Michigan State vs Purdue: Spartans’ conservative play nearly costs them game

By Patrick Forrest | Oct 3, 2015

Saturday’s Michigan State vs Purdue game was a tale of two halves. The Spartans started off the game against the Boilermakers, on the Spartans’ 100th Homecoming, clicking on all cylinders. Michigan State got out to a 21-0 lead and this looked as though this would be the first time in the season that they put a full game together.

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Then, the proverbial wheels fell off the wagon and Michigan State had to hold on and escaped with a narrow 24-21 victory. The MSU running attack was the highlight of the day.

L.J. Scott looked like a man amongst boys having several highlight real type plays. He finished the day 18 carries for 146 yards and two touchdowns. Madre London also had a solid day as well, contributing 97 yards on 17 carries, but the true star was Scott.

The play-calling was extremely conservative, as it appeared that the Spartan coaching staff just wanted to get out of Spartan Stadium without sustaining any more injuries. This ultimately almost cost the Spartans the game, especially on a 3rd-and-6 call late in the game where they opted for a swing pass that had no chance.

I’m a bit puzzled. I know it was bad weather, and MSU had a big lead but with a fifth-year starting quarterback essentially shut the passing game down in the second half is a bit mind-boggling.

TCU scored 30 points against Texas in the first quarter and continued to throw the ball the entire game. I know it is not in Mark Dantonio’s nature to air it out or run the score but going that conservative today almost cost the Spartans the game against a Purdue team that is not very good.

Oct 3, 2015; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans cornerback Arjen Colquhoun (36) defends Purdue Boilermakers wide receiver DeAngelo Yancey (7) during the 1st half of a game at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

The passing game was nonexistent in the second half and Purdue was well aware that the Spartans were no longer going to throw it and stacked the box. Michigan State was able to gain yards but was not able to score points — only three points in the second half. Another missed field goal by Michael Geiger did not help matters either.

Cook only threw 19 times on the day. I am sure the weather played a part in this but the play-calling played a larger factor. Cook was 13-of-19 and did have success when he was able to uncork his arm but the offense became very one-dimensional in the second half.

The defense for most of the game played well. Pressuring the Purdue quarterback and not allowing the big play. Then, three consecutive scoring drives happened that made this game truly terrifying.

One scoring drive can be semi-excused as the Boilermakers started deep in MSU territory after a botched punt. The next two cannot, as the Spartans allowed a 68 yard touchdown run and then a big pass play to set Purdue up. When it counted they did come down with a stop at midfield to end the game.

Survive and advance seems to be the motto at this point. The writing is on the wall though, the Spartans cannot continue to play this inconsistently as a team if they intend to keep winning.

Spartan Nation can breathe again MSU must continue to get healthy and go back to the drawing board as they are still trying to become a complete team.

Next: 5-star SF Miles Bridges commits to Michigan State

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