EAST LANSING – Nick Sheridan knows he needs to become Michael Bay.
Michigan State football’s offense needs more explosions.
The Spartans’ lack of big plays, in both the passing and run game, have become glaring and problematic during their ongoing three-game losing streak. It reached critical mass during Saturday’s 31-3 blowout at Wisconsin, as MSU did not generate a single play of 10-or-more yards and failed to convert on five straight fourth down chances while desperately seeking to move the chains.
And to find any kind of spark to find the end zone.
“Certainly, that was the biggest factor. We didn’t create explosive plays in the game,” Sheridan said Tuesday, Oct. 6. “And then in critical moments on third and fourth downs, we weren’t able to convert.
Which ultimately is going to lead you to points.
“We did a better job of taking care of the football and eliminating the negatives (plays). But unless you create explosive plays or convert in some of those moments, it’s gonna be tough sledding to score.”
The Spartans (2-3, 0-2 Big Ten) host Illinois (2-3, 0-2)at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Spartan Stadium (FS1). They do so having produced just two touchdowns the past three weeks and did not score one against the Badgers, the first time MSU went without a TD since a 42-0 loss to close the tumultuous 2023 regular season that saw Mel Tucker fired midseason and a number of players enter the portal or shut things down during the season to transfer.
“This is an unforgiving league,” Sheridan said. “You don’t really have time. There’s no pity party here. We better get up off the mat and come back ready to work and attack the week.”
After a strong start to the season in wins over Toledo and Eastern Michigan, quarterback Alessio Milivojevic has not thrown a touchdown pass since.
The third-year sophomore is completing just 56% of his passes during the losing streak and averaging 144.7 yards with three interceptions. Milivojevic averaged 233.8 yards and 66.8% passing with 10 touchdowns and two picks in his first six career starts going back to the final four games of last season when he took over the job from since-departed Aidan Chiles.
“It’s unacceptable,” Milivojevic said Tuesday of his recent performance. “And that’s not the standard around here.”
In the past three games, MSU's offense is averaging just 219.7 yards and 8.7 points, thanks largely to four Liam Boyd field goals. It has been an amalgam of issues, from Milivojevic struggling with his reads and progressions to offensive line issues that led to 12 sacks the past three weeks to wide receivers’ inability to get separation from opposing defensive backs.
Outside of a 53-yard deep shot from Milivojevic to Rodney Bullard Jr. late in the second quarter of MSU's 27-10 loss at Notre Dame, the Spartans during their losing streak have produced just three other pass plays of 20-plus yards. Those all came in their 31-13 loss to Nebraska – catches of 24 yards to Brennan Parachek, 23 yards to Cam Edwards (on a play he got injured for the season) and 21 yards to Chrishon McCray.
In Saturday's 31-3 loss to the Badgers, MSU failed to have a run or a pass longer than 9 yards. The Spartans have yet to produce a double-digit gain from a running back since the EMU game and had only two runs of 10-plus yards during their ongoing losing streak, backup QB Cam Fancher's 15-yard touchdown against the Irish and Milivojevic's 11-yard scramble against the Huskers.
“I’d say, yeah, there’s a little frustration,” third-year sophomore right tackle Rakeem Johnson said Tuesday. “We know we’re a better offense. We’ve shown it, for sure. But we still have a lot of energy every day. Coming in, we know we have to work on something.”
Milivojevic was sacked once against the Badgers, and third-string quarterback Kayd Coffman – who assumed the No. 2 role after Fancher was lost to an apparent right knee injury – also got dropped in the fourth quarter. MSU’s only other negative play was a 2-yard loss by running back Brandon Tullis late in the game. The Spartans also did not turn the ball over for the first time since the opening-week win over Toledo.
“I don’t fault Nick schematically at all,” first-year coach Pat Fitzgerald said Monday. “We gotta execute it, so that’s on us as coaches to look at the fundamentals and technique, which we are working on diligently.”
However, the need to force-feed some juice into the offense on Saturday was clear. Fitzgerald went for it on fourth down six times. After converting the first, the Spartans turned it over on downs the next five times – all of them coming on Wisconsin’s side of the field and all but one “in that no-man’s land” of Boyd’s field goal range, Fitzgerald said.
“I think offensively, we had (five) drives of eight plays or more,” he said. “We gotta score points. … I mean, that’s the bottom line. We gotta get across the 50 and score.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football's offense seeking blockbuster explosive plays
