I've made little secret of the fact that I support and approve of the way that head coach Jonathan Smith has handled a young Michigan State team. Now, 2-0 (1-0 in Big Ten play), with a clear path to bowl eligibility ahead, this has never been more true. In my opinion, Smith has perfectly walked the fine line between risk and reward.
Let's review the film and take a deeper look at Michigan State's 27-24 upset victory on the road over Maryland.
Offensively, Michigan State is not running anything overly complex. In fact, I think it's largely the opposite. However, MSU has developed proficiency at a couple of things, namely outside zone and the play-action boot concepts.
This bedrock allows a young quarterback in Aidan Chiles and a developing offense the ability to grow a bit as the downfield passing game and inside run game continues to develop. MSU fans also witnessed the already strong connection between Chiles and true freshman wide Nick Marsh, which was on display often on Saturday against the Terrapins.
Smith has demonstrated that he is fine taking the lumps associated with this development plan: namely, occasionally poor decisions and throws by a young quarterback, and holding penalties picked up when a newly put-together offensive line tries to run outside zone, by scoop blocking defensive linemen slanting away. Smith knows that the occasional hold will be offset by repeated gains, and that today's interceptions and incompletions become tomorrow's touchdown passes and highlight plays.
In the video below, we discuss the development of the play-action boot series and outside zone schemes, and think about how Chiles, Marsh and the passing offense can continue to grow.
Defensively, we discuss the up-and-down day from MSU's secondary. Especially, we cover how the Charles Brantley interception shows substantial growth in both scheme and execution, but discuss how some of Maryland's downfield success showcase some vulnerabilities.
We also discuss how the front-seven looks like a legitimate strength to build off of, and allows defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Joe Rossi significant flexibility in how he brings pressure and rotates the coverages in the secondary.
Overall. I think this game represents a signature early-season win for the Smith regime, and shows tangible fruit of the wise approach that Smith has taken with his development of the program.
With a buy game on deck next week, the path looks clear for the Spartans to get to six or more wins, and earn the critical 15 more bowl practices that will serve as a springboard to 2025.
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