Spartans Need to Make Offensive Adjustments
The Michigan State Spartans fell to Boston College this past Saturday night by a score of 23-19 in a game that was well within reach but lack of execution throughout the contest led to the Spartans first loss of the season. There were a few blatant concerns on the offensive side that need to be fixed.
“Offensively, we have two glaring things right, taking care of the ball, can't turn the thing over and I do think that this red zone touchdown percentage is not where it needs to be," Smith said on Monday. "So we've got to continue to improve in that area.”
The Spartans turned the ball over four times on Saturday, one being a fumble on the second-half kickoff to running back Kay'Ron Lynch Adams, resulting in a field goal for the Eagles. The other three were interceptions thrown by sophomore quarterback Aidan Chiles.
Chiles is now ranked second in the nation for total interceptions thrown through four games with eight total picks.
“There's some learning experience going, Aidan's working at it,” Smith said. “I think we have to continue to work to help him scheme-wise. We're always looking to put him in the best position but I also think of those other 10 guys, we could help him out a ton by running the ball more effectively & efficiently, not getting into some of these situations where it's third and 10 again and asking him to get us out of that. So it's a group effort to avoid the negative plays and try to keep him out of a situation where it's all on him.”
The other major issue was finding a way to score touchdowns inside the red zone. The Spartans were just one for five inside of the Eagles 20-yard line and had to settle for four field goals sixth-year kicker, Jonathan Kim.
"Red zone issues, again, we have to find ways to get in,” Smith said. “ I think you start a little bit of the run game, condensed space, get down there, you gotta make it physical, we haven't been able to get that going. I think a little bit sometimes, we want to take a shot at it first, so there's a lot of ways to look at things and we have to find the best way to be able to score. I'm starting with the run game and whether we take some shots at it, I'm not going to give our whole game plan away, but we haven't been effective really doing either one."
The Spartans will have another night game this Saturday, this time in East Lansing, facing the No. 3 ranked, Ohio State Buckeyes. It will be the second of three-straight night games in the heart of their schedule.
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TOM CAVANAUGH