MSU's Narrow Win Over Purdue Poses Concerns
The Michigan State Spartans defeated the Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday to improve its record to 5-6 but barely snuck by the Boilermakers. Having not scored in the second half, MSU, frankly, got lucky to hold onto that first-half lead.
MSU was out-contested in their passing game against the Boilermakers, but luckily for the Spartans, the total yardage did not come back to bite the team where the sun doesn't shine. Purdue ended the game with 342 passing yards from quarterback Hudson Card, his most passing yards all season.
While Card was on his passing game, completing 26 of his 47 attempts, MSU was able to find and hone in on Purdue's weakness: its running game. Before their game against MSU, the Boilermakers rank 14th in the Big Ten Conference for rushing yards per game, averaging 195.7 yards per game.
The rushing game has been somewhat present for the Boilermakers throughout their season, but against MSU, it was nonexistent. Purdue ended the game against MSU with -4 rushing yards, primarily due to MSU's defense being able to sack Card three times throughout the game.
MSU came out of the gates with offensive pressure against the Boilermakers, who rank last in the Big Ten in allowed yards per game. But after the first half, almost all of the offensive pressure MSU brought at the beginning of the game disappeared, almost resulting in their defeat.
Spartan senior defensive back Ed Woods had his best performance of his season on Saturday, earning seven solo tackles and nine tackles total. Angelo Grose, Khris Bogle, Alex VanSumeren, and Maverick Hansen combined for three sacks for MSU, doing its part in keeping their team in the game.
MSU quarterback Aidan Chiles had a below-average game when it came to his passing yards, finishing with 159 passing yards when, over his 11 games, he has averaged 205.9 yards. While Chiles did throw more passing touchdowns, Card outperformed him in passing yards, average yards per reception, and had a higher quarterback rating.
Yes, MSU did get the victory, but it was not the blowout victory that other teams have been giving Purdue all season long. Purdue's opponents have averaged 37.5 points against them per game, and with MSU scoring 24, well under the average, concern could begin to roll over for head coach Johnathan Smith going into their final game against the Rutger Scarlet Knights.
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Dominic Minchella holds a communications degree from Eastern Michigan University. He is a former MLB writer and joins our team ad an NFL/College team reporter on Sports Illustrated