Michigan State Football: 5 takeaways from Notre Dame win

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Sep 17, 2016; South Bend, IN, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio stands on the field during the first half a game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports /

4. Play-calling must improve

Dave Warner made some very questionable decisions on Saturday night. On a couple of third and second down plays, he brought Damion Terry in for the Wildcat and allowed him to run the ball up the middle or slightly outside the tackle on a sweep. That’s the epitome of a predictable play call and that can’t keep happening.

When defenses see Terry come into the game at quarterback, they know he’s not throwing the ball. He has a solid arm and if he did decide to sling one, he’d probably catch the defense off-guard and it might end up going for a big game. However, that’s never the case.

More often than not, Terry is going to take the ball to the left or right and try to gain positive yards, which seems to be a rarity these days. Teams sniff it out right away and he’s usually stuffed at the line of scrimmage. There was one play where he came in and handed the ball off to LJ Scott and acted as a decoy, but that didn’t work either.

No more running up the middle on first and second down to gain three or four yards and then passing it on third only to fall short of a first down. Defenses can almost predict every play the Spartans run, and that’s an issue.

This goes for the defensive side of the ball, too. Play-calling got too conservative, blitzes ceased and the coverage was in a slight prevent late in the game, allowing DeShone Kizer to do whatever he wanted. Time to get, and stay, aggressive.

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