Two weeks ago, I said in the Film Room column that Michigan State's loss to Iowa was "the most John L Smith of losses." That was factually incorrect. This past weekend's loss to Rutgers was the most "John L Smith" of losses, equitable to the 2019 debacle against Illinois under head coach Mark Dantonio or the 2006 game against Notre Dame.

To outplay a team that comprehensively for three quarters and lose is...staggering. But that is is exactly what the Spartans did in a 27-24 loss to the Scarlet Knights

Last time, I was at least able to point to an innovative counter scheme and some constraints off of it, coupled with some defensive adjustments as proof of continuing innovation and effort. However, I also said that the loss seemed spiritual, not physical or schematic. That is doubly true about this most recent game.

From a schematic perspective, there is relatively little to discuss that you would want to hear. Some observations of note start with the newest addition to the MSU starting lineup, quarterback Katin Houser.

Houser (No. 12) played relatively well, weather and context considered. He generally took care of the ball (despite a couple of close calls, he did not have a single turnover), and was an asset with his legs.

He made one of the better throws of the day on his first touchdown pass to wide receiver Montorie Foster Jr. (No. 83). This came out of a three-man trips formation in which there were two slants on top of an out and up, a nice concept to the field that gives lots of options. This is a tough throw, and Houser put it in there nicely.

However, I don't think that throw was overly representative of how he played, or the architecture of the offense. Houser was 18-for-29 passing, but averaged less than 5.0 yards per attempt. In fact, he's only averaged over 5.0 yards per attempt once this year. This isn't a completely unexpected stat line, as previous starting quarterback Noah Kim averaged between 4.0 and 7.0 yards per attempt (YPA) versus Power Five competition.

Keep in mind, former MSU quarterback Payton Thorne averaged 8.3 YPA in 2021, and 6.9 in 2022. For reference, Michigan's J.J. McCarthy has averaged over 8.0, 9.0 and 10.0 YPA in each progressive year of his career in a run-heavy offense, and Ohio State's Kyle McCord is averaging right around 10.0 YPA.

Without having the benefit of all-world wide receivers, or an elite run game, what this tells me is that offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Jay Johnson wanted to run an extremely controlled game with Houser, focusing on running effectively with inside zone, and putting Houser in a position to succeed with easy throws. These mostly consisted of rollouts on play action, and quick out routes to the boundary. Houser was relatively efficient on these, but did put the ball in harms way some.

One example that particularly stands out is the dropped interception shown below in MSU's second-to-last drive of the game:

I have questions about Houser's arm strength, as it pertains to his ability to hit holes in zones and rifle the ball between defenders.

However, his decision-making was sound, and his throws were good enough to be effective against all but the top-tier teams on the schedule.

The most impressive part of Houser's game was also one that I didn't expect, but perhaps should have. Houser has shown a proclivity for running, scoring on a zone read against Washington. However, I did not expect the supposedly less mobile Houser to feature as prominently as he did in the run game versus Rutgers.

Apart from the zone reads, MSU picked up a third-down conversion on a straight inside zone quarterback iso. They also utilized a quarterback draw for a touchdown, which is a solid utilization of a more-mobile-than-expected quarterback against an aggressive defense.

Against Michigan this Saturday, yards will be tough to come by, so using Houser in an 11-on-11 run game is a sensible move, if the thought is that he can consistently move the chains.