First Half Analysis: Michigan State Is Lifeless In Columbus

In two previous games against Top 5 opponents, Michigan State has been outscored 90-7 against No. 5 Washington and No. 3 Michigan.

Things aren't looking any better for the Spartans tonight against No. 1 Ohio State. Michigan State's defense has been utterly lifeless against the Buckeyes, and while its offense has moved the ball, the Spartans haven't been able to finish many drives with points. Here's what we saw in that opening 30 minutes...

Michigan State Offense

The Spartans moved the ball better than I expected against this Ohio State defense, making three trips into Buckeye territory but stalling out each time. Quarterback Katin Houser had a few nice throws early, but the redshirt freshman mostly struggled. Houser has completed just 6-of-13 pass attempts for 54 yards thus far.

Michigan State's much-maligned run game actually performed better than expected. Tailback Nathan Carter averaged eight yards per carry in the half, but inexplicably was only handed the ball five times for 40 yards. I'm surprised offensive coordinator Jay Johnson didn't give Carter more carries in the half, despite the game getting out of hand early. At halftime, Michigan State has produced 118 yards of offense.

Michigan State Defense

Scottie Hazelton's defense has looked better against average competition this season, but this unit once again has no answers for a Top 5 opponent. We've come to expect that at this point, but I thought we'd see a better performance today out of the Spartans than we saw against Washington and Michigan.

Ohio State's offense is not the usual juggernaut that's its been in recent years, but Michigan State made the Buckeyes look like one. OSU had averaged just 10 points per game in the first half against Big Ten opponents this season, but they Buckeyes racked up 200 yards of offense in the first quarter alone and scored touchdowns on each of their first three possessions.

It's worth mentioning that MSU did not have starting cornerback Dillon Tatum tonight. I like Tatum as a player a lot, but I'm not willing to go so far as to say his absence is what led to the Buckeyes' success. I do want to give a shoutout to punter Ryan Eckley, who pinned Ohio State inside their own three yard line on one punt. Michigan State's defense forced a three-and-out after Eckley's effort.

That was the only bright spot of the half for MSU on this side of the ball, however. The Buckeyes added two more touchdown drives to close out a half, including a two-minute drive that looked like OSU was operating against air.

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