What Michigan State football defensive snap counts against Boston College reveal

Michigan State football won their overtime thriller against the Boston College Eagles 42-40. Naturally, in an offensive shootout like this, the defense comes under fire. The Spartans did not make many stops against the Eagles on Saturday.

In part, that comes from five defenders all missing time with injury. Those five were Joshua Eaton, Malik Spencer, Anelu Lafaele, Jordan Hall, and Wayne Matthews III. Additionally, Nikai Martinez, Andrew Brinson IV, and Jalen Satchell remained out for Michigan State football.

In spite of this, the Spartans trotted out three less players on Saturday than they did the season opener. Here is how many snaps each player had, out of 73 snaps.

Defensive Line

Jalen Thompson: (42) 57.5%

Alex VanSumeren: (38) 52%

Grady Kelly: (37) 51%

Ben Roberts: (35) 48%

Quindarius Dunnigan: (23) 31.5%

Ru’Quan Buckley: (18) 27%

Derrick Simmons: (8) 11%

Kekai Burnett: (4) 5%

The defensive line saw quite a bit of movement when compared to their rotation against Western Michigan. The Spartans relied more on Ru’Quan Buckley and Grady Kelly, while reducing the roles of Derrick Simmons and Quindarius Dunnigan. Naturally, defensive is much more based on personnel and situation and is reactionary position, so take all this with a grain of salt.

Plenty of rotation remained on the defensive line for Michigan State football, just the snaps were spread differently. It is worth noting that the Spartans did not officially record a sack against the Eagles, while Dylan Lonergan passed for nearly 400 yards.

EDGE Rush

David Santiago: (24) 33%

Isaac Smith: (23) 31.5%

Cam Williams: (17) 23%

Anelu Lafaele: (16) 22%

Another week, another EDGE rusher by committee. Lafaele was on pace for more snaps, but an injury sent him to the locker room in the third quarter. He did play later in the game, however. Speaking of the Wisconsin transfer, he brought down a quarterback on his first snap of the game, again. However, Lonergan fell past the line of scrimmage, so it was not officially a sack.

David Santiago got a lot of praise from the media for high-motor plays last week, and the staff saw it on film, too. His snap total increased this week.

Linebackers

Jordan Hall: (66) 90%

Wayne Matthews III: (66) 90%

Darius Snow: (24) 33%

Brady Pretzlaff: (10) 14%

Aisea Moa: (7) 9.5%

Marcellius Pulliam: (5) 7%

Once again, the Spartans relied on Hall and Matthews III for the heavy lifting on Saturday. However, Darius Snow emerged as the third linebacker for a considerable number of snaps. With Hall and Matthews III each missing some time, Snow was the next man up.

Pretzlaff saw some extended action on Saturday, as well. Moa is categorized as a linebacker this week with him playing 6 snaps in coverage as opposed to one in pass rush. Last week, Moa only had a single coverage snap.  Pulliam also contributed on Saturday, but Semaj Bridgeman did not play defensively for the Spartans.

Cornerbacks

Malcolm Bell: (72) 99%

Ade Willie: (47) 64%

Joshua Eaton: (36) 49%

Chance Rucker: (28) 38%

Aydan West: (6) 8%

Saturday was a sign of separation on the corner depth chart, as the Spartans rolled with Bell, Eaton, and Willie for most of the contest. Willie switched off with LB Darius Snow based on the formation, and Eaton played until an injury sent him out of the game. West was the first man to play in Eaton’s stead, but a bad play on a screen called Chance Rucker off the bench.

Rucker proceeded to score the best coverage grades amongst the Spartans. Bell was right behind him in coverage grade, but both he and Eaton did not grade well in tackling.

Anthony Pinnace III and Jeremiah Hughes each did not play on defense for the Spartans after reps at corner against Western Michigan.

Safeties

Armorion Smith: (73) 100%

Malik Spencer: (55) 75%

Justin Denson Jr.: (13) 18%

Devynn Cromwell: (10) 14%

Armorion Smith has won the safety job in place of Nikai Martinez’s injury, based on snaps. Malik Spencer missed time with injury, but when he returned, Denson Jr. and Cromwell stopped seeing many reps.

Denson Jr. was the first player called upon after Spencer went down, and then the staff rotated in Cromwell. After the Texas Tech transfer struggled to bring down a man and gave up a long first down, Denson was back in. Spencer was available the next drive.

Surprisingly, through two weeks, Khalil Majeed has yet to take a defensive snap.

This week, Michigan State football showed a bit more separation in their defensive back rooms, alongside switching up some playing time on the defensive line. Against Youngstown State, I am expecting chaotic snap counts for (hopefully) a blowout. I cannot wait.