Michigan State Football Mailbag: What are reasonable expectations moving forward?

In this week’s edition of our Michigan State football mailbag, we take a look at what reasonable expectations are for the Spartans moving forward.

Michigan State is coming off its toughest win in a year, and potentially in Mark Dantonio’s tenure, and fans were full of questions about the state of the program.

Let’s dive into this week’s mailbag.

I’m not going to say the Western Michigan game was a fluke, but the Broncos’ defense was definitely not as good as Arizona State’s or even Tulsa’s (the Golden Hurricane had the No. 8 pass defense in college football last year). Michigan State was able to move the ball against Arizona State’s defense, but not finishing drives was the difference between Week 3’s loss and Week 2’s blowout win.

The ups and downs will happen, but usually not quite as drastic as this one. The team seems to still be adjusting to this new offense and maybe they were reading their newspaper clippings too much after scoring 51. No matter what it was, the Spartans lost but still left about 5-6 scores on the field. If Michigan State converted those missed field goals and reached the end zone on at least two of the nine drives in Arizona State territory, we’d be talking about a blowout win.

Ups and downs will happen, but this team has fixes to make and they’re relatively clear.

@certifiedchayse: What will it take for Coach to see Elijah, Anthony and Alante are the answer?!

I think he knows that the backfield is Elijah Collins’ and everyone else is just fighting for reps, but he’s not going to admit that when a guy like Connor Heyward learned a new position and has spent three years there. These backs know the pecking order by now but don’t expect Mark Dantonio to reveal that. He plays everything close to his vest.

That’s exactly why I wasn’t surprised that he didn’t come out and say Collins was the No. 1 back after either of the past two games but he does need to begin realizing that Heyward might be better suited at a different position (or maybe just catching passes out of the backfield). As for Anthony Williams Jr., it’s fairly obvious he’s been the second-best back through three games, so we’ll likely see more from him.

In my best Dantonio voice, “Sometimes you’re just stuck in your ways and you have to dig yourself out. It’s how you respond to adversity.”

I’m not 100 percent sure on the rules and agreements for this, but one can only assume that when a Power Five team travels to another Power Five stadium, it brings its conference’s refs with. That’s the only way this makes sense, because I can’t make heads or tails of it. Michigan State can’t worry about the officiating, though, because the game was winnable throughout and there were about 10 chances for the Spartans to put the Sun Devils away.

Does the missed call sting and put a damper on things? Absolutely, but even Pac-12 fans can tell you that their officiating has been lackluster over the years. Michigan State will be weary from here on out with a Pac-12 crew.

It’s hard to predict this based off one loss because I think Michigan State should be 3-0 right now without question. The loss actually doesn’t waver my opinion of this team as much as it has others because the mistakes are correctable. Also, a lot depends on what happens this weekend. If Michigan State beats Northwestern handily and Wisconsin struggles, I’ll still with my 9-3 prediction. If Michigan State loses and Wisconsin wins, I think it’s closer to 8-4 or 7-5.

While I like what La’Darius Jefferson brings to the table in short-yardage situations and Heyward has great hands out of the backfield, I think it has to be Williams. The true freshman back has been impressive in limited action and if the staff gave him No. 2 carries, you could see a scary run game like when Le’Veon Bell and Edwin Baker split carries. A duo of Collins and Williams would be dynamic and great for the offense.

Easy answer: yes. But it’s going to take a lot of improvement in terms of finishing drives before that can happen. While I do think Wisconsin is good, the Badgers are getting the Maryland treatment after just a couple of games. Sure, they’ve blown out both opponents, but they weren’t exactly the stiffest of competition. Ohio State might be a little tougher, but even when the Buckeyes have been the most loaded (2015), the Spartans have played them tough. Michigan State always gives the Buckeyes a battle, home or away (sans 2017).

Michigan State isn’t lacking talent, it’s the execution and coaching that need to be ironed out.

This is a fair question and it’s true, some fans have already turned football mode off and have their basketball countdown on their phones and laptop home screens. It’s been a complete flip-flop from post-Western Michigan until now, but it’s fair. Fans are fed up with the offense not scoring points, and the players and coaches should be, too.

But I’m not ready to dub this season “over” just yet. This team has too much talent to just roll over after one game. Will we see a 2013 turnaround? Possibly, but it’s not the same situation. Similar, but not the exact same.

What factors will determine the outcome of the season? I’d say health is one, ability to finish drives is another and focusing on the task at hand. These kids can’t get into their heads, but rather they need to keep that short-term memory and make sure they realize all of their goals are still right in front of them. Other important factors will be the progression or regression of certain contenders such as Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin and Ohio State.

Now on to the reasonable expectation moving forward. Will Michigan State be a playoff team? Most likely not, but there is New Year’s Six type of talent on this squad. It’s reasonable to expect a 7-2 record from here on out, splitting the four games against the aforementioned contenders.

Easiest question to answer in the entire mailbag: no. He’s done too much for the program and one bad loss isn’t going to wipe that out. He’s about to become the winningest coach in MSU history for a reason.

Because sports.

I think some fans have already done just that. Checking Twitter minutes after the game or even the next day was toxic. If Dantonio read some of the things his own fanbase said about him, he’d probably delete his social media. That’s the sad reality of over-reactionary fandom. People just say the first emotional thing on their minds and take to Twitter with it.

And I disagree about the offense not changing. I think it looks completely different than it did at the end of last season. The Spartans are currently averaging over 400 yards per game and dominated a good Arizona State defense with 23 first downs, but just couldn’t finish drives. If that was the only issue a year ago, Dave Warner might still be the offensive coordinator, but MSU couldn’t even sniff 400 yards. The offense can move the ball, but finishing drives is the problem.

Honestly, the offensive line is the toughest position to start true freshmen at. It’s tough to adjust both mentally with new plays and schemes as well as physically. They aren’t “afraid” but it’s just a rare spot for true freshmen to start. Arizona State has had major line problems and the freshmen starting are more of a testament to their struggles and desperation. With that said, I think we will see more of Devontae Dobbs, JD Duplain and Nick Samac soon. Injuries will force the true freshmen in the coming games.

It’s close between Applebee’s and Chili’s but I’m going with the former. Why? Because of the two for $20 deal of course.

Check back in next week for our mailbag as we (hopefully) talk about a Michigan State win over Northwestern.