EAST LANSING - Michigan State was in danger of being held under 70 yards rushing for a second straight game when a freshman wide receiver spruced up the stat sheet, Saturday at Indiana.
But Jalen Nailor’s instant-offense 75-yard touchdown run with 3:17 remaining in MSU’s 35-21 victory at Indiana wasn’t enough to hide the fact that the tailback run game has underachieved for the Spartans thus far in 2018.
Through three games, Michigan State has yet to have a tailback rush for more than 90 yards in a game. Senior LJ Scott rushed for 84 yards on 23 carries in the season opener against Utah State (3.7 yards per carry), a game in which he provided solid all-around contributions as a receiver and pass blocker.
But Scott went down with an ankle injury during the Arizona State game. MSU’s tailback productivity suffered in that game, and it carried over to Saturday’s game at Indiana.
In the past two games, no Michigan State tailback has rushed for more than 34 yards. Freshman La’Darius Jefferson hit that number, on 10 carries, at Indiana.
Scott didn’t play against Indiana due to the ankle injury and is questionable for this week’s game against Central Michigan (12:05 p.m., Saturday at Spartan Stadium, FS1).
Mark Dantonio stopped short of saying the run game has been a disappointment, but wants more productivity.
Michigan State gained 186 yards rushing against Indiana, but lost 55 yards in various ways including 44 on sacks.
“We did run the ball, I guess, solidly,” Dantonio said of the Indiana game. “About 170 yards rushing. You take out the 75-yard run, you have about 100 yards rushing, which is far more than 32 or 18 or whatever the opposing team got (29), but we need to do it more consistently.
“A couple times, we got the tailback out in the open, one-on-one with a safety. He’s got to make a play for a bigger gain.”
After Nailor’s run, Michigan State had 135 yards on 37 rushes. (Three kneel-downs at the end of the game landed the Spartans with 131 yards rushing on 40 attempts for the night).
Prior to Nailor’s run, Michigan State had netted only 60 yards rushing through nearly 57 minutes of football.
Meanwhile, the Spartan offensive line, a unit that is as responsible for the run game as any, isn’t getting any favors from the injury gods.
Junior left tackle Cole Chewins has played sparingly while fighting an undisclosed injury.
Luke Campbell, who started the first two games at left tackle and started last Saturday at left guard, exited the Indiana game with an undisclosed injury. He returned to the game but battled through pain.
Left guard David Beedle started the first two games, but failed to start against Indiana due to an undisclosed injury. He eventually saw action in the game but wasn’t 100 percent.
Right guard Kevin Jarvis left the Indiana game with an injury and did not return.
Dantonio is putting pressure on the run game to improve, while being sympathetic to the injury problems.
“We were playing with guys in and out,” Dantonio said. “We were nicked up in there a little bit, so we are dealing with that.”
In addition to Jefferson’s 34 yards on 10 carries, starting tailback Connor Heyward had 23 yards on 12 carries.
Heyward had 42 yards on five carries against Utah State, including the game-winning touchdown on a 13-yard gallop off an option pitch. But he has had trouble finding daylight since then.
Dantonio hopes to get Scott back soon but didn’t give indications whether he will return this week. The bigger question may be when will the offensive line begin to gain traction.
“We have to play better up front,” Dantonio said.
Tyler Higby, who struggled as the center for the first two games, moved to left tackle at Indiana. He started in place of Chewins while Campbell moved inside to left guard to start in place of Beedle.
Matt Allen, making his first career start at center, drew compliments.
“I thought Matt Allen played steady, as well as Tyler Higby at left tackle,” Dantonio said. “I thought they both played steady.”
Michigan State has featured the pass more than the run thus far in 2018, which isn’t something that Dantonio normally sets out to do. He wants more reliability and productivity in the run game, but that’s going to be difficult with changing lineups in the offensive front and a revolving door of tailbacks.
“There’s so much involved in running the football,” Dantonio said. “It’s obviously scheme and play selection and that kind of thing, and also the defense that is being played that particular play. Then you get into technique, and quite frankly if technique falls apart, the whole thing falls apart. It may be a tight end, it may be a fullback, or it may be the offensive line, or a back not making the correct cut or read off a block.
“One thing that you can mention from offensive play is it is very detail-oriented and you have to play with both feet on the ground and you can’t over-stride. When you over-stride, or when you kick back and over-stride, that’s when problems start to exist. You started seeing some of that a little bit at times.
“You look at all these things and say, why not?” Dantonio said. “Is it play selection; is it technique? We're all involved in it. Is it tight end or offensive linemen?
“It's so important when you're running the football that everybody works in sync on that particular play.
“They (the opponents) are putting a lot of people up there at times, but you have to be technique sound up there.
“The opposing team is playing defenses to try to limit what you do, and they look at what you've done and try and set it accordingly.
“It's all-encompassing in terms of what you're dealing with. But I do think that we need to do a better job.”