MSU's Defense Continues to Stand Firm After Costly Penalties

Michigan State;'s defense didn't fold when it committed penalties that helped Prairie View A&M get down to the red zone.

Starr Portice, Michigan State on SI

There were two occassions in Michigan State's 40-0 win over Prairie View A&M on Saturday where the Spartans' defense allowed the Panthers to march to the red zone.

Those drives were largely attributed to Spartan penalties, ones that gave the opponent multiple fresh sets of downs.

As it did in similar positions against Florida Atlantic in Week 1, though, Michigan State's defense did not back down. It can be easy to do so when your hard work is nullified by a costly penalty, but as Spartans coach Jonathan Smith said, "They're a resilient group."

"They respond," Smith said on Monday. "Teams are going to make plays, we're playing against good players. We're going to make a mistake or two that helps them move the ball down the field, and guys did bounce back, respond, understanding they're not in yet. Make them snap it again, and those guys turned it back."

No matter how the opposing offense gets down to the end zone, the work isn't finished. If anything, it gets most challenging for the offense from there, which the defense has to make sure of.

"Make them earn it," Smith said. "They're going to make a couple of plays, but they still have a belief that they have not scored yet, so we're going to keep making them earn it. Because Prairie View, early on, they had a nice couple third-down conversions --third-and-long they converted. There was no panic on the other side. We'd line up again, and they're not in until they score. And that's kind of been the mentality of that group."

Those two drives resulted in a missed field goal and a pick-six, respectively. As impressive as it was for this unit to protect its end zone amidst penalties against both Prairie View A&M and Florida Atlantic, it will be crucial for the Spartans' defense to carry that mentality into its upcoming stretch.

Of course, Smith would like for his team to not have to be in that position, as penalties continue to be a major issue for his team. But there will continue to be times when the going gets tough, and this Michigan State defense will have to answer."

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