Couch: Michigan State's football problems are few, but big – and might stick

TEMPE, Ariz. – Michigan State isn’t the football team it hoped it would be. More disappointing, it’s not the team you hoped it would be.

Each year for nearly every college football program, there is a game when it becomes clear the season is going to fall short of everyone’s wildest dreams.

For MSU Version 2018, that game was Saturday night at Arizona State.

The defeat itself — 16-13 in Week 2, a couple thousand miles from home, against an opponent with optimism and legitimate playmakers — is only part of it. 

It’s why MSU lost. It’s the Spartans’ shortcomings. They’re serious. And, if the biggest jump in improvement is from the first game to the second, as coaches insist, they’re probably not going away. Meaning you’re likely to have this feeling again this season. At least a couple more times.

Forget any mishaps by MSU’s defense or the more than 300 yards passing the Spartans allowed for the second straight week. Never mind the late, tough pass interference call on cornerback Justin Layne, or defensive tackle Raequan Williams being unable to scoop up a fumble and carry it in for a touchdown. Bottom line: MSU gave up 16 points and kept the Sun Devils out of the end zone until the middle of the fourth quarter. Williams’ constant motor in that 100-degree heat was one of the more impressive things I’ve seen on a football field. Layne battled admirably with the most difficult receiver he’ll probably see all season. 

Forget the inches that Mark Dantonio lamented after the game.

The Spartans didn’t need inches. They needed touchdowns. They’re really bad at getting them when they get too close to the end zone.

“We’re definitely aware of it,” MSU quarterback Brian Lewerke said. “We don’t like it. It’s something we’ve got to get fixed.

“We can’t really score in the red zone. We’re not really doing a great job with that right now.”

MSU’s four trips inside Arizona’s 20-yard line resulted in one touchdown and that only came after 15-yard penalty kicked them back out to the 31-yard line. 

While one of those early trips ended with a tipped interception thrown by Lewerke, the issues that limit what this Spartan football season can become are plainly in front of Lewerke: MSU’s offensive line has regressed since last season.

Not everywhere. Just where it matters most — when MSU needs a tough yard or time for Lewerke to step into a throw and deliver a strike. 

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Outside of the red zone, the Spartans ran 18 times for 85 yards. That’s 4.7 yards per rush. Decent stuff. There were more creases than a week ago, more 6- and 7-yard dashes, more of an initial surge in situations where the defense didn’t know what was coming. Last week, MSU didn’t have a carry of more than 4 yards until LJ Scott’s 10th attempt. Saturday, the Spartans gained six or more yards six times in their first 10 carries. We were told there’d be progress. There was modest progress — between the 20s, for part of the game.

But inside the 20-yard line, MSU carried five times for 4 yards. Lewerke’s INT happened for three reasons: One, he didn’t step in, take the hit and deliver the ball on target; two, he had a giant man barreling toward his chest; three, Scott had lost 3 yards on the previous play, from the 3-yard line, when the offensive line lost ground. Lewerke never should have been in that situation. 

It was first down on the 3 and MSU played second down from the 6. 

MSU opened the third quarter with a 3-0 lead and a 12-play drive. It stalled on third-and-3 from the 8-yard line, when Tyler Higby was bulldozed back into running back Connor Heyward, who was left to spin into trouble elsewhere, losing 2 yards. 

The Spartans’ first trip to the red zone Saturday happened in large part because of the offensive line, because of runs for 7, 6, 10, 8 and 6 yards. MSU faced second-and-3 at the 17-yard line, rolling toward the end zone. Scott found two tough yards. Then, needing less than a yard, MSU snuck Lewerke twice up the middle. He didn’t gain ground either time. MSU was only gifted a field goal chance because of a penalty pre-snap, which allowed a redo of fourth down, as fourth-and-6. 

“The inability not to score in the red zone creeps up on us again,” Dantonio said. 

“Red zone problems” is becoming code for “offensive line/running game problems,” a kinder, all-encompassing way of not pointing fingers. 

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And, yes, if Williams had scooped up that fumble and scored or the penalty on Layne hadn’t been called, etc., etc., the Spartans might have escaped 20-16 or in overtime. And while there’d be the same concerns, they’d be masked in victory. Weaknesses seem more solvable, less urgent, less your identity when they haven’t yet stung you. 

I don’t know that MSU can solve its most glaring and debilitating deficiency. But it might be able to work around it. We started to see an attempt to do so in the second half, when MSU’s coaches called on Lewerke and the receivers in situations built for a strong running game — including when pinned deep against their own goal line. 

Third-and-1, from here on, should probably be a passing down 60 percent of the time with this crew. Anything-and-1, really. The running game is best used when the odds of a pass are 50-50, when the room between the opponent’s linebackers and the end zone is more than 15 yards. Perhaps only then, when teams truly begin to fear the pass in these situations will the running game have a chance. 

You can see much of what college football teams are going to be by the end of Week 2. If MSU doesn’t like what it sees, it’ll have to get creative.

“There’s a whole bunch of things that are going wrong,” MSU receiver Cody White said.

Not really.

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.