Michigan State Football: 5 takeaways from first month of 2018 season
The first month of the season is in the books and Michigan State football has recorded a 3-1 record. What’d we learn from the Spartans’ opening month?
Four games into the year, Michigan State is looking like more of a work in progress rather than a finished result, but name a season when that hasn’t been the case.
After full-blown panic mode ensues each year, the Spartans usually make a decent run toward a Big Ten East title and give Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State all a run for their money. Mark Dantonio is excellent at turning things around in a hurry, especially against tougher opponents.
Don’t be fooled by this sluggish starts as Spartan teams are known for this and all you have to do for proof is look back at the 2013 team when Connor Cook and Co. started slow with one of the worst offenses in school history and turned things around in a hurry to go 13-1 with a Rose Bowl win.
With the first month officially in the books, let’s take a look at what we learned about this team.
5. Michigan State likes to play down to opponents
This has been a trend over the years. Michigan State has the talent to blow inferior teams out, but the Spartans like to build a decent lead and then take their foot off the gas pedal.
In fact, each game this season has been against a presumed “inferior” foe and the Spartans have build late double-digit leads in each game. Against Utah State, they were up by 14 and won by seven, scoring in the final minutes to put the game away. Versus Arizona State, the Spartans were up 13-3 in the fourth quarter, but the Sun Devils added two field goals and a touchdown to change that sure win into a loss.
To start Big Ten play, the Spartans raced out to a 28-7 lead against Indiana and let up late, allowing the Hoosiers to make it a one-touchdown game before Jalen Nailor’s 75-yard touchdown run sealed the deal. Lastly, Michigan State was up 31-3 against Central and allowed 17 straight points to the Chips to make it interesting when it shouldn’t have been.
Mark Dantonio and Michigan State like to play down to opponents and that hasn’t changed this season.