Michigan State's record fell to 2-1 after a 41-7 loss to No. 8-ranked Washington on Saturday.

Following the game, acting head coach Harlon Barnett noted that “obviously that wasn’t the game we thought we were going to see tonight.”

The Spartans made too many mistakes, and looked overmatched against a Washington team boasting the best passing offense in the country (493.3 yards per game following Saturday's win over MSU).

“We have a lot of things we have to clean up,” Barnett mentioned. “Missed tackles, substitution errors, and things like that. We will get those things cleaned up, and we’re looking forward to starting Big Ten play. All our goals are in front of us.”

This was Barnett's first game as Michigan State's acting head coach, and things certainly didn't go as planned. Barnett will use it as a learning experience, but he won't soon forget what transpired on Saturday.

"First of all give them credit, they're a good football team," Barnett said about Washington. "I'll never forget that, though. First time being a head coach in a game, and I'll remember all of this. I promise you, I'll remember every single bit of it."

Barnett, when asked about what he saw offensively, more specifically from Michigan State quarterback Noah Kim and the running backs, mentioned, “We couldn’t stay on schedule.”

Kim, who completed 12 of 31 pass attempts for 136 yards and an interception, seemed to be under pressure the whole night and generally looked uncomfortable. Production from the running backs was not much better. Nathan Carter had 48 yards on 17 carries and Jordan Simmons had four carries for 11 yards. The offensive line struggled and the Spartans could not get the ball rolling on the ground or through the air.

“You’re not on schedule if you can’t get the three yards on first down and they (Washington) caused us problems,” Barnett stated. “It’s good experience just to see what top-10 teams look like right now. We see what a top-10 team looks like and now we know what we have to do to prepare if we want to be that type of team.”

Michigan State will play three more teams currently in the top-10 of this week’s Associated Press poll (No. 2 Michigan, No. 6 Ohio State and No. 7 Penn State) and one outside of the top-10 in No. 24 Iowa.

After a difficult week for Barnett, who had been appointed acting head coach less than a week before Saturday's game, mentioned that, “You have challenges any time you start something that you haven’t done.” Barnett alluded to his time as defensive backs coach previously and noted that he “didn’t have to do a press conference during the week. There were a lot of different things that came about, but it’s all going to settle down this week, I know that.”

One of the few bright spots of Saturday’s game for the Spartans was the return of linebacker Darius Snow. Snow, who was injured in Week One of last season, missed the entirety of the 2022 campaign, as well as the first two games of the 2023 season. The redshirt junior saw 17 snaps in his return and had two tackles.

Barnett, when asked about Snow's return mentioned, “I’m very excited he’s back, I love me some Darius Snow.”

He continued to discuss what he likes about Snow.

“He’s a very smart football player, and he’s tough, he’s a good tackler," Barnett said about Snow. "He was so excited when he got cleared last week. He was running around telling everybody, ‘I’m clear, I’m clear!' I’m happy for him because he busted his butt to be able to get back. At one time, they were saying he wasn’t going to be back until mid-season. He’s going to help us.”

Barnett was asked about depth and being thin at the running back position. Jaren Mangham and Jalen Berger were both out for the Spartans on Saturday. However, Barnett doesn’t want to use that as an excuse.

“You’ve got to just get it done, find a way to get it done,” Barnett emphasized. “We have the guys that we had, and we’ve got to perform. It’s just that simple, it really is.”

Barnett also mentioned that, as f Saturday, "not one guy" has told him that they plan to sit the rest of the 2023 season out in order to prevent an injury, or to preserve a redshirt before potentially entering the transfer portal.

Of course, on Monday, Mel Tucker was served notice by the university to terminate him as football coach. That means that on the effective date of termination, which is Sept. 26, current MSU players will have 30 days to enter the transfer portal if they wish to do so.

The Spartans have a chance to prove themselves and steer the season in the right direction this week at home against Maryland. It will be Michigan State's homecoming game.

In last year’s matchup, the Spartans lost to the Terrapins by a final score of 27-13. The game will be broadcast at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time on NBC.

Discuss this article in our premium forums by clicking here.

You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

For video content, including our Red Cedar Radar podcast, find us on YouTube and consider subscribing.