Self Inflicted Wounds, Missing Big Plays Have Slowed Spartan Progression

For Michigan State, this season has been a bit of a mess. In conference play, the Spartans have had big wins against Michigan, Illinois and Northwestern, a

For Michigan State, this season has been a bit of a mess. In conference play, the Spartans have had big wins against Michigan, Illinois and Northwestern, a valiant but just-short effort against Iowa, and, even if they were on the road, disappointing losses to Wisconsin and Minnesota.

It’s difficult to explain the inconsistencies. Against Michigan and Illinois, the running game was stellar at 197 and 193 yards respectively. Every other Big Ten contest, save one, saw the Spartans under 100 yards on the ground. The passing game has been productive in conference play, but with 9 TDs to 7 INTs, it has been a bit inconsistent as well.

The defense has been up and down as well. In three games against UM, Northwestern and against the Illini, MSU recorded 14 sacks; in the other three Big Ten games? A total of four. In the past two weeks, the Spartans have been within a single score, but couldn’t pull out a victory over Iowa, giving up only 15 points, or Minnesota, who outgunned them with 42 points.

Like 2007, every loss has been a heart breaker, with MSU oh-so-close but just not good enough to pull out a few close games. And when you are playing in close games, there’s a couple of relavant stats that often tell the whole story.

One thing a program that is on the cusp cannot do is shoot themselves in the foot. For teams like MSU, teams with plenty of talent and more than enough heart that are trying to put it all together in an effort to crack into upper echelon of the conference every single year, mental mistakes are often the difference between becoming the next Iowa or Wisconsin and remaining a perennial Indiana or Northwestern.

This season, penalties have been killer. Perhaps the biggest miscue came in the Central Michigan game, when a critical offsides penalty was called on MSU as a CMU field goal attempt fell short of splitting the uprights. On the second effort, the Chips nailed it, deflating Spartan Stadium faster and with more authority than hammer to a balloon.  While that game wasn’t in conference, it did set a tone: against Wisconsin, nine penalties; Iowa, eight; and Minnesota, nine again. In fact, the most embarrassing statistic for MSU this season is their spot as the most penalized team in conference play, drawing laundry 43 times.

To give the penalty numbers some perspective, MSU has gained 783 yards rushing in conference play. in penalty yards, the Green and White have given back 373 — that’s nearly 48% of perhaps the most telling statistic to any given Spartan team. While those penalty yards have come on offense and defense, any way you slice it the numbers are ugly for a ball control, grind-it-out squad like MSU, whether it’s putting the offense in a bigger hole on any given drive or keeping them off the field as the opponents take free yards.

What’s even more glaring for MSU this season, however, in conference and out, has been the lack of big plays on defense. Sure, the pass rush has been intense at times, but it’s also been inconsistent. Yes, the linebacking corps is solid and fresh players like Jerel Worthy have made an impact on “D”. For the season, MSU has taken the ball ten times, given it up 15. In conference, the ratio is also at -5, with the Spartans taking it eight times but coughing it up 13.

So far in conference, MSU’s secondary has only made three interceptions. Yes, we do miss Otis Wiley. But the secondary has plenty of talent, too much talent to be struggling with penalties and no interceptions. A consistent pass rush would help the secondary get some balls thrown out of desperation, but at some point it has to stand on its own two feet and just make a timely pick. In no game has there been more than one INT. And five interceptions on the season after nine games is not a recipe for winning championships with defense.

So when looking to explain the doldrums of the Spartans in 2009, it’s both the big things and the little things that have mattered, the picks and the penalties.