Currently standing with a 4-6 overall record (2-5 in Big Ten play) on the season with two games to go at home (Purdue and Rutgers), Michigan State football is looking to finish strong and clinch its first bowl bid since 2021 in year one of the Jonathan Smith era. In order to accomplish that, the Spartans will need to defeat both the Boilermakers and the Scarlet Knights. That challenge begins on Friday night when Purdue visits East Lansing.
In the 38-16 loss to Illinois last weekend, the Spartans struggled to find themselves defensively and dealt with inconsistency issues throughout the game.
The loss of defensive backs Charles Brantley, Malik Spencer and many others has left MSU’s secondary shorthanded. It has allowed for more young and inexperienced players to see reps in the secondary, such as true freshmen Jaylen Thompson and Justin Denson Jr.
Michigan State defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Joe Rossi spoke about the recent struggles on defense and the performance of the young and inexperienced players.
“The expectation is for us to perform regardless of who’s out there," Rossi said. "I think any time you put something together you have to be mindful of who’s out there and what their strengths are and what their weaknesses are. When you have some situations where there are some young guys in there, you don’t want to overload them with too much. When you have some inexperienced guys out there, you want to put them in a position to be successful as much as possible."
The defense has struggled to get pressure on the quarterback and has not recorded a sack since the Boston College game on Sept. 21. Michigan State has now gone six-straight games without recording a sack. Rossi spoke about the importance of creating pressure up front and the struggles MSU has had when it comes to generating sacks.
“It’s something that’s a concern and it’s something that’s talked about," Rossi said about MSU's lack of sacks. "I think (defensive line) Coach Legi (Suiaunoa) and (rush ends) Coach (Chad) Wilt are doing a great job coaching the guys up front and those two guys are doing the right things, we just haven’t seen the results. We’re looking to address it with not only the four-man rush, but with pressures and bringing different varieties of things to try and jump-start it."
