Michigan State football: Offensive PFF grades in loss to IU revealed

On Saturday, Michigan State football fell to the No. 3 Indiana Hoosiers 13-38. Despite a 25-point loss, it had fans breathing a sigh of relief as the Spartans avoided complete humiliation. A few standout performances kept things closer than expected. However, a few players had a dud of a game, and that helped take out the Spartan drives.

Who were the top five offensive players for Michigan State football, via PFF?

• QB Aidan Chiles: 80.6
• WR Bryson Williams: 77.7
• WR Evan Boyd: 75.2
• QB Alessio Milivojevic: 70.7
• HB Elijah Tau-Tolliver: 68.6

The top grade is no surprise. Aidan Chiles had a streak of 20 completed passes in a row, and the design of short throws helped keep pressure off of him against a scary Hoosier front. Add in Chiles’ 64-yard rush, and it was a great game for the quarterback.

Bryson Williams made his debut, and a small sample size (two snaps) showed some intrigue. The Spartans designed a play for the do-it-all offensive weapon, and he picked up eight yards on a tough run after catch.

Boyd’s and Milivojevic’s grades go hand-in-hand, as the freshman signal caller had a great connection with Boyd during the final drive for a field goal. Milivojevic again performed well in mop-up duty. However, before fans tout him as the quarterback of the future, it is worth noting that nearly all of Milivojevic’s career attempts have came against teams in prevent defenses.

Tau-Tolliver was promoted to RB2 before the game, and his 21 snaps were the best he looked all season. In the first half, he had a pair of runs that got the Spartans close to the first down. Overall, bad run blocking sunk all the running backs, but Tau-Tolliver showed some flash.

Bottom five offensive PFF grades for Michigan State football against Indiana

• WR Rod Bullard Jr.: 55.8
• LT Conner Moore: 54.9
• TE Jack Velling: 53.4
• RT Rustin Young: 51.3
• TE Michael Masunas: 42.7

Another week, another bad set of tight end performances. The tight ends were the bottom three grades against UCLA, and they are in the bottom three this week. Masunas was playing hurt, based on his leg sleeve and unknown status as late as the Thursday before the game. Historically, the Arizona native has had his worst games when battling injury, and that was the case this week.

Rod Bullard Jr. was relied upon to be a lead blocker on a bad play call, an outside run on third and seven. Naturally, it did not turn out great. With Bullard’s limited reps, it tanked his PFF grade.

Moore allowed a sack to the Hoosiers, and he, alongside the entire offensive line, could not create space for the running backs on Saturday. Young’s run block grade was abysmal, and, despite being the highest graded player in pass protection for MSU, was the worst graded lineman on the day.

The Spartans play Michigan next at 7:30 p.m. EST.