Michigan State Football: 5 overreactions from Minnesota win in Week 7

After a victory over Minnesota on Saturday evening, it’s time to overreact over Michigan State football heading into Week 8.

Winning games in the Big Ten isn’t easy, and Michigan State football found that out on Saturday evening in Minneapolis. The Spartans looked to be running away with a victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers before things clicked and their offense began to rattle off touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

A 23-6 lead was trimmed drastically and the score was 30-27 with the Golden Gophers attempting an onside kick with just over a minute left. Michigan State recovered and ended the game, but not before the Spartans had to sweat out a victory. Despite the win, Michigan State’s fifth of the year, fans were still overreacting both optimistically and pessimistically.

Take a look at the five biggest overreactions from Michigan State’s win over Minnesota.

5. Defense can’t defend against dual-threats

So far this year, that’s been the case. Michigan State has faced two true dual-threats and they have given the defense fits. The first was Notre Dame’s Brandon Wimbush and he kept the defense on its toes and led the Fighting Irish to a 20-point win over the Spartans in East Lansing.

Next, it was Demry Croft, Minnesota’s backup quarterback, on Saturday evening at TCF Bank Stadium. The redshirt sophomore came in the game for the struggling Conor Rhoda and led the Gophers’ offense to three fourth-quarter touchdowns to make the game interesting when it truly should have been over.

The defense struggled to contain him in the pocket as he leaked out for 31 rushing yards on seven carries, including a big 20-yard rush in the fourth. He also completed 11-of-20 passes for 163 yards and three touchdowns.

This overreaction has yet to be proven wrong. It’ll get a chance to do so against JT Barrett and Trace McSorley in November.