Michigan State Football: 3 takeaways from nightmare loss at Iowa

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Nov 7, 2020; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; The line of scrimmage between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Michigan State Spartans during the first quarter at Kinnick Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports /

2. The game was won in the trenches

The most obvious thing from this loss was the fact that Michigan State has a long way to go if it wants to be competitive in the conference because of that disadvantage in the trenches.

Iowa’s offensive line manhandled the Spartans’ front as the run game was able to gash Michigan State all afternoon long. They averaged a decent chunk per play and it was clear that Tyler Goodson could do no wrong with those huge running lanes.

On offense, the line didn’t get a major push or open any lanes for the backs. There were some decent runs but we have yet to truly see this line gel and show consistency. Iowa’s defensive line and linebackers plugged those holes and made life difficult for the Spartans.

Michigan State’s line did a decent job in pass protection outside of a few missed blitz pickups, but the run game wasn’t able to get much of anything going.

This game was won in those trenches and Michigan State was at a disadvantage there.

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