Grading Michigan State’s Defense and Special Teams vs. Minnesota
While Michigan State has now lost six games in a row, this was the most competitive game MSU had played in since the week 4 loss against USC.
With Michigan State benching Aidan Chiles, Alessio Milivojevic had a great game. With the offense playing well, especially in the second half, the defense also played well. However, in the final moments, they finally broke. In overtime, a crucial penalty gave Minnesota great field position, and they were able to score and win the game.
Now Michigan State is 3-6 overall, and 0-6 in conference play as they look to regroup while on their bye week and look to try to win their final three games of the season.
With an overall PFF grade of 75.7, let's look at how the defense played against Minnesota.
Defensive Line - C+
The run defense for MSU was much improved compared to previous weeks. While Minnesota freshman running back Fame Ijeboi had 108 yards on 17 carries, without his 49-yard run, Ijeboi only had 69 yards and zero touchdowns.
The pass rush, on the other hand, was still a big problem. With only one sack on the day, Michigan State couldn't get much pressure on Minnesota, as the pass rush grade was at 58.6 by PFF.
Linebackers - B
Jordan Hall had the biggest impact on this game for the defense. Even not fully 100% healthy, Hall led the team with 10 total tackles as Hall seemed to be everywhere on the field.
Hall was also credited with two forced fumbles in the game. While he wasn't perfect, as he did have costly penalties, he will always give 1000% effort on the field.
Wayne Matthews also had an impactful game alongside Hall. Both of them made Minnesota more of a passing team as they did very well on the run defense.
Secondary - C
The secondary wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either. Ultimately, in the end, they did have costly penalties, as an overtime penalty set Minnesota up for a game-winning touchdown. The overall coverage of the Minnesota wide receivers was excellent.
With a grade of 87.5, Minnesota could do much in the passing game. However, because of the costly penalties, the Gophers were able to capitalize.
Both Nikai Martinez and Bell tackled well, for the most part. Some pursuit angles were shaky in the back end. But you didn't see Gophers running free and capitalizing on coverage busts the same way you've seen on many a Saturday this year.
Special Teams - F
The special teams unit was all over the place. Kicker Martin Connington was bad for the first time this year, missing 46 and 23-yard field goals. After MSU took its first lead of the game, Connington's kickoff sailing out of bounds is an unacceptable mistake, giving Minnesota great field position that they took full advantage of.
Then there was the kick return with Tau-Tolliver, where MSU just narrowly averted disaster. For a cherry on top, Kelly's only punt return of the game went for minus-2 yards. It was a rough watch to put it nicely.
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