Michigan State Football: 3 takeaways from upset loss to Purdue

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Nov 6, 2021; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Purdue Boilermakers wide receiver David Bell (3) runs the ball while Michigan State Spartans cornerback Chester Kimbrough (12) defends in the second half at Ross-Ade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /

3. Michigan State’s defense was awful on third down

The Michigan State defense was not good on Saturday. It is never going to be good when you give up 594 total yards against any team. It was mentioned earlier that O’Connell and Bell both had huge days against the Spartans defense but those could have been less overall on the stat sheet if Michigan State was better on third down.

Purdue finished the game going 11-for-18 on third down against Michigan State. They just were not able to get the Purdue offense off the field a lot and this proved to be a huge reason why they did not come away with the win. All year long the Michigan State defense has not been strong in the secondary but they have been able to get key third down stops and forcing turnovers too. This did not happen against Purdue.

The Boilermakers were able to expose this weakness for Michigan State and send them back to East Lansing with their first loss of the season. Should be interesting if opposing offenses try to replicate what Purdue was able to do against the Michigan State defense the rest of the way in 2021.

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