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Michigan State Football: 5 overreactions to Wisconsin loss
After Michigan State football’s loss to Wisconsin in Week 4, there have been plenty of overreactions.
Everyone loves to overreact after big wins and big losses. A majority of Michigan State football’s fan base was ready to diagnose this team and become the armchair head coach after Saturday’s loss to Wisconsin at home, but it’s too early to truly tell how good or bad the Spartans are.
Watching Notre Dame lose to Duke at home in Week 4 even furthered Spartan fans’ notion that maybe we all jumped the gun on Michigan State being considered the best team in the Big Ten.
Losing 30-6 at Spartan Stadium on Saturday is something no one envisioned when leading up to kickoff. Heck, after the first play of the game for the Spartans, it looked like Michigan State was ready for a big win. LJ Scott had a nice first-down run that went for about 15 yards.
After that, though, it was all Wisconsin. The Badgers forced four Spartan turnovers and it turned out to be an ugly loss for Michigan State.
What are the five biggest overreactions that I’ve seen following MSU’s loss to Wisconsin?
5. This team will finish no better than .500
Sep 24, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans tight end Josiah Price (82) makes a catch for a first down during the first quarter of a game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 2, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio reacts with a player before a game against the Furman Paladins at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
4. Dave Warner needs to be fired
True, the play-calling has been atrocious for Michigan State through three games, but co-offensive coordinator Dave Warner can’t get blamed for his team not executing plays every single time.
Tyler O’Connor was missing wide open receivers in the end zone and down the middle of the field. The offensive line had a tough time diagnosing the blitz. Even the run game struggled to get anything going. Not all of that is Warner’s fault and no, he should not be fired because of lackadaisical play-calling.
Unimaginative is the perfect word I would use to describe the play-calling for Michigan State this season. First down, run. Second down, run. Third-and-long, pass. Incomplete. Punt. That has been the result of far too many drives this season and that needs to change.
Sure, running on first down to pick up a couple of yards is the safe call, but sometimes you need to be creative and set up maybe a play-action pass or even a shot at the end zone.
Maybe Warner doesn’t believe he has the right personnel for shots to the end zone — looking at O’Connor. Still, Warner is a great coordinator, but his play-calls make that hard to believe, at times.
Sep 17, 2016; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish wide receiver Chase Claypool (83) attempts to catch a pass as time runs out in the second quarter as Michigan State Spartans safety Montae Nicholson (9) defends at Notre Dame Stadium. The pass fell incomplete. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
3. The secondary just isn’t that good
How good is this secondary? If you read Twitter during and after the game, you would think it was the worst in the Dantonio era, which just isn’t true. Sure, the defensive backs missed a few assignments, but you can’t blame them for the sagged coverage which has been called by the coaching staff.
The secondary has played much better this season when playing tight press coverage on the receiver, but when the cornerbacks and safeties are backed off about 10-15 yards from the wide outs, that’s an issue.
Darian Hicks had a decent game, but yet again he’s going to receive a brunt of the insults from the fan base. He finished with an interception and had a couple of pass deflections, but he was the first man on the scene on a couple of third down conversions by Wisconsin, leading people to believe he was responsible for the pass play.
Hicks has been the subject of a ton of harsh criticism, and he’s not as bad as people say he is. Vayante Copeland played well and so did the safeties, outside a couple of pass plays where receivers were open near the sideline and over the middle of the field.
The secondary really isn’t bad, it has a ton of potential, but the type of coverage is the issue.
Sep 24, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans running back LJ Scott (3) walks off the field during the first quarter against the Wisconsin Badgers of a game at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
2. The offense can’t do anything
Yet another ridiculous statement. “Wow, the offense is terrible.” That couldn’t be any more incorrect. The offense has so many talented pieces that Dantonio doesn’t exactly know how to use them all just yet. In fact, he burned the redshirt of Trishton Jackson last week because he feels like he can add an extra element to the offense and return game.
This offense might not be as effective as last year’s or even 2014’s under Connor Cook, but once O’Connor figures out the mistakes or there’s a quarterback change for the better, it’s going to start clicking on all cylinders.
LJ Scott is one of the best running backs in the conference and his backups, Madre London and Gerald Holmes, are arguably two of the better No. 2 and No. 3 running backs in the conference. Scott has the potential to rack up 100 yards per game.
The offensive line is still gelling. Michigan State could have a really good line once they figure out the right group of guys to throw out there.
The receivers are elite. Donnie Corley, R.J. Shelton, Monty Madaris and Felton Davis III make up a special group of pass-catchers. Add in Josiah Price and Jamal Lyles and whoever starts at quarterback won’t have any issues.
Potential is there, it’s all about execution.
Sep 17, 2016; South Bend, IN, USA; Michigan State Spartans quarterback Tyler O
1. Tyler O’Connor is 100 percent to blame
Sure, Tyler O’Connor had one of the worst games of a Michigan State quarterback in recent memory, but he’s not nearly 100 percent to blame for the loss against Wisconsin on Saturday.
Must Read: MSU Football: 5 reasons Wisconsin loss doesn’t ruin title hopes
That blame can be distributed between the coaching staff, offensive and defensive lines, special teams and even secondary. Michigan State couldn’t figure anything out. The coaching staff called the wrong plays on both sides of the ball, the defense was way too conservative in coverage and blitzing, special teams made a couple of crucial mistakes and the offensive line couldn’t read the blitzes.
O’Connor was just a major piece of the struggle puzzle because he coughed the ball up three times because of poor throws. He threw into double-coverage, tossed ducks in the air instead of spirals and missed open guys deep down the field. O’Connor had his worst game as a Spartan and people just assumed the 30-6 defeat was all his fault.
Yes, he contributed to that defeat with poor decisions and turnovers, but the defense couldn’t get off the field after third down and the Scott fumble to begin the second half which was returned for a touchdown was a huge momentum killer.
You can blame O’Connor for playing poorly on the big stage, but you can’t place all the blame on him for the 24-point home loss. That’s on the team.
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