Michigan State suffered yet another loss Saturday afternoon in the frigid Minneapolis weather as the offense went as cold as the thermometer for much of the game. With temperatures hovering in the 30s and a brief moment of snow in the first half, the Spartans fell 27-12 to Minnesota at Huntington Bank Stadium for a sixth-straight loss.
MSU led by six points at the end of the first quarter, but would lose the lead with under a minute left in the half and never regain it. Talking with media after the game, interim head coach Harlon Barnett compared the way the Spartans started off to the game at Rutgers, another where MSU held an advantage, though much larger and far later into the matchup.
"It was similar to Rutgers in my mind, how they ran the ball," Barnett said about Minnesota. "I mean, we held them to 10 points up through three quarters, then in the fourth quarter, didn’t finish like we needed to ... That's where the breakdown came in the fourth quarter, and didn't finish."
The Spartans' defense gave up a total of 200 yards on the ground to the Golden Gophers on 50 carries in Saturday's matchup. Meanwhile, MSU's offense managed a mere 299 total yards, with 109 on the ground. The Spartans' offense found 125 of those yards in the fourth quarter after turning to true freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt. Barnett said that he ultimately made the call to turn to the freshman after talking with offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Jay Johnson.
"I talked with Jay [Johnson] about it and then we [decided], ‘let's go,’" Barnett said of the decision to put Leavitt in the game. "He came in there and did a great job for us today."
Leavitt replaced starting quarterback Katin Houser in the lineup. Barnett does not believe that Houser is the reason for the offense's struggles up to that point, though.
"A lot of times, I hate to answer right off the cuff without watching the film because there are things that you miss with the natural eye," Barnett said when pressed about sitting Houser for Leavitt. "But I just told some of the people in there that you can’t always put it all on the quarterback. The quarterback will get the brunt of the deal. But when you look at film, ‘Oh, that guy was supposed to do this,’ or, ‘That's why he broke down.’ It's 11 guys on the field.
"And so for me, just to come up and go, ‘Hey, it was Katin,’ you've got to look at the film and have a good evaluation. Sure enough, Sam came in and moved the ball. Obviously he used his legs as well as his arm and did a good job. He got our only touchdown when he was in there."
Barnett later reinforced that point that the team had plenty of blame to go around once he has a chance to look at the film.
"I think it's a combination of the defense, the opponent, and ourselves," Barnett said. "A lot of times, I always say to the guys, 'All 11 execute, we’ll have a chance to win that particular play.' And it just takes one guy, believe it or not, to not quite execute and do what he’s supposed to do for the play to be blown up.
"And then you watch the film, we can take you out to a film session and show you, you'll be like, ‘Oh, yeah, he just did that. There it is.’ You have to have all 11 executing at the exact same time on one particular play. When you can do that, you give yourself a chance to really play well and do well."
Indeed, Michigan State did have an impressive third quarter on offense in the moments those 11 players all executed together, at least when the comparison is the first two quarters of the game. After gaining just 80 total yards in the first half, MSU gained 94 yards alone in the third quarter.
In that third quarter, though, MSU managed three offensive drives. No points resulted on any of them, and one was killed after a holding penalty against center Nick Samac resulted in first-and-20 at the 50-yard line. Unable to overcome the penalty yardage for a fresh set of downs, a 53-yard field goal attempt by Jonathan Kim ended the drive with it falling wide left of then uprights. The next, and final, drive saw a quick 30-yard strike from Houser to wide receiver Tre Mosely then immediately stall out after Mosley left the field injured and the Spartans had to punt it away.
Asked if Houser or Leavitt would get the start in the next outing, Barnett demurred on the answer.
"We'll continue to evaluate and be fair and try to play the best player that gives us the best option to win," Barnett said.
Going back to the first quarter, though, MSU started the game with two-straight recovered fumbles on Minnesota's opening drives in the Gophers' territory. Both drives ended in three-and-outs for the offense and the Spartans settling for field goals.
"You definitely want to punch the ball in the end zone," Barnett acknowledged in frustration over those stalled drives. "With the field position that we had, you want touchdowns. That is a disappointing thing. Good job by Jonathan Kim going in and getting us points on the board. I feel like we needed to get points and that's what we did. But you definitely want to be able to get touchdowns in those situations."
Stalled drives were the story of the first half for Michigan State. The defensive unit ended up on the field for 20 minutes out of the 30 total for the half as a result. Despite the time of possession (and yardage) disadvantage, MSU only gave up 10 total points to the Gophers in the first half (and first three quarters).
"First of all, we did a good job," Barnett said of the defense in that first-half performance. "When you can be on the field for 20 minutes and you hold them to 10 points, that's pretty good."
Barnett went on to emphasize the Gophers' game plan was heavily skewed toward that kind of advantage as well. Though, he didn't emphasize whether MSU's strategy was to clearly combat that game plan.
"We knew that they’re a ball control offense," Barnett said of Minnesota. "They let the clock tick way down. We told our guys about that. So that can be deceiving. If you look at the number of plays, that is really what you're looking at as opposed to the time, because they’re going to let the clock countdown to inside the 10 [second mark], maybe eight almost every time."
While Barnett spoke about number of plays, the Spartans managed just 23 plays on offense to the Gophers' 42 plays in the first half. Barnett went on to acknowledge that the lopsided first half may have contributed to a gassed defense in the fourth quarter.
"It can [be detrimental] because it's too much time on the field," Barnett said. "So that's why we’ve got to have complementary football. The offense is also doing their part as well, and special teams, as well as the defense."
One failure by the special teams was a well-executed, but unsuccessful onside kick attempt following the Spartans' touchdown in the fourth quarter. Trailing just 17-12 with 8:37 remaining in the game, the coaching staff opted for an onside kick attempt that ultimately resulted in a Gopher drive starting from the MSU 46-yard line.
"It was my call," Barnett explained of the decision to go for the onside attempt. "It was something we had worked on in practice, trying to gain that extra possession. We thought we had it. It was a good kick and it was a good job by their guys fielding the kick."
Michigan State did pull off the attempt well, but ultimately it resulted in a short field for the Gophers who went on to convert the advantage to another touchdown that all but put the game out of reach.
Barnett did address one disadvantage the offense had in personnel when asked about the absence of tight end Maliq Carr, but offered no clear timeline for Carr's return.
"Not that long," Barnett said when asked how long he expects Carr to be out for. "Not that long. You know, he has injuries he's trying to deal with it, but he'll be back."
The Spartans did regain defensive tackle Simeon Barrow Jr. for the matchup against the Gophers, despite Barrow entering the transfer portal earlier this week before later withdrawing.
"[Simeon Barrow] brings leadership, he brings enthusiasm, he brings toughness," Barnett said of what having Barrow back meant for the team. "And he's a really good football player. So he brings all of that to the table for us, and he has the respect of his teammates. They love him, we love him, and he loves us."
Barnett also praised freshman defensive players Jordan Hall and Chance Rucker as well. Hall finished the game with nine tackles, six for a loss, including two sacks and a forced fumble. Rucker, meanwhile, finished with three total tackles, two solo tackles and a pass break up.
"They're going to be really good football players here for a long time," Barnett said of the two freshmen. "Jordan Hall and Chance Rucker, two true freshmen that are playing a lot of football for us and really glad they're a part of our team. I can only imagine how good they'll be next year. They'll be even better after another year in the weight room and eating right, getting stronger and faster. So, yeah, the future's bright for both of those guys."
As for the Michigan State team at present, the Spartans will look to snap the six-game losing streak next week when the Nebraska Cornhuskers visit Spartan Stadium. In what will be the final game of the season at Spartan Stadium, thanks to a neutral field matchup on Black Friday against Penn State in Detroit, MSU will try to extend its winning streak over the Huskers to two games. Kickoff is scheduled for Noon Eastern Time, with the game being carried on FS1.
"We've got one more home game at Spartan Stadium, ‘The Woodshed,’ our seniors’ last home game, against a team that we feel like we should be able to compete against, so let’s send the seniors out right," Barnett said he told the team after the loss. "Another thing I said was, ‘It’s the month of November.’ Most times in the month of November, November is for contenders.
"Although we're not contending for a championship, we are contending for Spartan pride, we're contending for Spartan nation, we're contending for our team, the team that we have in that locker room.
"So I said, ‘Let’s go 4-0 in November.’ That's the mindset where we are right now. A lot of teams in the history of Michigan State haven’t gone 4-0 in November, and so we would have that opportunity to be able to do that. So let's try to take advantage of that opportunity regardless of who we play."
First up on that opponent list will be the Huskers, and then the Spartans will go from there.
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