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    • Michigan State football is limping into a much-needed bye after another loss
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    Michigan State football is limping into a much-needed bye after another loss

    Madoc Meredith Posted on

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    EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Joe Rossi trotted out of an elevator and climbed onto a golf cart with several other Michigan State football staffers as he sat on the back of it and stoically processed what had just happened.

    As the crowd surged along the Autzen Stadium sidewalks, the driver weaved through and honked the horn to get clearance. After a thorough 31-10 dismantling at No. 6 Oregon on Friday night, it proved easy for the defensive coordinator to not even return to the visitors’ locker room.

    The Ducks’ dominance at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball proved as frustrating and devastating as a traffic jam caused by a convoy of high-horsepower semi-trucks driving electric golf carts across five lanes. And the aftermath of the third straight loss felt just as devastating.

    Aidan Chiles fumbled again at the goal line to stop MSU’s first offensive possession, then managed to gain just 37 yards in 16 plays the rest of the half. The offense managed just 59 yards on 30 attempts and went scoreless for more than three quarters.

    The defense gave up 21 points and 363 yards in the first half, with the Ducks putting up 192 of them on the ground. Despite throwing two interceptions in the end zone to keep Oregon from making things worse.

    “These guys took the losses hard,” first-year Spartans coach Jonathan Smith said after leaving the locker room. “It’s pretty quiet in there.”

    The Spartans (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten) will quietly search for answers in the 15 days between games. They reach the halfway point of their season and a bye week in which they try to repair an ailing and anemic offensive line that has failed to create lanes for its running backs and has faltered in protecting the Chiles’ preference Making something out of nothing proved problematic early on against the Ducks.

    The sophomore, who was sacked four times total and three times in the first half, threw a pinpoint pass to Nick Marsh for 44 yards on fourth-and-2, setting up MSU at the Oregon 2. Much like they had done against each other six days earlier as No. 3 Ohio State, the Spartans appeared able to upset the Goliath on their first offensive possession after their defense was stout from the start.

    And just like last Saturday’s 38-7 loss to the Buckeyes, an MSU turnover deep in the red zone killed the momentum. On the next play, Chiles dodged an oncoming rush with a first-and-goal pass and, instead of getting rid of the ball, tried to weave through traffic toward the goal line. But Oregon’s Jordan Burch released the ball and defensive tackle Jamaree Caldwell pounced on it in the end zone to end the eight-play, 65-yard drive with no points.

    It was MSU’s fourth red zone turnover in the last two games and Chile’s second to penetrate deep into enemy territory. He has lost three fumbles and eight interceptions this season.

    “We’re trying. If it’s not there, ideally we throw that thing away,” Smith said of his Oregon State transfer QB. “Aidan is a competitive player, you know he’s going to put his shoulders in and so on. Well, you have to keep the ball under wraps.”

    This 65-yard drive accounted for more than half of the Spartans’ total yards in the first half (102). They managed just 75 yards on the 27 plays that followed Chile’s fumble. By the time he led them on a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown march midway through the fourth quarter, Oregon’s lead had grown to 31-0.

    MSU averaged just 2.2 yards per carry over the last 10 quarters of football, including the second half of a loss at Boston College – 146 yards on 66 attempts. The offensive line gave up 11 sacks in that span.

    “I just think it comes down to 10 guys doing the right thing and one not doing it, whoever it is,” said tight end Jack Velling, who had six catches for 53 yards. “I feel like we have to do better, we have to finish better.”

    Without his 21 yards lost on sacks, Chiles would have been the Spartans’ leading rusher with 50 yards on his other eight carries. He finished the game 10 of 17 for 154 yards passing with no touchdowns or interceptions. MSU did not make Chiles available for the third straight week after the loss.

    While the offensive tank hit empty, the defense ran on steam as long as it could.

    Although the Spartans intercepted two passes from Dillon Gabriel, one from Malik Spencer and one from Charles Brantley in the end zone, the Ducks methodically wore them down. After a three-and-out to start the game, Oregon scored five possessions of at least three minutes on its next six drives, with the breakaway scoring a rush-up drive in the final two minutes of the first half that resulted in a touchdown Take a 21-0 lead at halftime.

    Their final scoring drive took 8 minutes, 7 seconds and capped the 15-play, 64-yard march with a 2-yard fourth-and-goal touchdown pass from Gabriel to Tez Johnson. For the first time all season, MSU struggled to attack and contain opponents in space, and the Ducks ran for 213 of their 477 yards.

    “Missed tackles hurt any defense,” said Brantley, who led the Spartans with a game-high nine stops. “We just have to come together and make sure we do everything right and make tackles.”

    MSU will have plenty of practice time ahead of it to find solutions to its litany of problems. Some are fixable, such as the Chileans’ missed tackles and decision-making; Others aren’t so easy, particularly when it comes to figuring out what to do with the offensive line, which has been ravaged by injuries during the season after being drained by transfer portal departures last year.

    The next opportunity for the Spartans to get things right isn’t until a visit from Iowa on October 19th. Time and TV details are expected to be announced on Monday.

    “We need it. I mean, we have to find a way to improve,” Smith said of the bye week. “These guys worked. We played six games in a row. But also think about the five weeks of camp, that’s eleven weeks in a row. Take a step back, slow down, and look at what we caught on tape as coaches. Digest this thoroughly and find ways we can play better.”

    Velling alluded to MSU’s next opponent really being themselves, with a mission to “win the bye week.”

    “We learned that we can compete with the best,” he said. “We’re going to fight for four quarters. We just have to start faster offensively and play complementary football.

    “I like us and I think we can keep up with anyone who is on the field with us.”

    Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him @chrissolari.

    Subscribe to the Spartan Speak podcast to receive new episodes weekly Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. And check out all our podcasts and daily voice briefings freep.com/podcasts.

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    Madoc Meredith
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