The Spartans were also hindered by not having true freshman QB Sam Leavitt, who smartly decided to shut it down for the season to preserve a year of eligibility. MSU just doesn’t have the players to sustain anything offensively. The scripted game plan out of the chute worked well offensively. Unfortunately for the Spartans, three plays later they punted from the 43. The fake punt call in the second quarter was well-timed and well-executed, giving the Spartans a first down at the Ohio State 47-yard line. RELATED: Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State's 38-3 loss at Ohio State COACHING: 4 MSU’s defense kept battling and kept the score from getting embarrassing in the second half, which shouldn’t go unmentioned, though Ohio State took its foot off the gas late. There are some promising young pieces on this MSU defense, but they weren’t ready to be difference-makers against a Buckeyes offense with several NFL players - including perhaps the top player in college football in Marvin Harrison Jr., who gave MSU’s young defensive backs fits (as he does everyone), catching seven passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns. The Buckeyes scored touchdowns on five of their six first-half possessions and the Spartans made the least-threatening quarterback Ohio State has had in some time look like a Heisman Trophy contender. They don’t have the playmakers right now to bother an opponent of Ohio State’s caliber. The Spartans ended with just 182 total yards and never appeared capable of reaching the end zone, in part because they were 2-for-14 on third downs. MSU ultimately scored just a field goal, bringing its offensive point total against its three top-tier opponents this season to 10. Unfortunately for the Spartans, it was inconsistent and never continued beyond the Ohio State 35-yard line. MSU’s offense showed some life out of the gate, the sort of execution and juice needed to hang around in a game like this. kickoff on the streaming service Peacock.įind a photo gallery of Nebraska’s defeat below.Lansing State Journal columnist Graham Couch grades Michigan State's performance in the Spartans' 38-3 loss at Ohio State on a scale from 1-10. Nebraska now prepares to host the Maryland Terrapins this Saturday with an 11:00 a.m. So there’s a lot more lessons to learn from this game. For the first drive coming out of halftime we had 30 rushing yards in the drive and then we sputtered. And you’re gonna have to fight, scratch and claw and not just assume, oh, we stopped them for two drives, we’re gonna get them going now. Rhule admitted that this recent setback is a painful lesson for the team to learn. After Saturday’s game against Michigan State, they now sit at minus 12 for the college football season. The Huskers entered Saturday’s game ranked 126th in the nation in turnover margin with a minus nine through eight games. When you come in after winning a couple of games they’re finding out for the first time that people are ready for you.” We’re finding out what it’s like to play games with consequences late in the year. So, as I said to our guys, we’re a good football team. I mean, you’re probably a better football team than that. “There’ll never be an excuse for being minus three (in turnovers), right? It’s minus three and you lose by three. Rhule expressed his frustration with his team’s continuous turnover problem. Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule met with the media following the Huskers’ 20-17 loss to Michigan State.
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