First Half Analysis: Michigan State has no answers for mighty Buckeyes

The Spartan defense hasn't been able to get off the field against Ohio State, and MSU's offense is struggling to keep up...

Michigan State welcomed No. 3 Ohio State to Spartan Stadium today, hoping to pull off a big upset of the Buckeyes in East Lansing.

However, the Spartans have had little success on both sides of the football and are struggling to keep this game close. We break down what we saw in the first half below:

Michigan State's Offense

• The Spartans moved the ball into Buckeye territory on two of their first three possessions, but both drives stalled from there. On the first possession, QB Payton Thorne tried to force a deep ball to Jayden Reed into triple coverage and was intercepted in the end zone. On the third possession, the Spartans' offensive line wasn't able to hold up against OSU's pressure, and a sack of Thorne ended the drive.
  
  Those two drives were sandwiched around a three-and-out on MSU's second possession. Slow starts have plagued this offense, and it happened again today.
• Reed made a superhuman catch against one-on-one coverage for a 18-yard touchdown score on Michigan State's fourth possession. The Spartans were aided by two 15-yard Buckeye penalties, but put together a nice seven-play, 76-yard drive to cut their deficit to 21-13 at the time.
  
  With Reed battling through injuries early this season, the connection between him and Thorne hasn't been as prominent as we all expected it to be, but the pair connected four times for 67 yards through the air in this first half. Michigan State desperately needs those two guys to look more like their 2021 selves as the season continues.

Michigan State's Defense

• I have to start by saying I hope true freshman safety Jaden Mangham is okay. Late in the first quarter, Mangham had a violent collision with Buckeye tailback TreVeyon Henderson on a tackle. Mangham stayed down after the hit, and was eventually carted off while lying on a backboard. Thankfully, Mangham was able to give a thumbs up to the crowd as he went off the field.
  
  ESPN's broadcast later reported that Mangham was taken to a local hospital via ambulance where he's being treated for a head and neck injury.
  
  Mangham worked himself into a starting safety role these last two weeks, as the Spartans reshuffled things on the back end with Xavier Henderson out with an injury. We'll continue to monitor Mangham's status as information become available.
  
• Unfortunately, we saw a lot of the same from Michigan State's defense again in this first half. Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud threw for a whopping 285 yards and four touchdowns while completing 15-of-18 pass attempts. The Spartans are still short-handed on defense, particularly at safety and edge rusher, but this can't be chalked up to the injuries alone. MSU's pass defense has consistently been porous under the current regime.
• Michigan State's defense did get one monkey off it's back today. On the Buckeyes' second possession, Stroud threw a pass right to MSU corner Charles Brantley, who walked into the endzone for a 32-yard pick-six. It was the first interception for the Spartans this season. There was a miscommunication between Stroud and receiver Emeka Egbuka on the play, but Brantley read it well and was in the right spot at the right time.
• While MSU struggled to defend the pass all throughout last season, the Spartans could at least hang their hats on being stout against the run. We haven't seen that from Michigan State this season. Ohio State got pretty much whatever it wanted on the ground in the first half, averaging 6.9 yards per carry while racking up 144 rushing yards. MSU has nothing they can hang their hat on right now defensively.