Yes, surviving by only seven points to a one-win Purdue squad is below the standard that has been set at Michigan State. The problem with that is MSU is in no position to get picky with how it gets its wins in the quest for a bowl game.
“(We) found a way to win a game,” Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith said. “(We've) got another home game with a lot to play for next week.”
Friday’s victory marked the Spartans’ fifth victory on the 2024 season. That surpasses last year’s number and puts MSU on the positive side of its preseason expected win total from Vegas (4.5). Quarterback Aidan Chiles’ viral “take the over” quote ahead of MSU's first game of the campaign was in relation to that.
The main accomplishment that much of the fan base was hoping for was a bowl game in 2024. At the end of the day, a seven-point win will count just as much in the win column as a 40-point victory would. Now, in a rebuilding year, despite a brutal schedule, MSU needs just one win against Rutgers next week to get a 13th game.
“For guys like (our seniors), this is a huge game next week,” Smith said about the upcoming matchup with the Scarlet Knights on Nov. 30.
It is still true that not all wins are actually created equal in college football. Anyone that says MSU was just as impressive Friday as it was earlier this year against Iowa or Maryland didn’t watch. There’s no real "winning" when facing a team like Purdue — it’s either doing what should’ve been done anyway or a disaster.
But this is the phase of the season where the only thing that matters is lining up the next opponent and winning. MSU can stress over margins of victory when it earns the right to do so.
“We do talk about it — college football is a long game and there’s going to be some momentum swings,” Smith said. “You don’t win the thing at halftime.”
If the Spartans get that coveted sixth win, it will be on the back of an improved performance, particularly in the second half. Following Friday, MSU holds a minus-74 point differential after halftime and is plus-3 in the first two quarters. The only team Michigan State has outscored in the second half this year is FCS Prairie View A&M and has only pushed a tie thrice.
The nice part is that MSU will get one more day than Rutgers to rest and prepare, as the Scarlet Knights host Illinois on Saturday. That also goes with the Spartans playing back-to-back home games for the first time since it opened with four-straight bouts at Spartan Stadium last year.
What will need to be done is to somehow take the energy and execution Smith’s team had in the first half against the Boilermakers on Friday night and extend it to a full 60 minutes of gameplay.. That starts with not letting the dips in performance continue.
“This game is not a game of perfect,” Smith said. “We’ve talked about it — bad plays are gonna happen, (Purdue’s) got good players too, they’re going to make a play, so the ability to bounce back is a skill set you’ve got to have as a football player.”
Michigan State entered the half against Purdue up 24-3 after scoring on all four of its possessions. In the second half, MSU’s five full drives all ended in punts, getting outscored 14-0 and outgained 204-73 in the process. However, the Spartans held on for the 24-17 victory.
“I will say, looking at that, it became a one-score game and it was for a while there, most of the fourth quarter, and our guys — there was no panic and those guys found a way at the end to do enough to win the game,” Smith said.
Just about the only example of winning football from the Spartans in the second half was at the very end. MSU got the ball with 3:04 left to go in the game and was able to finish it out, converting a fourth-and-1 just after the two-minute warning to end it.
Against the 16 other Big Ten teams ahead of Purdue in the standings, the second half play would likely result in a humiliating choke job more often than not, and perhaps a seventh loss. That was not the case on Friday night, however.
“Obviously, pleased to find a way to win a game,” Smith said. “Kind of a tale of two halves … offensively, defensively, first half, really pleased (with how we played).”
Fortunately for Smith and MSU, it got the team that has a single win, which came over FCS opponent Indiana State. Sitting on a 21-point halftime lead against the Boilermakers provided a big enough cushion to escape with a win, despite Purdue's ambitious efforts to storm back in the second half.
“Without thoroughly looking at the tape, I think a couple things (Purdue) did (was) show us a couple of pressure pictures that we didn’t handle very well and then there was just some lack of execution,” Smith said. “Whether that’s route detail — we've got guys a couple times running into each other. We missed a go ball — Montorie (Foster Jr.’s) open, we missed that. That would have kind of helped us.
“But there was a stint there, I want to say three or four drives, where we’ve got to be able to separate the game more.”
Regardless, the idiom of "a win is a win," still holds. If Michigan State beats Rutgers and extends its season, approximately zero people will care anymore about the Spartans making things too close against Purdue.
There’s no way to truly read the minds of Smith or the team. The good part is that nobody exactly seemed thrilled with how the game went. MSU’s locker room had its celebration for the hard-fought victory, but of course a team that had lost six of its last seven games is going to have fun after getting a win.
Work remains to be done with Thanksgiving weekend nearing. Sitting at 5-6 overall (3-5 in Big Ten play), MSU needs to get past an already bowl-eligible Rutgers squad to avoid missing a bowl game in three consecutive seasons for the first time since 2004 to 2006 — during the John L. Smith era.
Michigan State’s day to go all-in is Saturday, Nov. 30, and kickoff against Rutgers is slated for 3:30 p.m. The game will air on FS1.
