Spartan Offense Continues Struggles
- SpartyOnline Writer
- Oct 2, 2016
- 2 min read
The Spartans had an opportunity to get back on track on the road against Indiana Saturday, after squandering a chance to defeat one of the best defensive teams in the Big Ten last weekend. Unfortunately once again penalties and mistakes plagued the Spartans. Once again Michigan State squandered opportunity, losing to the Hoosiers in overtime 24-21.
Michigan State has struggled with stopping the high powered Kevin Wilson offense in recent years, but were always able to compensate offensively against a weak Indiana defense. The perennial thought was that if Kevin Wilson could ever come up with a defense, then Indiana would be a dangerous team. Well, Indiana may not be at the point of dangerous yet, but given the way they stymied the Spartan offense at key junctures of the game, the Hoosier are well on their way.
Five weeks into the season teams have shaken off the rust. Good teams have resolved the mistakes, and eliminated the controllable penalties. At week five you start to see consistency and get a sense of the identity of a team. So far that’s not the case for these Spartans. The most troubling stat for Michigan State in this game was the 11 penalties for 98 yards. The penalties essentially cost the Spartans the game. Indiana’s Griffin Oaks had just missed his third field goal, which would have sent the game into a second overtime, however the Spartan’s Drake Martinez was called for leaping. Oaks didn’t miss on the repeat.
Michigan State didn’t get any help from the referees either. Malik McDowell was removed from the game on a targeting call, that wasn’t even close. He led with his shoulder pad to the midsection of the Indiana QB. The replay was unclear, so the ridiculous call held. Not having Malik in overtime definitely helped create the perfect storm.
Once again the Spartan defense played well, even without starting linebackers Riley Bullough and Jon Reschke, and Darian Hicks not playing in the second half. The offense put up 438 yards, most of it on an impressive drive to tie the game at the end of regulation. The good news for Michigan State is that penalties and mistakes are correctable. The Spartans still have plenty to play for and are not out of the division race for the title. However, Michigan State just made it a whole lot harder on themselves, leaving no room for error going forward.
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