Michigan State Football: Report card for Indiana loss

Oct 1, 2016; Bloomington, IN, USA; Michigan State Spartans tight end Josiah Price (82) celebrates his touchdown with teammates in the second half of the game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Memorial Stadium. Indiana Hoosiers beat the Michigan State Spartans by the score of 24-21. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

How did Michigan State football grade out, by position, in a Week 5 loss to Indiana on the road?

Losing to Indiana on the road is the exact opposite of what Michigan State football was hoping for after a tough defeat at home against Wisconsin. The Spartans were hoping for more of a bounce-back game which could have given them more confidence heading into Big Ten play, but this loss may have effectively ended all conference title hopes.

Michigan State lost in overtime in a game in which it led 14-0 late in the third quarter. The Hoosiers answered back with 21 straight points before Tyler O’Connor hit Josiah Price in the end zone with a few seconds left on the clock to tie it up at 21.

Nothing resulted of Michigan State’s only overtime drive but negative yards and Indiana took advantage of a Spartan penalty on its ensuing drive and kicked the game-winning field goal.

We did our best to grade the Spartans, position by position, after this week’s performance against Indiana.

Offensive Line

OL, Last Week: C+

The offensive line is just not cutting it these days. A year ago, the Spartans didn’t really have this issue since Jack Allen and Jack Conklin were All-Americans and Donavon Clark was an NFL draft selection by the San Diego Chargers.

Still, when injuries took place, the line was stretched thin and still managed to play relatively well. This season, that hasn’t been the case. There haven’t been any injuries to this group and it’s still playing mediocre football.

Brian Allen and Kodi Kieler are the only reliable guys up front, it seems, while young guys need to be inserted pretty soon in order to build for the future. David Beedle is struggling at left tackle and guys like Miguel Machado, Brandon Clemons and Benny McGowan have all struggled.

The line can’t diagnose blitzes and it’s sending Tyler O’Connor running for his life every other play. Oh yeah, and the run game can’t get anything going.

It’s time for some changes if this kind of play keeps up.

Oct 1, 2016; Bloomington, IN, USA; Indiana Hoosiers running back Tyler Natee (31) runs with the ball while being tackled by Michigan State Spartans defensive tackle Kevin Williams (92) in the second half of the game at Memorial Stadium. Indiana Hoosiers beat the Michigan State Spartans by the score of 24-21. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Defensive Line

DL, Last Week: C

No push. Just zero push when it came to getting pressure on Richard Lagow which resulted in a huge fourth quarter for the JUCO transfer quarterback. Indiana was able to take advantage of a winded secondary due to an defensive line, outside of Malik McDowell, that couldn’t get any penetration into the backfield.

Speaking of McDowell, he was flagged for a controversial targeting call which can still be argued to this day. He wrapped up Lagow and brought him to the ground and was called for targeting because he supposedly lowered his head. Suffice to say it was a poor call, but he will be forced to miss the first half of the BYU game. He was a force all day and finished with five tackles and 0.5 for loss. Indiana could only stop him by holding.

Raequan Williams continues to impress me as he recorded three tackles, a tackle for loss and the only quarterback hurry for the Spartans on the day. He might just be the true starter at the other tackle position before the season is over.

Guys like Evan Jones and Kevin Williams played well against the run, but they couldn’t get any pressure on the quarterback.

The lack of a pass rush is allowing offenses to do whatever they want through the air against the Spartans. Therefore, you can’t blame the secondary when a quarterback has five seconds to pass the ball and he completes a 15 or 20-yarder.

Oct 1, 2016; Bloomington, IN, USA; Indiana Hoosiers wide receiver Luke Timian (82) catches the ball and is tackled by Michigan State Spartans linebacker Chris Frey (23) in the second quarter of the game at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Linebackers

LB, Last Week: B+

Considering the fact that Riley Bullough and Jon Reschke were out for this one, the linebackers played pretty well. Sure, a couple of passes over the middle of the field were misread by guys like Chris Frey and Andrew Dowell, but overall, this unit was one of the stronger ones on the team Saturday.

Frey continues to impress and he’s proving that he deserves a much larger role even when Reschke and Bullough do return. He finished with a team-high eight tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss. He’s always flying around the field and his hustle is second to none. This kid is impressive.

Andrew Dowell also added eight tackles in his second career start and he is starting to look like the guy we saw last year and in the spring game. He’s athletic and has a world full of potential. He missed a few assignments in the passing game, but he’s still learning.

Shane Jones was relatively quiet, but made no major mistakes on the defensive side of the ball. He finished with just four tackles, but he’s a rock-solid backup to Bullough. Byron Bullough also got some time in there and finished with two tackles.

This group also did a solid job stopping the run and would have gotten an A- if it weren’t for the shaky pass coverage.

Oct 1, 2016; Bloomington, IN, USA; Indiana Hoosiers running back Devonte Williams (2) runs the ball and is tackled by Michigan State Spartans linebacker Shane Jones (49) and Michigan State Spartans defensive back Demetrious Cox (7) in the second half of the game at Memorial Stadium. Indiana Hoosiers beat the Michigan State Spartans by the score of 24-21. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Defensive Backs

DB, Last Week: C

The defensive backs were having a solid game until the third quarter. Richard Lagow wasn’t able to gash this unit for big yardage through two-plus quarters but after the Spartans took a 14-0 lead, that’s when this unit began to back off a bit and allowed Indiana to get comfortable.

After that second touchdown by the Spartans, the next drive began with a 57-yard pass that was just on a normal slant pattern to Ricky Jones. He turned it into big yardage because of a missed assignment that allowed him to get wide open in the middle of the field.

Missed assignments were the theme of the third and fourth quarter for the secondary which probably would have graded out as a B or B+ had it not folded in the final 18 minutes of the game.

On all three touchdown passes, the Hoosiers took advantage of a confused defensive backfield. The first one was a trick play where the receiver, Mitchell Paige, took a handoff and passed it to a wide open Richard Lagow in the end zone. Every defensive back was fooled.

The next two were wide open tosses near the red zone and the backs were nowhere to be found. Studying offenses and sticking to assignments are the only way this talented group is going to improve.

Oct 1, 2016; Bloomington, IN, USA; Michigan State Spartans running back Madre London (28) runs the ball in the second quarter of the game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Running Backs

RB, Last Week: C+

Two of the three running backs were impressive on Saturday. Despite not having major holes to run through, Gerald Holmes and Madre London both averaged more than five yards per carry on the night. They found lanes and made moves to get into the open field.

LJ Scott was the guy who I was expecting more out of. He rushed just 11 times for 38 yards and no scores and he just couldn’t pick up big yards on the ground. He finished with a less-than-impressive line because he would never change direction or bounce it outside when he had space.

There’s no doubt about it, Scott is the most talented back on the team, but he needs to figure out a way to improve his vision. He may not be given much running room, but he can’t just run into piles.

London was solid, rushing seven times for 39 yards, including a 24-yarder in the second half. Holmes played well, too. He finished with a team-high 51 yards on just nine carries and had a 22-yarder of his own.

It’s time for Scott to step up and make a move to truly become the top back on the team or else this will be a running back by-committee situation once again.

Oct 1, 2016; Bloomington, IN, USA; Michigan State Spartans wide receiver R.J. Shelton (12) runs after a catch in the second half of the game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Memorial Stadium. Indiana Hoosiers beat the Michigan State Spartans by the score of 24-21. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Wide Receivers

WR, Last Week: B+

It’s hard to truly blame this group of wide outs for doing anything wrong. However, they did drop a couple of passes and they were both at crucial points in the game.

After hitting R.J. Shelton early in the game with an 86-yard bomb, Tyler O’Connor had some confidence left over and nearly had a similar touchdown strike to Donnie Corley. However, the freshman wide out dropped the ball when he surely would have been off to the races and the Spartans would have built on a solid lead.

Another key drop was from Felton Davis III on a pass by O’Connor toward the sideline and it touched his fingertips and fell to the ground. It would have been a huge first down on a drive which could have resulted in a touchdown, but it was a drop and nothing more.

Other than those two drops, the receivers played one heck of a game. Corley caught four passes for the third straight game and showed off incredible hands on a couple of plays. Collapsing defenders don’t shake him up, which is impressive for a freshman.

Monty Madaris and R.J. Shelton had solid games. Shelton more so, though, as he finished with 141 yards and a score on seven catches.

This group is as talented as they come.

Oct 1, 2016; Bloomington, IN, USA; Michigan State Spartans quarterback Tyler O

Tyler O'Connor

QB, Last Week: D+

Where to begin. Tyler O’Connor has earned the right to start for this team, but he’s doing a poor job of leading right now. He’s playing average, nothing special, football but he hasn’t been able to rally the troops after the adversity of allowing a team to come back and beat them on the road after taking a 14-0 lead.

Heck, even the week before when the Spartans were down 20-6, it seemed like he was content with just rolling over and looking toward next week. Still, he is the starting quarterback for as long as Dantonio wants him to be, and MSU fans are forced to accept it.

O’Connor was sent running for his life all day against the Hoosiers, much like he was against Wisconsin the week before. Teams are learning that blitzing the Spartans will work to their advantage with a lackluster offensive line.

Still, when he had a chance to sling the ball, he made two noteworthy throws all day long. One was an 86-yard beauty to Shelton and the other would have been a long one as well, but was dropped by Corley. Other than that, his throws were too high, too low or too late.

Maybe he will just keep improving little by little, but he should have taken advantage of a mediocre Indiana defense and he didn’t.

Oct 24, 2015; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans punter Jake Hartbarger (25) punts the ball to Indiana Hoosiers during the 1st half of a game at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

Special Teams

ST, Last Week: B-

Special teams continue to disappoint. If it’s not one thing, it’s another with this group. Kickoff coverage was probably the only positive to take away from this contest as well as maybe Jake Hartbarger’s ability to boom the ball down the field — sometimes out-kicking his coverage.

Must Read: MSU Football: 5 takeaways from loss against Indiana

Where to begin with the negatives, though. First off, the Spartans had a tough time in that punt coverage category. You can knock Hartbarger for kicking the ball 57 yards down the field all you want, but that’s what you need a punter to do when he’s deep in his own territory. Yes he did “out-kick” his coverage, but those guys need to make the tackle still.

Missed tackles on one long punt led to a 31-yard return from Paige and set the Hoosiers up in Michigan State territory.

Aside from the poor punt coverage, the field goal kicking unit had a poor showing. Michael Geiger, once again, went 0-fer on the game with two tries. Granted, one was from about 50 yards in overtime which was a desperation kick, but it still came nowhere near going through the uprights. He kicked a knuckler.

Geiger’s other try was a makable one, but was blocked because the line got blown back by the Hoosiers.

Lastly, Drake Martinez had a forgettable game. He had a kick-catch interference call which cost the Spartans a fumble recovery on a punt in the fourth and also a “leaping” penalty in overtime when Griffin Oakes missed Indiana’s try.

That penalty cost the Spartans a potential second overtime.