Even though no game gets played, a bye week can be one of the most impactful parts of a season. It allows players to heal, coaches to evaluate more closely, and serve as a general reset point before continuing on with the season.
Halfway through the regular season, head coach Jonathan Smith and Michigan State are now coming off of its first bye week of the 2024 season and focus fully shift toward facing Iowa on Saturday night in what will be MSU's homecoming game.
“I think [the bye] did come at a good time for us,” Smith said Monday. “You know, kind of at that midway point, played six games and took a thorough look at really every play of those six games and analyzed it a bunch of different ways looking for, obviously, some tendencies, where we’ve got to improve on, some things we’ve done well that we’ve got to be able to build off of.”
The Spartans will get tested immediately. Iowa has some built up momentum after thumping Washington by a final score of 40-16 on Saturday. The Hawkeyes currently stand at 4-2 overall and 2-1 in Big Ten play.
“They’re playing really well,” Smith said about Iowa. “I mean, they had a nice win last week, handily, and you look at really their two setbacks this season are against two really good teams.”
Those two losses were at now-No. 4 Ohio State, where Iowa only trailed 7-0 at halftime (but ultimately lost 35-7) and a razor-thin defeat to No. 9 Iowa State after the Cyclones hit a go-ahead, 54-yard field goal with six seconds left.
“I think it looks like an Iowa team that plays a physical brand of football,” Smith said. “You know, running the (football), high-end defense, special teams is elite. They can beat you in the pass game offensively a little bit on what they’ve shown this first half of the season, so we’ve got a big time challenge coming for homecoming.”
This is not the same Iowa offense that has been the butt of a lot of jokes around college football. The Hawkeyes have scored at least 30 points in four of their six games this year, partially due to the emergence of running back Kaleb Johnson.
Only Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty, who is perhaps the Heisman Trophy frontrunner, has more rushing yards (1,248) than Johnson (937) thus far.
“Schematically, they are committed to making it physical, running the ball,” Smith said. “I think defensively the scheme, the players, they give you a lot [to deal with] on that defensive side, so it’s a different challenge.”
Defensively, Iowa has forced 11 turnovers so far, which ranks third in the Big Ten and the Hawkeyes are in the top-25 nationally in terms of rush defense.
It’s going to be yet another challenge for Michigan State’s running backs and offensive line. MSU has not had a 100-yard rusher since Kay’ron Lynch-Adams went for 101 against Florida Atlantic in the season opener, and it might need one this week, as Johnson has done so five times in Iowa's six games.
“We need to get improved in the run game,” Smith said. “We want to do that and that’s why, again, going back to this bye week, taking a look at some of the things that we’ve got to do better [is helpful] because I do [think we need to run the ball better]. I think successful offenses, successful teams can run the ball and stop the run.”
In addition, it will be an interesting matchup between two coaches who have been in their current positions for very different amounts of time. Of course, this is Smith’s first year in East Lansing. Kirk Ferentz, on the other hand, is in year 26 at Iowa. Ferentz’s first year in Iowa City came back in 1999, which was Smith’s sophomore season as a quarterback at Oregon State.
“[It’s a] program I’ve got a lot of respect for,” Smith said. “The way they do things, Coach Ferentz – talk about one of the best in the business. I think I read he just won his 200th game, which is just so, so impressive.
“For a guy to be in this business long-term and just the stories you hear – you hear former players talk about him, not just about wins and losses and his approach – I’ve just got the utmost respect for him.”
Saturday’s matchup will also be the fourth consecutive night game for Michigan State and fifth of the season. The total is guaranteed to reach at least seven on the year, as the Michigan game received a 7:30 p.m. Eastern start time and the Nov. 22 game against Purdue is slated for 8 p.m. Eastern Time on a Friday.
“[Night games are] really about the back end of the game,” Smith said. “So you kick off late, you finish late, and so the turnaround time, the recovery time, [you] try to emphasize that, do a really nice job on Sunday. It makes a difference, whether you’re kicking at noon or you’re kicking at 7:30 [p.m.], about the next day. We don’t control it. You’d love to have a little bit of a mix, but we’re going to line up and play anytime they let us.”
The second half of Jonathan Smith’s first season at MSU will begin at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday against the Hawkeyes, with the game being televised on NBC and Peacock.
Full press conference video:
