3 Takeaways as Michigan State Football Falls 31-13 to Nebraska

On Saturday, Michigan State football returned to the friendly confines of Spartan Stadium after losing 27-10 to Notre Dame last week. The Spartans began Big Ten play against a Nebraska team that had yet to face a challenge, but had quarterback Anthony Colandrea as the top quarterback in the nation on PFF.

Overall, the Spartans were stuck rallying after self-inflicted wounds, falling short 31-13 to slip to 2-2 on the season.

Here’s three takeaways from Saturday’s game.

Injuries, Injuries, Injuries

Now, Michigan State football fans are used to seeing more than their fair share of injuries. On Saturday, it was turned to the max. Tyran Chappell, Brady Pretzlaff, and Cal Thrush were all ruled out two hours before kickoff due to injuries from last week.

Tre Bell got injured in warmups and was declared out before kickoff. Cam Edwards and Conner Moore each suffered game-ending injuries on the same play of the second drive. For Edwards, it might be a season ending injury. Luka Vincic got injured in the third quarter but came back in.

NiJhay Burt was injured and briefly returned before being out the rest of the game. Jordan Hall went down on the first snap of the third quarter and needed the cart. Caleb Wheatland and Dion Crawford each had their own injuries. Michael Richard and Chuck Brantley each ended the game with a heavily taped ankle in the second half.

The Spartans might have lost their two most valuable players on the team for the season with Jordan Hall and Cam Edwards, and there are still eight games to play.

Offense Falls Flat

There is not much to say about an offense where the identity of the program resides in the power run, but rushes for 38 yards on 32 carries after sacks. While the Spartans lost Cam Edwards, they could not get Marvis Parrish or Jaziun Patterson much traction, with Patterson being held to under four yards per carry.

On the passing side of things, Milivojevic threw for over 200 yards, but the Spartans strayed from their dink-and-dunk packages for more sideline throws. It was not the correct call for Saturday, as there were two interceptions on out routes by Fancher and Milivojevic.

The receivers struggled with separation, but that is compounded by the offensive line giving the quarterback mere seconds to throw the ball. Brennan Parachek was left one-on-one at points in protection, the Spartasn saw three linemen get injured, it was a mess. Milivojevic was sacked six times.

Sloppy Play Leads to Sloppy Loss

The Spartans had their own share of injuries on Saturday, and it carried over into their own self-inflicted wounds when trying to win. Michigan State football had three costly turnovers, with a fumble and two bad throws.

Heading into Saturday’s contest, MSU was whistled 8 times on the season for penalty. Against Nebraska, Fitzgerald’s team had seven penalties. It was a situation that they could not afford to put themselves in.

When a team is shorthanded as bad as the Spartans were, they cannot commit seven penalties, rush for 38 yards on 30-plus carries, finish minus-3 in the turnover battle, or give up six sacks. The Spartans did all four today.

As sloppy as the Spartans were, the referees had their own slop-fest going on. However, at the end of the day, the aforementioned mistakes by Michigan State football hurt them much worse than the bad and inconsistent calls.