nov. 12 and at Penn State on Thanksgiving weekend. MSU is 9-for-9 making bowl games in the Mark Dantonio era. It’s one more slip-up away from making that 9 of … 10.
— Graham Couch