East Lansing, Mich. - It’s gotten to the point that a simple first down is a victory of sorts for Michigan State.
The Spartans sure aren’t getting many of them, and points have grown scarce, too - as have victories.
Michigan State fell to 1-3 with an ugly 24-0 loss to No. 10 Indiana (4-0) at Spartan Stadium, Saturday.
Michigan State has scored only seven points in the past eight quarters since the victory at Michigan.
“It’s obvious,” said Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker. “You turn the ball over and you have critical penalties against a good football team, you’re going to get beat. And that’s what happened. Turnovers and penalties in the first half, you do not give yourself a chance to win. That was basically the story of this game.”
Michigan State turned the ball over four times, compared to Indiana’s two.
QB CONTROVERSY
Mel Tucker’s process will resume Sunday morning amid a full-blown quarterback controversy. Junior Rocky Lombardi had his worst outing of the year, completing 3-of-7 passes for 21 yards with two interceptions. He was replaced in the second quarter by redshirt-freshman Payton Thorne.
Lombardi’s second interception was a forced throw into cover-two zone, on the first play of a drive with Michigan State trailing 14-0.
His first interception was a deep pass intended for Jaylen Reed. The pass hung in the air too long, allowing a second defender in the area to come over and intercept.
MSU’s first possession of the day ended when Lombardi botched a zone read run on third-and-one at the Indiana 38-yard line, seeming indecisive on whether to hand off or keep it. Michigan State recovered the fumble for a loss of two, and punted.
“We thought it was some decision-making early in the game in the first half and Payton was the next man up so we gave him the opportunity and it was as simple as that,” Tucker said. “We will look at the film and evaluate it more and then we’ll see what we need to do moving forward.”
Thorne had spurts of success, but Michigan State never drove further than the Indiana 38-yard line. Michigan State reached the Hoosier 38 for the second time late in the third quarter, but a fourth-and-two run by Connor Heyward went nowhere.
Thorne was 10-of-20 for 110 yards with one interception, plus a 38-yard gain on a zone read keeper.
“There’s nothing set in stone at the quarterback position, there’s nothing set in stone at any position,” Tucker said. “It’s compete to play, compete to stay where you are.
“We will look at the film, identify the mistakes that need to be corrected, then evaluate our roster to see who needs to be at what position and then turn the page and go on to the next game.”
Thorne’s highlights included a 15-yard in route to tight end Tyler Hunt in the third quarter, and a 21-yarder to Reed on a slant against a zone blitz.
Thorne received a legitimate test. Indiana blitzed him on nearly every down.
MSU’s fourth possession of the second half ended with a Thorne interception when he overthrew tight end Trenton Gillison.
“The interception, I’d love to have back,” Thorne said. “That thing just came out of my hand high.”
COULD’VE BEEN WORSE
This game wasn’t as close as the 24-0 score indicated. Indiana held a 21-9 edge in first downs, but the Hoosiers were intercepted in the end zone once and turned it over on downs twice inside the 5-yard line. Credit the Spartan defense for stiffening after receiving no help from the Spartan offense, and some times being hurt by their offensive teammates.
For the third time in four games, MSU’s offense was stricken with turnover problems. Three of MSU’s first five drives ended in turnovers. Indiana turned those three turnovers into points in building a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Those three drives for Indiana began at the 50, and the Michigan State 16- and 25-yard lines, giving the Hoosiers a short field for those 17 points.
Indiana killed the last 7:34 of the game with 11 straight run plays, ending in the victory formation at the Michigan State 12-yard line.
SHAKUR BROWN, UP AND DOWN
The lead grew to 24-0 by halftime after a 65-yard TD strike from Michael Pennix to Ty Fryfogle as Michigan State cornerback Shakur Brown tried to undercut a deep sideline route for an interception.
Brown had two interceptions in the game, but going for a third proved costly on that one.
“We continue to work with him because he’s a talented young man,” Tucker said of Brown. “There’s things that he needs to improve. We’ve been working on those things.
“At that position, you have to be very efficient. You may only be at the point of attack seven or eight times in a game when it really matters and if you give up a play, is that a winning performance or not?
“Has he made strides? Yes. Does he need to continue to make strides in technique and fundamentals? Yes.
“From what I’ve seen, he’s willing to do that, so I’m encouraged with some things I’ve seen from him so far this season.”
Brown ended Indiana’s first possession of the game with a pretty interception on a deep ball. Michigan State came with a wholesale blitz on that play, and Brown had no safety help. But he gained the takeaway on his own.
With Michigan State down 14-0 and trying to hang in the game, Brown - again working with no safety help -undercut a crossing route in the end zone for an interception of a pass on second-and-eight at the Michigan State 11-yard line.
However, Lombardi gave the ball right back on the first play of MSU’s next drive.
Of MSU’s four turnovers, two took place on the opening play of the drive, and one happened on the second play of the drive.
Sophomore running back Anthony Williams fumbled on the second play of MSU’s third possession. Indiana recovered at the Michigan State 16-yard line and scored two plays later when Noah Harvey, Xavier Henderson and Brown missed tackles on a wide receiver swing pass which broke loose for a 16-yard scoring strike and a 14-0 lead.
PASS DEFENSE WOES
Three of MSU’s usual starting defensive backs were out with undisclosed ailments including cornerback Chris Jackson, cornerback Kalon Gervin and safety Tre Person. Jackson also missed last week’s 49-7 loss at Iowa.
Pennix, operating one of the top passing units in the Big Ten, passed for 320 yards on 25-of-38 accuracy with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He capitalized on softer-than-usual coverage along the sidelines for the Spartans.
“I thought we were soft on some of their quick-game things,” Tucker said. “I think early in the game we were exposed down the middle because of mental errors or lack of execution.
“The yards after the catch were too much. If the guy throws the ball outside in zone coverage you should be able to contest the throw or at least be in a position to make an immediate tackle.
“We played a couple of different guys out there with Gerv being out, with Tre Person being out.”
True freshman Angelo Grose made the first start of his career, at nickel back.
Senior Dominique Long made the first start of his career at cornerback. He had no major breakdowns, a pass break-up in the end zone, and good pass coverage on a third down incompletion in the third quarter.
Sophomore Davion Williams replaced Long at cornerback in the fourth quarter.
“We gave Angelo Grose an opportunity and saw Julian Barnett,” Tucker said. “So guys are getting out there and getting plays and we are seeing what they can do and working to teach, motivate and develop those guys. At times it was tight coverage and at times it wasn’t tight enough, so we’ll look to be more consistent in that regard.”
Michigan State had one sack, by Jacob Panasiuk, and four quarterback hits - not enough pressure against the smooth-throwing Pennix and his array of receiver talent.
“(Pass) rush and coverage have to work together,” Tucker said. “Even though the ball was out quickly in some of those plays and there was not an opportunity to get a rush, there were other times when we had an opportunity to get a rush and the quarterback had too much time.
“We have a tremendous amount of work to do. Trust me on that. A lot of work.”
DEFENSE FIRM IN 2H
Michigan State was out-gained 433-191 and managed to keep Indiana scoreless in the second half.
After a bad, 21-yard punt, Indiana set up at the Michigan State 28-yard line but the Spartans kept the Hoosiers out of the end zone, thanks to a good play by defensive tackle Jacob Slade on first down and incompletions on second and fourth down.
Two drives later, Thorne’s interception was returned 53 yards to the Michigan State 9-yard line. But MSU’s defensive line stiffened on three straight run plays. Slade and Dashaun Mallory thwarted a third-and-three outside zone. Then on fourth down, Brown and the back side of the Michigan State defense stayed home on a naked bootleg and forced an incompletion.
MSU’s defensive front performed well against the Indiana running game, holding the Hoosiers to 2.9 yards per attempt on 39 carries for 113 yards.
MSU’s lowlight in run defense came in the first half on Indiana’s first TD - an 8-yard run by Indiana running back Stevie Scott on third-and-five. On that play, Michigan State dropped middle linebacker Noah Harvey to the goal line in a Tampa-two zone coverage, with the Michigan State coaching staff expecting a pass play.
Instead, Indiana surprised Michigan State with an inside zone run, with six blockers against five Spartans in the box. Harvey and other Spartans met Scott as the first unblocked defenders at the goal line but couldn’t keep him out. That play will go down as a structural miss in the grade sheet, not a personnel error.
GROUND GAME EMPTY
MSU’s rushing attack was listless for the third time in four games, held to 60 yards and a 2.5 per-carry average. Michigan State has rushed for 53, 59 and 60 yards in its three losses.
“You can only scheme your way so much in the run game,” Tucker said. “At the end of the day, it’s simple. You have to get a hat on a hat and move people. You have to be able to hit the hole with velocity and fall forward on contact.
“We are giving guys opportunities to run the football. We will make a decision going into this next game who is going to get the lions share of the carries and who is not.
“It’s a constant work in progress. But we need to be able to run the ball and we will continue to attempt to run the ball.”
No Spartan tailback had more than five carries.
Starter Jordon Simmons rushed five times for 15 yards.
Heyward had five rushes for a team-high 27 yards.
Last year’s leading rusher, Elijah Collins, had three carries for a net of five yards.
Williams had one carry, lost a yard and fumbled.
Thorne carried eight times for a net of 25 yards. He had 52 yards in gains but 27 yards lost on sacks.
NEXT WEEK?
Next week’s opponent, Maryland, canceled its game this weekend against Ohio State due to COVID-19 problems.
Despite the Spartans’ season beginning to go off a cliff, Tucker desperately wants his team to get continued work, which leads to development and evaluation.
“We need to play football,” Tucker said. “We are expecting to play them. I’m unsure whether they are playing or not playing but we are going to prepare to play. As long as we can meet the threshold in terms of players available in COVID numbers, as long as we can stay within those numbers and field a team, we’re going to play. We are going to play until we’re told different.”
It’s unclear whether MSU’s missing players on Saturday were COVID related.
Indiana is 4-0 and will play in a Big Ten East showdown against Ohio State next week. The Hoosiers are 9-2 in their last 11 Big Ten games.