Michigan State football hangs on against Purdue: 3 quick takes

On By Littum

1. The one Spartans win, but waste any energy this game might have given them

If you were hoping to be inspired by Michigan State’s performance against Purdue, you’ll have to look elsewhere for inspiration. But hey, in the waning weeks of a trying MSU football season, there were at least some uplifting moments in a 24-17 win over Boilermakers. For the most part, by not blowing a 24-3 lead in the second half, MSU kept its hopes of a 13th game alive, if you’re into that sort of thing.

For one half, this had all the makings of a fair fight for the Spartans. Instead, it will go down as more evidence that MSU’s team is closer to the bottom of the Big Ten than it is to the top right now. Because in the same game, MSU looked both well ahead of Purdue and so much in the same realm, lucky to escape, lucky that Boilermakers receiver Jahmal Edrine dropped a pass with no one around him in the fourth quarter.

In one respect, this MSU football season has had enough ifs and buts going the other way that it’s unfair to dwell on how close the Spartans came to losing this game. They won for the first time in a month. They won a fifth game, so there is still something to play for next week. They came out of the gate like this season still means something to them.

On the other hand, whatever good energy they had earned at halftime, they squandered in the second half when they were outplayed by the worst team in the Big Ten – outscored 14-0 and outscored 204-73. MSU, which went 6-for-7 on third downs in the first half, went 0-for-7 in the second.

It is an unacceptable and immature reaction to being ahead 24-3 and being in control. The offense, which looked multi-faceted and creative in the first half, completely disappeared when the Spartans badly needed a drive down the stretch. Something to work on next week I guess.

2. Let’s focus on the positive for a minute

There were positive elements of MSU’s performance that should be pointed out. We’ll start with second-year quarterback Aidan Chiles, who has now gone two games in a row without an interception — even if this time was aided by a pass interference call. And he’s also had two partially strong games in other ways. He showed good awareness and movement in the pocket and was accurate on key throws in the first half, at all three levels. At halftime I thought he showed real growth.

We also saw MSU run the football pretty well for a while. Kay-ron Lynch-Adams finished with 85 yards on 18 carries, including two carries of 10 yards or more. The ground game was consistent enough in the first half, and you can see the impact on the entire offense when it’s there. But especially in the second half there were too many times that runners were met in the backfield. Even Nate Carter’s 2-yard touchdown run in the second quarter should have been stopped, but Carter broke free and got to the corner.

MSU’s defense, which gave up quite a bit in the second half, also had its moments — including three sacks after six straight games with nothing and fairly consistent pressure on Purdue quarterback Hudson Card. A diving interception by Jordan Turner late in the game might have been the difference. Turner played well throughout. This is a vulnerable defense, especially at the back. And that’s not going to change this year. But it’s a defense that kept fighting despite having to spend most of the second half on the field. In a tough season, it’s nothing.

3. A lot at stake in MSU’s final against Rutgers

Regardless of what happens in Rutgers’ game Saturday against Illinois, the Scarlet Knights will come to Spartan Stadium next week as a team that overcame a midseason losing streak and is already bowl-eligible after wins over Minnesota and Maryland in November. This is a better Rutgers team than it might be perceived. And given what we’ve seen from MSU over the last month — Friday night included — it’s hard to argue that the Spartans are the stronger team.

In other words, if MSU is going to make a bowl game, it will be earned, rather than gifted by the schedule. Maybe it’s better that way. Nothing else about this season has been easy. If the Spartans play in a bowl game this year, they will have won their way there with what they did against Rutgers, Iowa and Maryland — games they could have lost against opponents with quality wins.

I think it would make sense for the Spartans to get to a bowl game on a couple of fronts. First, it would feel like momentum, which is no small thing for a program that hasn’t had much of it in the last three years. It’s important in recruiting and maintaining your list – the feeling that things are moving to a good place. Perhaps it is felt internally anyway. Players say it is. It’s hard to know. It never hurts to see it tangibly. Beyond the extra practices and the staff’s extra contact with its roster while the transfer portal is open — which may or may not be that important — it would be nice for this program to be seen as a bowl team come bowl season, given that many of their exhibition games this year have gone poorly.

MSU would like this season to be its floor under Johnathan Smith. Having a six-win floor and a bowl game has a different feel than the vibes that come with going 5-7 with a Week 12 loss to Rutgers.

Contact Graham Couch at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.