Michigan State football dropped to 2-1 on the season but can the Spartans still make a push for one of the New Year’s Six bowls?
Mark Dantonio did not surpass legendary Spartan coach Duffy Daugherty for most victories by a Michigan State head football coach due to a devastating loss at home to Arizona State.
The first half was very forgettable for Michigan State against the Sun Devils as It was not a good start for the Spartans as the offense struggled on their first three possessions with one of them leading to a Brian Lewerke fumble.
The Spartan defense did have some penalties called against them early but held the Sun Devils defense in check but gave up a late touchdown and the special teams had a disappointing first half with two second quarter missed field goals and continued to falter in the second half with a miss as time expired.
The question now is, can Michigan State reach second place in the Big Ten East and get to nine regular season wins to go to a New Year’s Six bowl? The answer to that question may surprise you.
Excluding the game at Ohio State, Michigan State’s schedule looks more navigable and manageable after Week 3 even though it lost to Arizona State. Maryland and Penn State, who were rolling through two weeks, struggled in their Week 3 matchups. At home, Penn State’s offense had difficulties before pulling off the victory beating Pitt by only seven and Maryland’s offense was scoring at will until they traveled to play Temple and had numerous red zone struggles resulting in a three-point loss.
Illinois also looked good through two weeks but lost at home to MAC opponent Eastern Michigan. Northwestern who is the Spartans’ next opponent was only up by two points at home at halftime against UNLV. Add to the list Indiana who started off the season 2-0, losing to Ohio State by 41 in their Week 3 matchup.
Michigan, another preseason favorite to win the conference, needed overtime to beat Army in Week 2. Wisconsin will test the Spartans but their strength is their run game which Michigan State’s biggest strength is their run defense. In summary, the Big Ten showed that it’s Ohio State’s conference to win, especially the East, and everyone else is playing for second place.
There are many reasons and explanations on why Michigan State lost to Arizona State. Some fans and media blame the referees for not knowing the rules and others on social media calling out the refs who in their opinions, were not calling penalties both ways. Fans and media had harsh criticism of Mark Dantonio and were very critical of of his coaching decisions and the use of his timeouts was questioned by many as well.
Regardless of why Michigan State lost, there are legitimate concerns and areas of hope moving forward for the green and white. Some could look to the 2013 team that struggled early and lost to Notre Dame but bounced back and beat Stanford in the Rose Bowl. Others look at the 2012 season and see a team similar to last season that had a great defense but an offense who couldn’t score many touchdowns. The answer to the future of this team may fall somewhere in between.
Even though no one can predict the outcome of the season for Michigan State in 2019, there are clues to how this season may play out for the green and white and Dantonio when all is said and done.