Michigan State football was back on a short week after last week’s disappointment against Illinois. The Spartans got Purdue, where the Boilermakers had a much more frustrating experience coming in. The 1-9 Boilermakers were playing for pride and their first Big Ten win of the season. The Spartans were playing for a chance to keep their bowl hopes alive.
What happened in those 60 minutes of play?
1. Secondary injuries? No problem, for the first half
The Spartans found a way despite being down four of the top five corners on the depth chart (without including safeties Khalil Majeed, Armorion Smith, Malik Spencer, or Dillon Tatum). The rotating door of Ade Willie, Jaylen Thompson, Angelo Grose, Andrew Brinson IV, and Justin Denson Jr. were able to sustain the Spartans. Thompson had a rep where veteran tight end Max Klare faked him out on a rub concept for a 40-yard wheel, but the defense stood tall and ultimately blocked a field goal after that. Nikai Martinez was all over the field, hitting Hudson Card, breaking up passes, and stuffing runs. He was dynamic.
After a scare with injury for Grose, Denson had blanket coverage on his rep. Ed Woods played softer coverage than most but was able to break on the ball and break up multiple passes. He did have a pass interference call, but that was part of the drive that resulted in a blocked field goal. No harm, no foul.
Ade Willie had a near interception in the first quarter and played great as a starter on Friday night. He left after being beat on a 3rd-and-22 late in the game. He was replaced by Brinson, who was only targeted once in his snaps.
The second half started rougher, with the linebackers being picked on more and more. To compound the defensive back injuries, the Spartans’ pass coverage ace at linebacker, Wayne Matthews III, was in a sling and out for the second straight week. Cal Haladay and Jordan Turner were picked on for multiple plays in a row, with Purdue driving the ball to the MSU red zone. Anthony Jones Jr. got put into coverage on a wheel route and nearly defended a pass. Unfortunately, Devin Mockobee came down with it and would punch the ball in two plays later.
Grose was beat on a deep route for the second week in a row, but this time, the ball was dropped and the Spartans were saved from a tie game late in the fourth quarter. However, it was not all doom for the senior. He broke Michigan State’s 380 game minutes of being held without a sack on the game’s first drive.
The Spartan defense stood tall after allowing two touchdown drives in their first few drives of the second half. Their last play of the game had Jordan Turner and Khris Bogle drag down Hudson Card as the quarterback released a pass, resulting in an incompletion on fourth down. That said, Card’s nearly 350 passing yards were Mel Tucker-era levels of “yikes”.
2. Second-half offense: MIA, again
After jumping out to a 24-3 lead, with all four scores coming on consecutive drives (the first time that has happened in eight years), the Spartans lost all semblance of an offense in the second half. Michigan State football, yet again, was held in check in the second half on offense. The scoring margin for the team in the second half fell another 14 points after the two Purdue touchdowns, and it was already in the negatives entering Friday night.
Multiple times, the Spartans would gain five yards on a rush on first down, and then two incomplete passes later, trot out the punt unit. That is not to blame it all on Aidan Chiles. At multiple points, he was running for his life after the line held the rush back for maybe two seconds. On another drive, Chiles found Nick Marsh for a first down, and then the next three plays were completely bottled up and predicted and punter Ryan Eckley was running onto the field.
The second-half offense for the Spartans was lackadaisical and predictable. The few times any creativity was shown, a lack of execution such as a missed block or an overthrow sunk the Spartans in the second half. Without a Ru’Quan Buckley blocked field goal and a Purdue drop, Michigan State football would have lost its shot for bowl eligibility on Friday night.
I will give the offense some credit late, with the team converting a fourth-and-inches quarterback sneak by Chiles to call game out of the two-minute warning. Jonathan Smith talked about that call in particular post-game, stating that while he had a ton of confidence in kicker Jonathan Kim (who added one more field goal to his Big Ten leading mark of now-19) to make it a 10-point game, the suboptimal conditions on the field and the push the line was getting called for a sneak. Despite some anxious moments, a favorable spot was able to put the game on ice for MSU.
3. Injuries are piling up
Entering the game, it was apparent the defense was going to be shorthanded. Outside of Nikai Martinez, Grose, and Ed Woods, the entire secondary is currently composed of players who were outside of the two-deep to start the season or true freshman. Grose has been on and off this year with both coverages and health, as he missed portions of the Boston College game with an injury in addition to missing a few plays on Friday with a hip injury. Woods was picked on and provided a lot of tape for Rutgers’ coaches to scheme against for next week’s contest. Lejond Cavazos and Keshawn Williams have dressed for a combined five games this season. The Spartans are hurting here.
The other unit that has been decimated by injury has been the offensive line, and they did not look much healthier, either. Obviously, Gavin Broscious and Kristian Phillips have been done for the year with injuries. Luke Newman went down during the first drive of the game. He would return for the next drive. Jake Merritt did not dress and had a brace on his hand, something he was not sporting last home game. Payton Stewart, a four-star true freshman via On3, has yet to dress this season. Mercer Luniewski has not dressed for a few home games this season.
The wide receiver corps was missing Alante Brown for the seventh time this season, and Jaron Glover appeared to be on very limited reps if he played at all. I do not recall seeing Jaron Glover on the field. Outside of Montorie Foster, every single scholarship receiver has missed or not dressed for at least one game for the Spartans.
Additionally, tight end Jack Velling went down with an extremely concerning injury. While it was not disclosed what the exact injury was, the tight end was carted off after laying on the turf for nearly seven minutes. Unlike when Broscious was carted off earlier in the year, the team was held back from talking to him. Smith did confirm he talked to Velling on the phone in the locker room before his press conference, and that the junior was able to watch the game while they ran “extensive tests” on him. With Velling out (alongside TE2 at the start of the year, Michael Masunas), Ademola Faleye and Brennan Parachek were called on extensively. True freshman tight end Wyatt Hook has yet to dress all season at home, in addition to not traveling.
The Spartans were trotting out defensive end James Schott at a wing blocker on field goals.
Speaking of defensive linemen, D’Quan Douse missed Friday’s game as well. Douse has been one of the better run stuffers this season and was not able to join in on holding Purdue to -4 rushing yards. Jalen Satchell was back from injury after missing the Illinois game. Tyler Gillison has yet to dress for the Spartans after transferring in. Avery Dunn missed the start of the year, played late against Ohio State, and was then shut down for the year. Schott has been playing for the last two games, but with a lineman-style leg brace after not dressing or traveling for most of the year.
Linebackers have not been hit as hard, but they are not completely healthy, either. Jordan Hall missed the Oregon game. Linebacker Wayne Matthews III was out today for the second game in a row and was spotted with a sling pregame.
Even special teams have been affected. In addition to missing their blockers for field goal attempts, Michigan State football has lost starting long snapper Kaden Schickel to injury after the Michigan game. Considering the punt returns seem to go longer against the Spartans without Schickel having the free release down the field, you can bet his absence is felt. Additionally, both Kim missed extra points this season have occurred when Schickel was not snapping the ball. Against Prairie View, he was dealing with illness and it led to a bad Sam Edwards snap. The Spartans have trotted out nearly 20 different people on kickoff coverages by my estimation just due to players earning playing time and a general lack of health.
This team has been decimated by the injury bug. Trust me, this team has a higher talent level than outlasting a 1-10 Purdue team. The secondary has shown major improvements under Demetrice Martin and Blue Adams. The line has shown pushes against Big Ten opponents that we only saw when they had Kenneth Walker III for Mel Tucker. The only area that has seemingly regressed is the defensive line, with that being somewhat expected after Michigan State football lost Aaron Brule, Jacoby Windmon, Simeon Barrow, and Derrick Harmon all in one offseason.
What’s next?
Michigan State football heads into its final game of the year against Rutgers for senior day. The Spartans will face a Scarlet Knights team that lost in heartbreaking fashion to Illinois on Saturday and is looking for a rebound to improve their bowl seeding. Meanwhile, the Spartans are looking to win for both their seniors and their season, as a win puts MSU at 6-6 and in the bowl conversation.
The game is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. EST.
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