Spartan Football Essentials: Grind to Shine
Offense
This unit needed a big day from Payton Thorne and he delivered from the opening drive. The Spartans fourth flea flicker of the year hit for 52-yards and a score to get the points growing. Thorne threw a beauty to Jayden Reed, who made a fine catch in turn, for the second passing score of the 1st Quarter. After 209 yards passing and three scores at the Half, Thorne led MSU to a comfortable 27-14 lead. He led from the front all day.
Thorne stood and delivered with closing authority on the first drive of the 2nd Half. After the Maryland turnover deep in MSU territory, he found Reed for a score deep in the Red Zone on 3rd Down. That’s the kind of day Reed and Thorne had together, adding more ink to one of the most special Quarterback-Wide Receiver combos in Spartan Football history. For the day Reed had 114-yards and two scores. Thorne finished with 287-yards and four Touchdowns. Kenneth Walker got some too.
Walker continued his march towards the Heisman Trophy Award Show with 30 hard carries and 143-yards. Walker scored twice but did a bit of everything, including catching two balls for 29-yards. Walker looked a bit banged up late, which is par for the course in mid-November, but also an issue the Spartans have to address as best they can. They will need the best of Walker in the final two weeks as the 2021 Spartans take a shot at winning the Big Ten East.
There are no big numbers from the Offense today without a fine effort up front. It’s hard to quantify just how far this playing group has come from major struggles in recent years, but a seventh game scoring more than 30-points and 481-yards of movement today says a good bit. The vastly improved Offensive Line is the foundation of the success the 2021 Spartan Offense is living.
Defense
An already thin Spartan Defense looked thinner as the starting lineup hit the field. With plenty of work to do and wrinkles to iron out, the Defense had a decent test with the sporadic but often explosive looking Maryland Offense. The Defense did a much better getting off the field but did give up a lot of yards in a hurry on some Maryland drives. The Terps made a decent number of plays but the Spartans once again held their opponent to 21-points or less for the seventh time.
Noah Harvey had the consecutive plays of the day. Harvey picked up a tough Pass Interference call in the End Zone after covering a Terps wide out for a long time, then picked the ball off and ran it back for 41-yards to flip what looked like a momentum building scoring drive for Maryland. After the Spartans scored on that drive MSU was up 34-14, and Maryland was put behind at a pretty comfortable distance.
Next week will be quite a challenge. Ohio State has game breakers all over the place and the Spartans have to get healthy enough to win at the point of attack. Competing probably won’t be enough to slow down the Buckeye Offense that just hung 59 on Purdue. MSU has to find a way to win a majority of Downs at the line of scrimmage, which is asking a lot. Ohio State has scored 40-points or more in seven games so far. Only Nebraska (in Lincoln) and Oregon kept the Bucks under 30. The Spartan Defense would do great to keep MSU in the game for the final minutes. It will not be easy, but Scottie Hazelton and staff consistently do well to put their Defense in position to succeed.
Special Teams
Bryce Baringer had another big day. His first Punt was a 69-yard boomer, but it’s really his dependability that’s stood out over ten-games. Baringer provided this unit with something they could count on from the start. His early success worked as a building block for this unit that has enjoyed some good kicking, exciting returns, and a handful of dangerous adventures through 9-1. Their biggest weeks are ahead, and Michigan State absolutely needs its best Special Teams to have a shot to win the final two games.
It was good to see Matt Coghlin out for the Spartans first PAT, not ideal to see him limping along from there. If the Spartans win in the final two weeks it’s quite likely that Coghlin and Baringer will play a role. They’ve consistently kicked at a high level for MSU and the Spartans have to find a way to get Coghlin healthy this week.
Intangibles
This was a program builder for Mel Tucker. Shorthanded in a game they had to have, Michigan State came out and got the job done. The Spartans rebound helped validate their 9-1 record because the top teams in the country take care of business at home when they have to. That’s what separates teams at the top of the sport from the swell of teams living a “woulda-coulda-shoulda” type season.
It was a pretty busy week for Tucker around Spartan Football, yet this team found the extra focus and energy needed to avoid looking beyond the Terrapin task at hand. Spartan leaders looked past the Terps record, their College Football Playoff ranking, and a growing injury list to simply focus on winning this game. That’s a true sign of maturity from a program so quickly thrust back on the national scene and into contention for championships.
Extra Points
Michigan State Football now sits on the edge of another 10-win season. If they win again this year that will make 10-wins or more in seven of the last twelve seasons. That’s how Michigan State Football measures up these days. Thanks to Mel Tucker’s super quick reboot, that’s the reputation and high level respect Spartan Football carries around the country again. What was gone for a few lean years is now back in fashion and looking really good for the bulk of the 2020s.
Beyond that, Michigan State Football is heading to Columbus next week to play for the lead and control of the Big Ten East. How many times has that scenario played out in the last dozen years? But how farfetched did that possibility seem exactly one year ago? Remember when Indiana came to Spartan Stadium and blanked 24-0 last November? No one that saw that game could have dreamt that just one year later Michigan State Football would begin preparing for a game that will help decide the Big Ten East. That is worth some serious Spartan Pride and celebration. Good thing there’s a 24-hour rule.
