That is now five straight losses for Michigan State. The Spartans remain winless in conference play, with all five of those contests being decided by at least 11 points – and two of them by 25 points.
The third of those five games, the Homecoming abomination against UCLA, felt like a team with no fight, as even UCLA RB (and former Spartan) Jalen Berger said in post-game comments. The other four games, on the other hand, actually showed some resolve and some potential from MSU. The issue was just a massive gap in the talent between the Spartans and the opposing team.
Looking specifically at yesterday’s game, the talent gap showed up, particularly in the run blocking. But there were other factors that contributed to MSU missing out on a chance to bring the Paul Bunyan trophy home against an u*m team that is clearly not as good as it has been over the past half decade. It was not just the team from down the road that beat us, but it was also ourselves.
Before we get to how we shot ourselves in the foot, there is one other element worthy of discussion. I’ll give a nod to Steve for foreseeing this in his prediction when he said that u*m AND the refs would both outscore MSU. I usually avoid this topic and I am not going to go so far as to say that MSU lost yesterday because of the officiating. But I will admit that I did see an egregious level of unbalanced flag-throwing. A pair of MSU plays where the visitors could easily have been called for defensive pass interference were not called, even to the amazement of the TV announcers. The times that MSU was called for DPI, the infraction did not look any more obstructive than what was not called on the bad guys.
There were a couple of fouls against MSU that were discussed at length in the game thread. One was the offside penalty that erased the sack fumble by Malcolm Bell. I know when I saw it live, I thought it was offsides. However, the multitude of replays I saw of the play, slowed down and with a graphic indicating the line of scrimmage, I can conclusively say that I have no idea if it was offsides. Kind of makes me wish that American football would use the VAR system that is used in the rest of the world’s football. What were your thoughts on that play?
The other play that was extensively debated in the thread was the unsportsmanlike conduct against freshman offensive lineman Andrew Dennis on MSU’s first touchdown play. The flag was for him throwing a punch on someone in the pile after the TD was scored, so at least the yardage would be assessed on the ensuing kickoff and did not nullify the score. Again, when I watched it live, I saw the MSU player throw the punch. Some of you said that he was pulled into the pile and was trying to stop his fall. If that had happened, he should have sold it better; the way he came back up from the pile certainly looked like he was trying to not get called. Considering this was a player subbed in moments earlier due to an injury, I think it is not hard to believe that someone not used to being in the game, particularly in crucial moments, would let their emotions get the best of them. That lack of discipline would be consistent with what we have seen during the Smith era.
That wasn’t even the only time we saw the undisciplined behavior. Josh Eaton was called for taunting when he stood over an opponent following a brief tussle, giving u*m 15 free yards. Again, this has been a recurring issue over the past season and a half. No one is holding these players accountable. Just once, I’d like to see Coach Smith tear into a player, Izzo-style, after a harmful penalty. Instead, we saw Eaton walk off the field, get an “it’s okay” tap on the helmet by one of the staff, and that was the end of that.
That is enough about penalties and the refereeing. The big issue, as I see it, is the coaching and how Aidan Chiles is being used. In fact, the offensive play calling in general was, well, offensive. Way too many tries at a first-down run with Makhi Frazier up the middle, as way too often that got snuffed out for, at most, a 1-yard gain.
But let’s get to the Aidan Chiles conversation. On the first possession of the game, Chiles threw a pass behind his receiver, Nick Marsh, and MSU was lucky the ball was not intercepted. Given an extra life, Chiles fumbled the ball away on the very next play. Ball security has been an issue throughout his time in East Lansing, and it showed up twice on the first three plays from scrimmage. While he did not commit any more turnovers yesterday, he also did not commit much in the way of a positive contribution until MSU was already in a massive hole.
Later in the game, we saw Chiles throwing some completions, and just more accurate passes in general, while scrambling out of the pocket. I do not know if these were designed rollouts or if it was improvised, but either way I want to see more of it. That is, if Chiles remains the QB for the Spartans.
On that topic, I will say I am ready for MSU to switch the man under center. Backup redshirt freshman Alessio Milivojevic came in late in the game and promptly led a touchdown drive, culminating in a 21-yard pass to TE Michael Masunas with 7 seconds remaining. Alessio went 5 for 6 on the drive for 60 yards; the drive as a whole was 75 yards and lasted 2:41. It was arguably MSU’s best looking drive of the game. Milivojevic has appeared in 5 games so far this year, 4 of which he played just one or two drives at the end of the game. Only in the UCLA game did he get extended playing time, getting on the field for three drives after Chiles went down. Of his 8 drives, he has led the Spartans to four touchdowns, three passing and one he ran in. He only has the one turnover, an interception in his first action of the season. As a result of his play in a small sample, he does have a higher rating and QBR than Chiles, as well as a higher average yardage – 7.6 to Chiles’ 6.9. Basically, what I am trying to say is that I think Alessio is the better quarterback, and I would like to see him get the starting job for the final month of the season. If the offense does not play better with him getting more playing time, then MSU knows it needs to find someone for next year. Chiles, if he is back, is not the solution if we want to see a better result on the field.
That brings me to my final point, the man who brought Aidan Chiles with him to East Lansing. I think the time to make a switch is now. Even as I write this, I keep checking the news to check if Jonathan Smith has been let go by the university. While he may have done some good things at Oregon State and improved the quality of that program over his time there, it is clear to me that he is not the right man for the job at Michigan State. I do not believe that any good coach can succeed anywhere. I do believe that certain situations need a certain person. Jonathan Smith is not the right person for the situation at Michigan State.
Through a year and a half, there has been no progress. The QB play continues to be poor. The offensive line continues to struggle with protection and run-blocking. The pass defense continues to leave opposing WRs wide open, at least when they are not getting called for penalties. And discipline and unchecked emotions continue to cripple the team in each game. If there was one positive I saw from the coaching staff yesterday, it was the fire from defensive coordinator Joe Rossi. Perhaps he is hearing the rumblings about his boss’s job security and he is actively campaigning for the interim role. Perhaps that explains why he made the decision to be on the field for this game, wanting to have the chance to be seen by J Batt in case a change is coming.
As Rossi is not one of the guys that came with Smith from Oregon State, I would be in favor of him taking over for the remainder of this season. I do not expect them to bring someone in from the outside at this point. And even though there was plenty of bad play by his unit last night, there were also a number of good plays, not to mention a higher level of intensity than the offense showed.
At 3-5, MSU is not mathematically eliminated from a bowl game. But they can only lose one more game if they hope to see the postseason this year. With two games on the road, where they have not won this year, plus a game against Penn State – who looked great early but has obviously fallen off the cliff and will be coming into the MSU game with back-to-back weekends playing Ohio State and Indiana, so we will see what they look like at that point. So yeah, another year without a bowl game seems highly likely at this point.
I understand the arguments for not firing Jonathan Smith at this time, most of which involve financial implications. That said, the sooner this program can reverse course, the sooner it could drive more revenue (via home game attendance, postseason bonuses, and donor gifts). I’ll continue to watch as I am physically incapable of not watching. I just want to go into a game with some hope. After last night, I have none of that left for this team.
