The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly as Michigan State Football Falls to Notre Dame

Michigan State football entered Saturday as massive underdogs, with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish being favored by four touchdowns. The Pat Fitzgerald-led team kept it closer than expected, but the Irish were able to blank the Spartans in the second half to win 27-10.

While it was a scrap for respectability, there was good, bad, and ugly. Here are some observations from the field.

Good

Creative Play Calling

Part of the reason why Michigan State football stayed in the game and showed fight in the second quarter was Nick Sheridan. The Spartans showed maybe unique packages on Saturday, including a two quarterback package. Sheridan’s group got in their bag, plotting to get Kenneth Williams involved.

Cam Fancher’s package was highly effective, and should have given the Spartans two touchdowns on the day. While 10 points is a weird output for it to fall under “good,” the play calling helped provide a punch to the Notre Dame gut punch to begin the game.

Once the Spartans got down multiple possessions and lost nearly the entire third quarter to a Notre Dame monster 17-play drive, the play calling became limited and Notre Dame could stifle the offense.

Defensive Front Seven Stood Tall

Facing a battered Notre Dame offensive line that could not run the ball when healthy, this matchup was closer than expected on Saturday. Jordan Hall was back in the lineup, and his ability to make plays and lead the team was on full display.

Even guarding the pass, the Spartans had some pressure. Trey Lisle added two, alongside Ben Roberts. Kenny Soares added three of his own, along with an Isaac Smith sack. Brady Pretzlaff (until his injury), Jordan Hall, and Devin Vaught were all over the field.

Bad

First Crack in the Armor for Special Teams

On Monday, Fitzgerald mentioned that the special teams play needed work. That was only display on Saturday, as the first Spartan punt for Rhys Dakin was partially blocked after a bad block by a protector.

LeVar Woods was able to make adjustments to keep Dakin clean the rest of the contest, although. Additionally, Woods saw two players go down on special teams during the contest to complicate matters.

Pass Blocking Still Needs Help

The Irish forced a ton of pressure on Alessio Milivojevic. Partially, this occurred from tremendous coverage by an NFL-caliber secondary. However, quite a few routes were less than a half second from breaking open before the protection broke down.

The Spartans did not have their worst performance against a highly-touted Notre Dame defensive line, but it was not their cleanest outing. Michigan State football allowed 18 pressures and four sacks on Saturday night. That is not a recipe for a healthy quarterback or winning football.

They do have a very small pass due to playing a top five opponent, or else this would be in the ugly category. Speaking of ugly…

Ugly

Injuries

It was a brutal day for the Spartans, with two injuries that could leak into next week for special teamer Jay Coyne and linebacker Brady Pretzlaff. Coyne had an air cast on post-game, and Pretzlaff needed assistance off the field and to the locker room.

Cam Edwards, Cam Stodghill, Jordan Hall, Cal Thrush, and Tyran Chappell all suffered injuries in this game. All besides Chappell had their helmets upon the conclusion of the game.

Pass Coverage

When the first play of the game was a 61-yard play action that saw safety help Devin Vaught bite hard and Tre Bell get beat, it was a sign of a rough outing. The Spartans allowed Micah Gilbert to record 170 yards, the best Fighting Irish individual total in seven years.

Nikai Martinez missed a few tackles and slid off a hit stick tackle. Vaught also floated too much to the center of the field on another deep play.

Tyran Chappell was pulled for the game before the fourth quarter and was not given his helmet back due to injury. Chuck Brantley substituted in, and the sixth-year corner did not have a great outing. He allowed a catch for 39 yards early and also was flagged for pass interference to erase a Vaught game-changing interception.

Wide Receiver Separation Battle

This was almost thrown in the “bad” category to the comparative strength of the Irish’s secondary. However, when more receivers hit the field than total combined receiver catches, something has to give.

The Spartans were a half second late in getting open, and it led to Milivojevic missing plays and open players. He also was forced to scramble more than he would like at the end, with no time to throw.

Last week, the Spartans showed a competition with very little line between receivers. This week, the question becomes will any be open to make an impact this year.