Michigan State Football: 3 takeaways from nightmare loss at Iowa

1. The coaching staff mismanaged the quarterback situation

Rocky Lombardi exceeded expectations through the first two weeks of the season, but man, he was bad on Saturday. No one knew if he was just bad or if he was hurt. He was limping, but the staff kept him in the game which was a horrible decision.

It should have been evident in the first half after his second interception. It wasn’t. It should have been clear after he limped to the locker room. It wasn’t. It should have been slapping the staff in the face when he could barely complete a 10-yard pass. It didn’t. The staff messed up and that’s disheartening after watching just how well-coached this team was a week ago.

Lombardi wasn’t healthy. He didn’t look good. His throws were inaccurate all game long. He just wasn’t the same quarterback we saw from the first two games.

And yet, the coaching staff kept him in there.

There was a chance to get a younger quarterback some game experience but Mel Tucker and Jay Johnson decided to pull their best Mark Dantonio impression, playing the stubborn role and keeping Lombardi in there while down 35 points late in the third quarter.

Just poor coaching.