Michigan State football domination missing in second half at Western Michigan
Michigan State football domination missing in second half at
Western Michigan
KALAMAZOO —
Michigan State's football team played a hard-hitting, emotional game on Friday night at
Waldo Stadium.
The No. 5-Spartans (
1-0) prevailed 37-24, but not before Western Michigan (
0-1) exposed their secondary with
365 yards passing and embarrassed the kick coverage team with 70- and 100-yard returns.
"A win is a win" seemed to be the overriding sentiment from
MSU, and more than one player said "we just need to clean up some things."
No. 7 Oregon comes to
East Lansing next Saturday for the first showdown in
Spartan Stadium featuring two teams ranked in the top 10 since the 1966 game between
No. 1 Notre Dame and
No. 2 Michigan State.
So, that notion of cleaning some things up
...
Where to start?
How about this:
The Broncos outscored MSU 14-10 in the second half, and they outgained the Spartans 229-181 over the final
30 minutes.
Sound familiar? It should. Oregon outscored the Spartans 28-3 in the second half in
Eugene last season to hand Michigan State the loss.
Every team has work to do, it's cliche to say or think as much. The key is how much work needs to be done, and what sort is required.
Michigan State went to
Kalamazoo with the intention of dominating and proving the
Mid-American Conference Broncos were out of their league in more ways than one.
Instead, it was
WMU coach
P.J. Fleck rowing his offensive boat through the reputed deep waters of
Mark Dantonio's defense — the only unit to finish in the top 10 in the nation of the total defense category each of the past four years.
The Spartans' coaching staff doesn't want to hear about what former defensive coordinator
Pat Narduzzi would have done, or even consider the thought they might miss him.
But it's a fair question, and it would be naive to think an experienced defensive coordinator wouldn't be missed his first game away.
Yes, Dantonio has pointed out Narduzzi didn't make one tackle during his 11 years at the head coach's side at
Cincinnati and MSU.
But Narduzzi did motivate the players, often stemming the tide by coming down from the press box to deliver his messages in motivational fashion late in contests.
MSU looked like it could use a pep talk in the fourth quarter as the Broncos rolled for 134 yards in the final
15 minutes to the Spartans' 85.
It's up to the MSU seniors to step up when games are getting away like that. There's certainly enough of them, as 20 of the 23
Spartan seniors are of the fifth-year variety.
It's also fair to question how the Michigan State secondary will replace
Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year
Kurtis Drummond and
NFL first-round cornerback
Trae Waynes.
Western Michigan's offensive coaches obviously asked themselves the same question in the offseason and found some answers. Zach
Terrell was 33 of 55 for 365 yards and two touchdowns, along with two interceptions.
As for the MSU special teams,
Mark Snyder is the new assistant on staff and he's been assigned the task of improving special teams -- beginning with a kick cover team that ranked 95th in the nation last season.
The Spartans' offense had its moments, good and bad.
Quarterback Connor Cook was honest enough to grade himself "average," and he knows better than anyone he and his offensive teammates will have to play better if the Spartans are to beat Oregon.
Cook has an NFL arm and a superior understanding of the offense, but that won't matter if his receivers can't stay on the same page and get where they are supposed to be with more consistency.
Michigan State will be playing another hard-hitting, emotional game at Spartan Stadium next Saturday.