After giving up 38 or more points in each of their last four games, Michigan State’s defense showed up with effort and an improved performance tonight but costly mistakes still hurt the Spartans. On offense, MSU had opportunities in the second half but were stopped on two crucial fourth downs by the Wolverines. Momentum ultimately swung early in the third quarter when Michigan State appeared to cause a fumble on a safety blitz but was ruled offside.
Michigan won the toss and deferred. Michigan State
started with the ball on their own 25. The Spartans’ first play was successful with Aidan Chiles finding Chrishon McCray on a swing pass that picked up 8 yards. Unfortunately it got tougher from there for MSU. Chiles’ second pass was almost intercepted and, on the Spartan’s third play, Brandyn Hillman knocked it out of Chiles’ hands as MSU looked to pick up the third and short with a quarterback run.
Michigan recovered and the early turnover gave the Wolverines the ball at the MSU 34. UM picked up a couple of first downs, including converting a fourth and 1 to put the ball at the MSU 6 yard line. The Spartans defense held from there though, pressuring Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood on consecutive plays to force incompletions. Facing fourth down at the MSU 3, UM opted for the field goal attempt. Dominic Zvada converted to give Michigan the early 3-0 lead at 10:07 in the first quarter.
Michigan State went three and out on their second possession and were hindered when an obvious defensive holding call was missed as Chiles looked for Rodney Bullard on second and 8. Chiles was unable to connect with Omari Kelly along the sideline as Hillman was there again to break up the pass.
The Spartans were forced to punt and Michigan started their next drive on their 32. Underwood immediately found a wide open Andrew Marsh for 22 yards but the Spartans held from there. MSU was able to pressure Underwood again on a third and 8, forcing a high throw and a Michigan punt.
MSU took over on their 20 but went nowhere. Three Chiles to Nick Marsh passes fell incomplete and MSU was punting again as Chiles started the game connecting on just 1 of his first 7 passes after completing 20 in a row at one point at Indiana last week.
After Michigan took over on their 37, a pass interference call on MSU’s Malcolm Ball moved the ball into MSU territory. UM kept moving on a couple of tough runs up the middle from Jordan Marshall but MSU eventually forced a third and three and had a chance to get off the field again. Michigan opted for a screen pass to Justice Haynes. Malcolm Bell was in position to stop Haynes in the backfield but missed the tackle in what proved to be a back breaker for the Spartans. Haynes picked up the first down at the MSU 13 and Underwood ran it in on the next play to put Michigan up 10-0.
Makai Frazier went for 5 yards to start MSU’s next drive and appeared to pick up MSU’s first first down of the game on the next play. Instead, Caleb Carter was called for hands to the face, pushing the Spartans 15 yards backwards. It got worse from there as Conner Moore missed his block resulting in Chiles being sacked at his own 5 yard line.
After the Spartans’ third punt, the MSU defense recovered and held UM to a three and out to end the first quarter.
Things looked grim as a false start immediately put the Spartans behind the sticks on their next drive. Chiles found Kelly to get the penalty yardage back though. Then, the Spartans FINALLY got some traction as a Frazier run went for 49 yards, into Michigan territory. Frazier was aided by blocks from McCray and, way down field, from a hustling Chiles. While really struggling in the pass game, Chiles made a play that perhaps not many quarterbacks would have in this situation.
It was an interesting sequence from here as MSU continued its drive. Another beautiful run from Frazier with a spin move and cut to break a tackle, put the ball at Michigan’s 4. The Spartans moved it to the UM 2 but Elijah Tau-Tolliver was called for unnecessary roughness to push MSU back to the 17. To make matters worse, Stanton Ramil, who just returned to the lineup tonight, appeared to be injured and struggled to get off the field after this play.
On the next play, a pass interference call on UM put it right back on the two yard line. It took three runs from Chiles to get those last two yards but MSU finally had it in the end zone to cut the Michigan lead to 10-7 with 8:24 to go in the second quarter.
Michigan went three and out on their next series, with a third down snap going over Underwood’s head. Underwood recovered, allowing Michigan to punt, and MSU took over at their 37 with some momentum.
Two Makai Frazier runs picked up 7 yards to give MSU a third and manageable. Chiles looked to convert on a crosser to Marsh and the referees decided to overlook an obvious pass interference penalty on Michigan as Marsh was run over well before the ball arrived. Michigan State had to punt and Ryan Eckley pinned Michigan at their own 5 with 4:48 to go in the half.
Michigan picked up a first down but went no further and had to punt with 2 minutes to go in the half.
The Spartans started at their 34. A completion to Marsh appeared to give MSU what they needed but, in fighting for more yards, Marsh ended up going backwards and put MSU in a fourth and 1 situation. The Spartans opted to go for it in their own territory and a sneak by Chiles converted. MSU got it to third and 4 at midfield with 52 seconds to go but a sack of Chiles ended the drive.
Michigan played it conservative when they got the ball back and took a 10-7 lead into the locker room.
Despite 8 penalties for 75 yards and Chiles completing just 4 of 13 passes for 26 yards and coughing up a fumble, Michigan State was well in the thick of it at the break. Michigan was only able to produce 59 yards through the air and 146 yards overall in the first half. Except for one missed tackle that ultimately led to a Michigan touchdown, the Spartan defense showed up and kept the team in the game amidst Chiles’ and the offensive struggles.
For his part, Chiles was off on a number of passes (obviously, as indicated by going 4-13) and clearly appeared to be laboring on the field at times. To his credit, however, he picked up some tough yards on the ground including a fourth down conversion and MSU’s touchdown. Frazier was also huge for the Spartans with 10 carries for 86 yards.
Michigan started the second half with the ball on their 29 and opted for a one tight end, one running back set. After being relatively contained in the first half, Haynes broke free for runs of 20 and 28 yards to put the ball at the MSU 23. MSU recovered, however, to have Michigan in a third and 8. The Spartans’ Malcolm Bell had a blitz timed perfectly and forced an Underwood fumble, which was recovered by MSU. In another very questionable call – the ninth and perhaps most costly penalty on MSU – Bell was called for off sides, giving the ball back to Michigan and denying the Spartans what would have been a massive play early in the second half.
After the penalty, the Wolverines took advantage with another Haynes run, converting the resulting third and 3 after the off sides call was enforced. The injury bug hit MSU again as Jordan Hall had to be helped off the field after this play. Two more runs by Haynes had it in the end zone, giving UM a 17-7 lead.
Michigan State took over on their 25 and picked up a first down with a Chiles to Jack Velling completion but could go no further. A short QB keeper and UM pressuring Chiles into two throw-aways led to another MSU punt.
With Darius Snow in for Hall, it was a three and out for Michigan but Hudson Hollenbeck unleashed a 67 yard punt to pin MSU at their own 3 with 7:24 to go in the third quarter.
Michigan State desperately needed to at least move the ball off their own goal line but quickly faced a third and 8. Chiles dropped back, felt the rush, and short-armed a check down to Tau-Tolliver forcing another Eckley punt.
Eckley got off a 48 yarder and the MSU coverage was right there but Michigan still started their second drive of the half near midfield.
The Wolverines quickly took advantage. Three Haynes runs led to a first down. Then, with the Spartans perhaps thinking another run was coming, Underwood found Marsh for 27 yards to the MSU 14. Haynes went outside, where MSU was unable to contain the edge, and scored on the very next play to make it 24-7 UM with 3:08 left in the third quarter.
The Spartans weren’t quitting though. After taking a nine yard sack to bring about a second and 19, Chiles found Marsh for a 20 yard completion to get MSU going. Later, Chiles converted a third down with his feet. MSU kept moving with a 5 yard run by Tau-Tolliver and a 10 yard pass to Kelly.
After struggling all night, the pass game was coming to life as Chiles found Marsh for what appeared to be a 25 yard touchdown. Replay ruled that Marsh was out inches short of the goal line but Brandon Tullis ran it in on the next play to cut into UM’s lead. Michigan State opted for the 2 point try here but couldn’t convert so it was 24-13 UM with 12:34 to go.
Michigan was unable to move after the Spartan score and punted after a three and out. A 32 yard punt had MSU starting with good field position on their 41.
The Spartans immediately got moving when Frazier ripped off a 25 yard line around the left edge but then couldn’t build off the big play. MSU faced a fourth and 3 at the UM 27 and chose to go for it. UM’s Jimmy Rolder broke up a Chiles to Velling pass that would have been short of the sticks anyway and Michigan took over with 8:01 to go.
Michigan State gifted Michigan a first down with a taunting call on Josh Eaton but then quickly recovered. On third and 8, David Santiago ripped the ball from Haynes and then recovered the fumble, giving MSU the ball at their 46.
After the turnover, another MSU drive started with promise as Chiles found Marsh for 16. Then, an incompletion and two Tau-Tolliver runs totaling 9 yards had MSU facing a fourth and 1 in Michigan territory. MSU opted against the field goal again and tried to go hurry up with a Chiles sneak. Michigan completely stuffed it and took over on downs.
Three short runs picked up a first down for the Wolverines and then Jordan Marshall put it away for Michigan with a 56 yard run to make it 31-13 with less than 3 minutes to go.
Alessio Milivojevic came in and led the Spartans down the field on their last drive. His pass to Michael Masunas with 7 seconds to go made it a 31-20 final.
Michigan’s Bryce Underwood finished 8-17 for 86 yards but the Wolverines produced 276 rushing yards on 49 carries. Chiles finished 14-28 for 130 yards but MSU only managed 115 yards on 38 carries. Frazier did almost all of that damage with 109 yards on 14 carries.
The third quarter, and the offsides call, proved to be decisive as Michigan outscored the Spartans 14-0 in that period.
MSU falls to 3-5 and 0-5 in the Big Ten. They will face Minnesota in Minneapolis next week.
