Michigan State squandered another strong defensive performance, Saturday at Nebraska, dropping a messy 9-6 decision to the Cornhuskers - literally.
Dropped passes stalled four of Michigan State's last five drives as the Spartans fell to 6-5 and 4-4 in the Big Ten. The other drive in that stretch ended in a sack of Michigan State quarterback Rocky Lombardi and fumble at the Michigan State 20-yard line, giving the Huskers a short field for a game-tying field goal with 8:07 remaining.
After tight end Matt Dotson failed to haul in a perfect pass against tight coverage on third-and-9 at midfield with 7:12 left, Nebraska drove 23 yards for the game-winning points on a 47-yard field goal from Barret Pickering with help from a strong wind.
Working against that wind, Lombardi drove Michigan State 33 yards to the Nebraska 29-yard line with 1:59 to play. But a fourth-and-four pass intended for tight end Matt Sokol was knocked away. One play earlier, wide open slot receiver Laress Nelson dropped a short out route that would have given Michigan State a first down near the 20-yard line with less than two minutes to play.
Nelson’s drop compounded other dropped passes by Spartan receivers in blustery, snowy conditions. Dotson dropped a pass in the end zone on third-and-goal on MSU’s third drive of the second half, a squandered opportunity that would come back to haunt the Spartans. Haul in that catch and Michigan State would have led 10-0 with 12 minutes to play. Instead, Michigan State heads back to East Lansing with one more week of regular season work, lamenting what could have been.
Nebraska improved to 4-7 overall, having won four of its last five games. The Huskers are 3-5 in the Big Ten.
“The inability to score touchdowns in the red zone comes back to bite you,” said head coach Mark Dantonio. “Our defense played outstanding. We held them to three field goals but really at the end of it all, I thought we ran the ball okay. We had a lot of drops, probably six, seven, eight dropped passes. Some tough, contested passes, but nevertheless, we don’t get it done.”
(NOT) FINISHING STRONG
The loss will damage MSU's hopes of playing in a Florida bowl game on New Year's Day. A cold weather bowl game is now becoming more likely.
On the opening drive of the game, Lombardi felt he missed an open Matt Dotson in the end zone on a corner route. MSU settled for a field goal and a 3-0 lead. MSU moved the ball impressively at times during that drive, including a 27-yard gain by Connor Heyward. It would have seemed hard to believe at the time that MSU would net only 6 points for the game.
Later in the first half, Dotson let a pass glance off his finger tips as he tried to make a one-handed catch on a corner fade against good coverage. Dotson was flagged for a personal foul after the play for yapping at a Husker player. The dead ball penalty turned a 26-yard field goal attempt into a 41-yarder. Kicker Matt Coghlin missed it off the upright.
That failed completion was more on Lombardi’s inaccuracy than a dropped pass, but the point remains that Michigan State failed to finish. In turn, the Spartans are having trouble putting a positive finish on a frustrating 2018 season.
“As head coach, you can’t sit here and beat a guy down or anything like that,” Dantonio said. “So I told them that I’m proud of their effort, proud of their energy. Like I said after the Ohio State game, the next one is more important. The difference between 7-5 and 6-6 is immense, just like 7-5 and 8-4. But we are what we are, and we have to get ourselves ready to go and pick ourselves up.”
Michigan State held Nebraska, the Big Ten’s No. 2-ranked offense, to 248 yards. The Huskers’ three field goal drives started at the -45, the -47 and the +20.
Five MSU personal fouls aided Nebraska's field position throughout the day - including two personal fouls by the MSU punt team. The last of those personal fouls, by Shakur Brown in kickoff coverage, gave Nebraska a short field for it's first scoring drive of the day, a 36-yard march which cut MSU's lead to 6-3 with 11:01 left in the game.
MSU's defense protected the slim Spartan lead for most of the day, but couldn't finish.
“Defense played outstanding,” Dantonio said. “There were some bright spots in the football game but when you don’t win, they all sort of fade away.”
Lombardi started for the second time this year. Brian Lewerke, nursing an injured shoulder, did not see time at quarterback.
“The weather was tough, but that’s no excuse,” Lombardi said. “You still have to execute. We played with passion and energy and the defense was fantastic, as always. But first and foremost, we didn’t get it done.”
Lombardi completed 15 of 41 passes for 146 yards. He added 53 yards rushing.
“I thought Rocky Lombardi played pretty well,” Dantonio said. “You limit some of the things you do with him. He ran the ball effectively. He had some drops. The wind was 20 maybe 20 miles an hour, with snow and everything else. So it gets tough.”
Sophomore tailback Connor Heyward rushed for 80 yards on 21 carries.
Michigan State out-rushed Nebraska 143-103, and had a 289-248 edge in total offense.
“I thought we ran the ball effectively starting off, but then we sort of stalled out,” Dantonio said. “We had our moments, but not enough consistency.”
Dantonio is urging the Spartans to reboot and finish with a victory against Rutgers on Senior Day next week.
Sophomore center Matt Allen was back in the lineup for the first time in a month, but inconsistency in team blocking and - this time - in catching passes in challenging conditions led to a second straight week of single-digit scoring - marking the first time that has happened to Michigan State since 1991.
“As you look at our offense, we have had two players who have gone the entire year who have played in every game,” Dantonio said (tight end Matt Sokol and right tackle Jordan Reid). “There are a lot of different people playing, a lot of things get out of sorts, on timing issues. You have to put the puzzle back together, figure it out.”
