Michigan State football: 3 takeaways from disappointing loss at Iowa

Michigan State football is now 0-2 in conference play, and I do not know what to say about this offense anymore.

Michigan State football fell flat in their first road contest of the season, losing to Iowa 26-16. In a game that the Spartan offense could drive the entire first half, it was a tough watch. With turnovers, the Spartans trailed at half by a point.

Cal Haladay provided the only touchdown for MSU on Saturday night, and the Spartans led by three with just over five minutes to go and then gave up 13 straight points. To make things worse, Iowa lost its starting quarterback, Cade McNamara, after one drive and two plays. MSU let Iowa put up 26 on them.

There is blame for everyone. 

1. The defensive war in the trenches is still a work in progress

While the defensive backfield appeared much improved this week, the defensive line was questionable. Simeon Barrow had a day against the Iowa interior line, something that was much needed with Jacoby Windmon unavailable for the rest of the year. Barrow is currently the best defensive player outside of Windmon and that showed. Outside of Barrow, the defensive line produced little push or pressure. Zion Young produced a second down pressure in the middle of the third quarter with MSU up three, but that is about all outside of Barrow. 

However, Barrow had an impressive game to make up for this. He took over the third quarter and put his helmet right on the football to help force a fumble (along with Tunmise Adeleye ripping at the ball) on Cal Haladay’s fumble six. On the next drive, Barrow reached the quarterback a half second too late and was whistled on a very questionable roughing the passer. Barrow made up for it, altering Iowa quarterback Deacon Hill’s next throw, giving Angelo Grose his second interception in two weeks. 

Barrow and Young were the only defensive linemen to make any noise in this game, and they are the two most likely to be pros among this group. The lack of production from anyone else (Wright, Harmon, Hansen, to name a few) is part of the reason I would like to see more of Bai Jobe, Ken Talley, and Andrew Depaepe. All have bright futures, and a few more plays with MSU pressure could have flipped this game and made us not need the offense at all.

2. What is the offense doing?

At the start of the game, Noah Kim was sharp, going 6-for-6. All six passes went to Maliq Carr. After Maliq Carr went down with a right foot injury and did not return, the offense lost its rhythm, and I lost my sanity. The only group I can say has “improved over last week” is the receiving room. Granted, there is no place to go but up after an eight-drop week. Kim also helped this, by practically not giving the receivers enough catchable passes to get to eight drops.

Kim had a few misses on targets to the tight ends, and that position cost the Spartans multiple times. For a team that brought in an excessive amount of tight ends this offseason, it is maddening to see the position burn us. 

Jay Johnson said the tight end was the MVP of the offense, and that was true tonight for Iowa’s defense. Evan Morris had a chop block penalty to ruin a Spartan drive and turn a potential touchdown into a red zone field goal. Then, he could not produce a strong enough “tush push” on a Kim sneak, giving Iowa position to cut the MSU lead to three. Then, in a tie game on third down, Morris got whistled for a false start.

Jaylan Franklin again cost the Spartans, with a false start and multiple drops. He has had a horrible few weeks, with Maryland’s drop coming to mind. Kim airmailed a pass targeted to Franklin on a nice route, to Franklin’s credit. Franklin found his hands to give Kim a fourth down conversion, but Michigan State football was down 10 by then. 

Now that my tight end frustrations are laid out, let’s address quarterback play. Jonathan Kim and Nathan Carter deserve better than this. Noah Kim was abysmal after his hot start. He finished with three interceptions, of which two are all on No. 10. His first interception came with MSU holding all the momentum, up three points and looking to extend the Spartan lead. Jaron Glover gave up on a vertical route when Kim took an end-zone shot. While this is not Kim’s fault, why elect for the vertical route when the check-downs were destroying Iowa all half?

His second and third interceptions came on bad reads and overthrows, as we have seen since Washington. I know I was a writer waving the Kim flag to start the year, but this stretch has proved he is not it. 

Kim provides mobility, but teams have figured out how to flush Kim, to the point where every third down is a throwaway or a rollout out of an unpressured pocket. If the Spartans made a change at quarterback, they probably won tonight. With today’s game over, Noah Kim has now accounted for as many touchdowns as Cal Haladay in the last 12 quarters of play. That’s right, Kim has one touchdown pass in the last three weeks.

Kim was exposed all second half. If the Spartans do not make a change during the bye week, this will be a long season for Michigan State football. Kim’s best plays after the third quarter were with his legs, and he had a handful of rushes. Take that how you will.

The offensive line is my last group to address today. They played marginally better, despite Geno VanDeMark being unavailable. Against a tough Iowa front, they made enough plays to help keep the Spartans around. However, Spencer Brown and JD Duplain struggled again, with a Brown false start being the beginning of the Spartan choke. For an “offensive line guru,” the lack of push in year four is concerning for Chris Kapovalic’s group. Nearly every week we stare at our offensive line and ask “What are we doing here?” Saturday night was no different. 

3. The back seven of the defense played their hearts out

After showing signs of life against Maryland last week, the secondary was back on Saturday. Cade McNamara went down early, which aided efforts. Granted, it was hard for Iowa’s pass-catchers to find space all night. Malik Spencer came close to a pair of interceptions, Angelo Grose had his aforementioned interception, and Dillon Tatum had a pass bounce off his facemask that could have been a pick-six. Chester Kimbrough made arguably his best play as a Spartan, recording a huge sack. 

For the linebackers, Haladay had a few missed tackles, but all of those were covered up by the next play where he would hold up the play to be cleaned up or take a fumble for a touchdown. Darius Snow made a huge tackle in his first major playing time since last season. 

The real star in the linebacking unit was Jordan Hall. He had his breakout game, with the freshman flying all over the field. Hall was in on a ton of tackles, had a pass breakup, and was the best pass coverage linebacker I have seen in awhile for the Spartans. 

This unit was tough and resilient despite being down three starters (Windmon, Jaden Mangham, Charles Brantley). With them out, the unit put up their most complete Big Ten conference game I have seen since Dantonio retired. Iowa’s offense is terrible, which helps. With the secondary’s efforts last week against Maryland, I also do want to give out back seven shoutouts. They are improving, finally, and these players are the ones I feel gutted for. The coaching and personnel decisions let this great effort get wasted. 

Spencer was the secondary star of this unit. His two near interceptions show me that he will take the leap this year. Additionally, he flew up from safety in the fourth quarter to make a run stuff in one of his most complete plays of the season. Spencer was diagnosing plays and making the big play. Give him a bit of experience, and quarterbacks will have to scan the field for No. 43 each play. 

Next week, we get a break from watching the Michigan State offense as they are on a bye. Michigan State football plays at Rutgers at noon the following Saturday, Oct. 14. Hopefully, we see Katin Houser with his first start.