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Michigan State Football gets a reality check heading into bye

Vaseline October 5, 2024

EUGENE, Ore. – In the wake of another resounding defeat Friday, it would have been easy to conclude that Michigan State football tight end Jack Velling was divorced from reality. But in reality, he just wouldn’t accept that his Spartans aren’t yet good enough to compete with the Big Ten’s elite.

Sweaty and exhausted, he stubbornly refused to allow this program, which with 61 new players, a first-year starter at quarterback and a coaching staff that hasn’t even been on the job a full year, is somehow being disadvantaged this season versus its more sophisticated competition.

“Normally yes,” Velling said after Oregon’s 31-10 win over the Spartans. “But I don’t think that’s the case with this team, with the guys we have in the locker room there. I think we can do it with the resources we have.”

But the truth was, they couldn’t do that tonight against the mighty Ducks, who overpowered the Spartans in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.

MSU RANKINGS: The Spartans’ offensive struggles continue to grow

It was MSU’s second lopsided loss in a span of seven days, after falling by 31 points to Ohio State last weekend.

That setback left the Spartans chastened yet optimistic after they managed to puncture the Buckeyes on their first four offensive possessions.

But after Oregon beat them every time on Friday, it was hard to salvage any positives. The Ducks matched MSU by playing a physical style of football that has long been synonymous with the Midwest-centric conference they just joined. They outgained the Spartans with 154 yards on the ground and collected five sacks, dominating the point of attack on both sides of the ball.

“The scrimmage,” Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith said, “was not in our favor.”

There was actually nothing wrong in a game in which the opponent recorded a shutout until well into the last quarter.

As the sun set behind the cozy, picturesque 54,000-seat Autzen Stadium in the early evening, darkness descended on the Spartans and any glimmer of hope quickly faded. The window toward an unlikely upset closed at the precise 10:02 mark of the first quarter, seconds after the ball was expelled from Aidan Chiles’ arms as he neared the edge of Oregon’s end zone.

The fumble, its 11^e turnover of the season, extinguished the Spartans’ opening possession and destroyed the momentum MSU had just built when the second-year quarterback rewarded Smith’s gamble on fourth down by delivering a 44-yard strike to Nick Marsh that sent the Spartans to the 2-yard line. It was a devastating blow to a team that entered Saturday’s match determined to erase the wave of critical errors that caused the losing streak – now at three games.

“I can’t leave a stage without points,” Chiles said on Tuesday. “That’s our biggest thing. … We all know we have to get into the end zone.”

But the Spartans did not arrive there on Friday until there were about eight minutes left in regular time and the game had long been decided. After Chiles’ fumble early in the first quarter, the Spartans simply fell flat. They only moved the ball 75 yards on their next seven drives. Running backs Nate Carter and Kay’ron Lynch-Adams couldn’t gain traction as they were routinely confronted by defenders in the backfield. Meanwhile, Chiles’ pocket repeatedly buckled under the pressure exerted by Oregon’s ferocious defensive front. The root cause of both problems was a leaky, pliable offensive line that couldn’t pry open many holes or provide adequate protection.

“When you play against really good teams,” Smith said, “the little mistakes are going to show up and the execution is going to get harder. We are not there yet.”

DIRECT REPEAT: With the loss at Oregon, Michigan State once again showed how far it is from the Big Ten’s elites

Smith must have understood that reality before returning to the state where he spent two different periods of his life as Oregon State’s quarterback and head coach. After all, he is not naive. It took him years to lift his alma mater’s sagging program from the basement of the Pac-12 to the top floor. That gradual rebuild took more than five years, with the Beavers going from winning just twice in 2018 to winning 10 by the end of the 2022 season.

The renovation project he inherited at MSU last November may not prove as taxing as that. But it will still take time. That became even more apparent Friday, as the Ducks tore down MSU’s defense at a rate of 7 yards per carry through the first three quarters and the Spartans’ offense seemed stuck in quicksand under the command of their talented but raw 19 year-old quarterback. .

“It sucks to lose,” said redshirt junior cornerback Charles Brantley, who made one of MSU’s two interceptions. “They were reasonable opponents, but we could have done better than what we did. Frankly, we can compete with anyone.”

Velling agreed with that point and said the same thing.

Both seemed to be in denial.

After all, the Spartans do not yet appear capable of competing with the best teams in the Big Ten. They remain a work in progress halfway through the first season of Smith’s regime, which is understandable.

Therefore, they deserve a little mercy – even if Velling and Brantley are unwilling to accept it.

Contact Rainer Sabin at [email protected]. Follow him @RainerSabin.