Michigan State Football: 5 takeaways from win over Purdue

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Oct 3, 2015; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans running back LJ Scott (3) is tripped up by Purdue Boilermakers safety Leroy Clark (3) during the 2nd half of a game at Spartan Stadium. MSU won 24-21. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

1. MSU plays not to lose

Our very own Patrick Forrest wrote a pice on this exact issue. Michigan State’s conservative play-calling nearly cost the Spartans a win over lowly Purdue on Saturday afternoon in East Lansing, and that’s something that needs to change.

Having Purdue take this game down to the final drive because of poor play-calling is something that should never happen. Connor Cook was doing a solid job of airing the ball out in the first half of the contest, completing 10-of-12 passes, including a nice 34-yarder to Monty Madaris.

Sure, the weather got progressively worse, but the Boilermakers couldn’t do anything against MSU for three quarters, squandering possessions left and right and mustering only seven points thanks to a Jake Hartbarger fumble that gave them the ball near the red zone.

Closing out games has been an issue for Michigan State basketball for quite some time, and now it’s transferring over to Michigan State football.

This team is talented and has the ability to push the pedal to the metal for 60 minutes and beat a team like Purdue by 30 or 40 points, but the Spartans let up, got conservative and tried to just run out the clock instead of continue to score and put the game out of reach for good.

I think Mark Dantonio learned his lesson: when up by three scores in the first half, you’ll need more than a field goal in the second half to win comfortably. Getting outscored 73-50 in the second half this year is an ugly stat — espcially getting outscored 42-26 in the fourth quarter.

Next: MSU football lacks killer instinct

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