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    • Michigan State football is limping toward a much-needed farewell after yet another loss
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    Michigan State football is limping toward a much-needed farewell after yet another loss

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    EUGENE, Ore. — Joe Rossi trudged out of an elevator and climbed onto a golf cart with a few other Michigan State football staffers, stoically processing what had just happened while on his back.

    As the crowd drove through the sidewalks of Autzen Stadium, the driver drove through and honked for permission. Even returning to the visiting locker room didn’t prove easy for the defensive coordinator after a thorough 31-10 dismantling of No. 6 Oregon on Friday night.

    The Ducks’ dominance at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball proved as frustrating and devastating as a traffic jam caused by a convoy of heavy semi-trucks plowing over and through five lanes of electric golf carts. And the aftermath of a third straight defeat felt just as devastating.

    Aidan Chiles fumbled to the goal line again to stop MSU’s opening possession, then managed to gain just 37 yards in 16 plays the rest of the half. The offense rushed for just 59 yards on 30 attempts and went scoreless for more than three quarters.

    The defense gave up 21 points and 363 yards in the first half, 192 of which came on the ground for the Ducks. Despite two interceptions in the end zone to prevent Oregon from making things worse.

    “These guys took the losses hard,” first-year Spartans coach Jonathan Smith said after leaving the locker room. “It’s pretty quiet there.”

    The Spartans (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten) will quietly search for answers in the 15 days between games. They’re reaching the midpoint of their season and a bye week as they try to rebuild an ailing and anemic offensive line that has failed to create lanes for their running backs and faltered in protecting Chileans, whose tendency to try to get something out of the doing nothing early on proved problematic. against the Ducks.

    The sophomore, who was sacked four times overall and three times in the first half, threw a pinpoint pass to Nick Marsh on fourth-and-2 for 44 yards to set up MSU at the Oregon 2. Just as they had six days earlier against no. 3, Ohio State, the Spartans appeared to be in position to stagger the Goliath on their first offensive possession after their defense stood tall from the start.

    And just like in last Saturday’s eventual 38-7 loss to the Buckeyes, an MSU turnover deep in the red zone killed the momentum. On the next play, Chiles dodged an oncoming rush on a first-and-goal pass play and, instead of losing the ball, tried to weave through traffic toward the goal line. But Oregon’s Jordan Burch put the ball free and defensive tackle Jamaree Caldwell pounced on it in the end zone to end the eight-play, 65-yard drive without points.

    It was MSU’s fourth red zone goal in the past two games and the second time the Chiles probed deep into enemy territory. He has lost three fumbles this season, along with eight interceptions.

    “We’ll take a chance. If it’s not there, ideally we’ll throw the thing away,” Smith said of his transfer QB to Oregon State. “Aidan is a competitive player, you know he’s going to push himself and all that. Well, you’ve got to keep the ball locked up.’

    That 65-yard drive accounted for more than half of the Spartans’ yardage in the first half (102). They would only gain 75 yards in the 27 plays that followed Chiles’ fumble. By the time he led them on a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown march midway through the fourth quarter, Oregon’s lead had increased to 31-0.

    MSU has averaged just 2.2 yards per carry – 146 yards on 66 attempts – over the last ten football quarters, including the second half of a loss at Boston College. The offensive line has given up 11 sacks in that span.

    “I just think it comes down to 10 guys doing the right thing and one guy not, no matter who he is,” said Jack Velling, who had six catches for 53 yards. “I feel like we have to perform better, we have to finish better.”

    Without his 21 lost yards coming on sacks, Chiles would have been the Spartans’ leading rusher, with 50 yards on his other eight carries. He finished 10-for-17 for 154 yards passing with no touchdowns or interceptions. MSU did not make Chiles available for the third week in a row after the loss.

    While the offensive tank ran out, the defense kept up steam as long as possible.

    Even though the Spartans picked off a pair of Dillon Gabriel passes in the end zone, one from Malik Spencer and another from Charles Brantley, the Ducks carried them out methodically. After going three-and-out to open the game, Oregon collected five possessions of at least three minutes on their next six drives, highlighted by a rushing drive in the final two minutes of the first half that led to a touchdown. leading 21-0 at halftime.

    Their final scoring drive lasted 8 minutes, 7 seconds, capping the 15-play, 64-yard march with a fourth-and-goal, 2-yard touchdown pass from Gabriel to Tez Johnson. For the first time all season, MSU struggled to tackle and contain opponents in space, and the Ducks ran for 213 of their 477 yards.

    “Missed tackles will hurt any defense,” said Brantley, who led the Spartans with a game-high nine stops. “We just have to come together and make sure we finish things off and make tackles.”

    MSU will have plenty of practice time to try to find solutions to the litany of problems. Some are correctable, such as Chiles’ missed tackles and decision-making; others aren’t so simple, especially when it comes to figuring out what to do with an offensive line that has been ravaged by injuries during the season after being gutted by transfer portal flooding over the past year.

    The Spartans’ next chance to sort things out isn’t until a visit from Iowa on Oct. 19. Time and TV details are expected to be announced on Monday.

    ‘We need it. I mean, we have to find a way to improve,” Smith said of the bye week. “These guys worked. We played six games in a row. But also think about the five weeks of camp, which is eleven consecutive weeks. Take a step back, slow down a little, look at what we as coaches put on tape. Process that deeply and find ways we can play better.”

    Velling hinted that MSU’s next opponent would truly be itself, with a mission to “go win the bye week.”

    “We learned that we can compete with the best,” he says. “We’ll fight for four quarters. We just have to start faster offensively and play complementary football.

    “I like us and I think we can compete with anyone who is on the field with us.”

    Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him @chrissolari.

    Subscribe to the “Spartan Speak” podcast for new episodes every week Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And check out all our podcasts and daily voting briefing at freep.com/podcasts.

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