Michigan State football: Stock watch following shootout loss to USC

On Saturday, or early Sunday morning, depending on where you were watching, Michigan State football lost their first game of the season to USC. The Spartans started strong, but could not keep pace with the top scoring offense in the country.

That said, it was not all gloom and doom, as the Spartans scored 21 points in the final half to keep things competitive well into Sunday morning for those watching in East Lansing. Whose stock is rising, and whose is falling after a long night in Los Angeles?

Stock Up

• QB Aidan Chiles

This one goes without saying. In a homecoming for the California native, Aidan Chiles put together one of his best games of the season. While the USC defense is not top-of-the-line by any means, this was the best defense Michigan State football has seen this year. Aidan Chiles was turnover-free against USC, and had no plays that should have been a turnover, either.

Chiles made plays with his legs, and had excellent touch on most of his throws. His deep shot to Omari Kelly to give MSU a 75-yard touchdown to put things within 14 points was one of the best deep outside throws of his career so far. At the end of the game, I was wishing that Brian Lindgren put the ball into his quarterback’s hands more.

• DL Kekai Burnett

Now, hear me out. Burnett came into the game late in the fourth quarter, with Joe Rossi throwing the kitchen sink to try to stop USC. Burnett was one of a flurry of late-game substitutions, but he shined on Saturday. Burnett recorded two tackles in his seven snaps, and also nearly recorded a tackle for loss, which the entire Spartan defense was held without all night.

While his PFF grade is not reflecting his game, I think Burnett showed enough on film to warrant a few more snaps against Nebraska. Burnett also has surpassed freshman Derrick Simmons on the depth chart, with Simmons not playing on Saturday.

• WR Omari Kelly

With Nick Marsh recovering from injury and not at full strength, Omari Kelly became the go-to guy for Aidan Chiles. Kelly also got his number called as a passer, where he kept his concentration on a ball that skidded on the field to deliver a strike to Michael Masunas for a first down.

Kelly finished with a 133-yard performance on Saturday, catching six of his seven targets. His best play came late, hauling in a deep shot and breaking a tackle for a 75-yard house call.

• LT Rustin Young

Young was called upon a few plays into the second drive of the game, with starting left tackle Stanton Ramil going down injured and not returning. Young played the final 51 snaps of Saturday’s contest, and filled in admirably. In fact, his PFF numbers outscore Ramil’s nine snaps, along with beating some of Ramil’s earlier PFF numbers in the season.

Overall, there was a lot to like from Young’s film on Saturday. There were a few plays that the redshirt freshman would want back, but this was a great debut when Young was not expected to play many snaps outside of special teams heading into the game.

Stock Down

• Defensive Line

Outside of Jalen Thompson, the Spartan defensive line had a night to forget. USC ran 67 plays, and Michigan State football could not muster up a single tackle for loss. Thompson recorded three pressures, and Alex VanSumeren added one of his own, but that was all the pressure that Jayden Maiava faced when dropping back for the Trojans.

Overall, the defensive line and edge rush group have a week for self-evaluation. The Spartan defense is not in a good spot right now, and a large chunk of that falls on the lack of quarterback pressure.

Worse yet, the calling card to this defense has been that they stopped the run, only allowed 193 yards on the ground heading into Saturday’s contest. USC had surpassed the previous season total by the third quarter, finishing with 283 yards on the ground.

The silver lining for the defense is that last season, following an embarrassing loss to Oregon, where MSU gave up a 100-yard game to Jordan James, they locked in following a bye week. They held future Pittsburgh Steeler Kaleb Johnson in check outside of a single 75-yard house call. Hopefully, the Spartan defense can regroup the run stopping.

• HBs Brandon Tullis and Elijah Tau-Tolliver

Tullis got his first career start on Saturday, with Makhi Frazier not at full strength. However, he underwhelmed, only garnering 14 yards on his six carries. The big frustration for Tullis comes from a pair of third quarter runs where he was stuffed, and that drive ultimately sunk the Spartans.

Tau-Tolliver did not impress in his limited snaps, either. He picked up a first down rush in the first drive of the game, but was rarely called upon after.

Overall, Makhi Frazier was not fully healthy for the Spartans, but still looked like he was the best running back on the roster by far. The confidence in the RB room goes down dramatically if Frazier misses any time this season.

• LB Depth

The linebacker room got tested on Saturday, with Jordan Hall ejected on an awful targeting call. The junior got ejected for a routine tackle that was so bad that former Michigan legend Charles Woodson called it atrocious.

Worse yet, Wayne Matthews III had to be carted off in a scary collision before halftime. With Brady Pretzlaff not making the trip to California due to injury, the linebacker room played four other Spartans (Darius Snow, Marcellius Pulliam, Semaj Bridgeman, and Aisea Moa) and it was underwhelming, to say the least.

Moa showed flashes, grading as one of the best Spartan defenders, but was contradicted by the other three having lackluster games. Any time a team has nearly two 100-yard rushers, there is going to be frustration. The linebacker room was put an impossible situation, to be fair to the group. Still, it was a brutal showing for the group Joe Rossi touted as the deepest depth-wise in all his years coaching.

• DC Joe Rossi

Every defensive position group had plays that looked bad on film. Rossi’s scheme failed to generate much defensive pressure, failed to record an interception, and failed to record a tackle for loss. At the end of the day, USC’s offense is good, but MSU’s defense contributed to the USC explosion as much as the Trojans did.

MSU had three true stops during the game, that being an Armorion Smith forced fumble, a fourth down stop, and holding USC to a field goal on the opening drive. The Trojans came away with points on seven of their ten drives. The tenth drive was USC running the ball straight up the middle just to burn timeouts, so this number really should be seven of nine.

There were miscommunications, players being straight out-talented, and a lack of urgency in the Spartan defense. When Burnett and Ben Roberts made near tackle for losses, there were no other defenders around to clean up the play. It was frustrating to watch on Saturday, especially with Brian Lindgren’s offense having one of their best performances in his 16-game tenure in East Lansing.

Now, I am not calling for Rossi’s head, but there needs to be changes coming in East Lansing with the remaining schedule. If not, it will be a very long season when the Spartans are on defense.

Worse yet, the entire secondary for the Spartans is full of seniors. Joshua Eaton, Malcolm Bell, Ade Willie, Armorion Smith, Malik Spencer, Khalil Majeed, and Nikai Martinez are all out of eligibility this year. That leaves Jeremiah Hughes, Antony Pinnace, Chance Rucker, Aydan West, and Justin Denson Jr. as the only Spartans to take meaningful snaps in the secondary this year. Of all those players, the final three are the only ones to play more than a dozen defensive snaps in a game this year against FBS opponents. Yikes.

The Spartans have a bye week to rescheme, assess injuries, and asses personnel before heading to Nebraska in two weeks. The Spartans were reinvigorated after a bye last year, upsetting an Iowa team that had AP Poll votes.