Michigan State Football: Top 5 overreactions from first month of 2018 season

Michigan State football has had an up-and-down month of September, but fan overreactions have made it seem like an utter failure.

Is Michigan State 3-1 or 0-4? If you only read social media and didn’t watch any of the games, knowing the outcomes, you’d think the Spartans were winless through the first month of the season.

The Spartans have yet to reach their potential, sure, but this team has the talent and the head coach in place to finally start playing like a contender. Michigan State was a dark-horse Big Ten title contender at the start of the season and those expectations have not changed.

Still, fans have found ways to overreact after a 3-1 record with a last-second loss to Arizona State on the road — but hey, what fans don’t overreact?

Let’s see what the top overreactions have been through one month.

5. Secondary is a major weakness

The numbers indicate that Michigan State’s defensive backfield is a liability. The Spartans are allowing about 288 yards per game through the air which is a far cry from the ‘No Fly Zone’ everyone expected in the preseason.

Although I wouldn’t usually recommend this, don’t believe what the numbers are telling you. Sometimes numbers do actually lie.

While the secondary hasn’t quite lived up to its potential yet, it has been getting better by the week. The proof is there, too. Against Utah State, the secondary struggled to cut off the short routes, it improved slightly against Arizona State and Indiana but really shut things down versus Central Michigan.

Moreover, this unit is doing all its work without star cornerback Josiah Scott who has been out with a knee injury and may not be back any time soon.

The corner spot opposite Justin Layne has been a mix between Josh Butler, Shakur Brown and Tre Person yet it hasn’t been a huge liability.

The safeties had been a weakness through the first two weeks, but have been better since the bye.

Things are looking up for the defensive backfield.