Michigan State football: Defensive PFF grades for Week 10 revealed

On Saturday, Michigan State football had their matchup against Minnesota. The defense, for the most part, held tough, holding Minnesota to 10 points in the first 59 minutes. However, a collapse on the final drive led to an overtime where the referees were able to change the game.

Regardless, multiple Spartans churned out their best game in the face of adversity or injury. Who graded out well, who faltered?

Top five defensive Michigan State football grades, week 10

• LB Jordan Hall: 90.8
• S Nikai Martinez: 81.5
• CB Aydan West: 75.0
• CB Malcolm Bell: 71.2
• S Aveon Grose: 71.1

For the second week in a row, Joe Rossi’s defense made passing hard for a (redshirt) freshman quarterback. Drake Lindsey could not bully Aydan West and Malcolm Bell in the same way previous quarterbacks have, with both putting up great grades on the day.

The real star of the group, however, is Jordan Hall. Hall, who was a game time decision, put out an amazing 90.8 grade in spite of not being 100% and constantly being targeted in the pass game. Hall forced two fumbles on the day to go with 12 tackles and not being credited with a single missed tackle.

Martinez’s presence was sorely missed in the secondary before the last two weeks, and his play on field shows why. This was the first real test of how back the senior was, and he passed with flying colors. Grose only played two defensive snaps, but his one tackle during those snaps aided his efforts.

Bottom five defensive Michigan State football grades, week 10

• DE Jalen Thompson: 53.5
• DT Alex VanSumeren: 50.0
• LB Darius Snow: 48.5
• EDGE David Santiago: 47.2
• DB Khalil Majeed: 45.7

The defensive line being three of the bottom five spots is not overly surprising, as Thompson, AVS, and Santiago were all held in check during the game. None of them were able to break free from the Minnesota offensive line.

Majeed rotated in to play nickel during the game, and his performance was nothing to remember. The senior did not allow a catch the one time he was targeted in coverage, which is a positive, but is not on the stat sheet otherwise.

Snow, meanwhile, had the one play that went viral for all the wrong reasons post-game. On Drake Lindsey’s questionable touchdown run in overtime, the sixth-year senior was stiff armed to the ground five yards in the backfield, which could have given a second overtime period. Instead, the inability to wrap up the freshman enabled the refs to whistle for a touchdown when Lindsey’s foot was out of bounds.

Unfortunately, that was the extent of Snow’s playmaking on Saturday. He was in the right spot, but could not make the play.

The Spartans are back in action next Saturday, November 15. They will kickoff Senior Day at 3:30 p.m. EST against the Nittany Lions.