Lansing State Journal columnist Graham Couch grades Michigan State’s performance in a 16-10 win over Florida Atlantic on a scale of 1-10.
OFFENSE: 3
MSU didn’t get to 300 yards of total offense, turned the ball over three times, twice in the red zone, converted 3 of 13 third-down tries and, other than a 63-yard touchdown run, the Spartans’ two running backs averaged 3 yards per rush, while quarterback Aidan Chiles completed 42% of his passes. They had three just drives of nine plays or more and didn’t score on any of them. So it wasn’t exactly a smooth night offensively. The Spartans played poorly enough on that side of the ball to lose. But didn’t. Because they did make a few key plays — including Chiles and running back Nathan Carter running down Florida Atlantic cornerback Phillip Dunnam after Dunnam’s goal-line interception that could have easily been a pick-six. The offensive line wasn’t consistent or very good in the running game, but center Tanner Miller had one fantastic block that sprung Kay’Ron Lynch Adams for a long TD run and the line blocked Chiles’ touchdown run well, too. That was enough. It won’t be most weeks.
DEFENSE: 7
There was a lot to like about MSU’s defensive performance Friday night. The only real issue was the penalties. And there were a lot of them, which didn’t wind up costing the Spartans the game but could have. But MSU also only won because its defense was on point in a lot of ways — especially in the way Joe Rossi kept bringing waves of defenders at Florida Atlantic quarterback Cam Fancher and how those defenders contained the fleet-footed QB. This was anything but a bend-but-don’t-break defense, which I think Spartan fans can appreciate. MSU sacked Fancher seven times, tallied 10 tackles for loss, stopped FAU on 13 of 15 third-down tries, came up with two…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/michigan-state-football-grades-msus-062534553.html
Author : Lansing State Journal
Publish date : 2024-08-31 06:25:34
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