Michigan State Football: Quick thoughts from overtime win vs. Nebraska

Nobody said winning was always going to be pretty and after three fairly beautiful victories to start the season, Michigan State football muddied things up against Nebraska on Saturday night en route to a 23-20 overtime victory.

Mel Tucker’s team didn’t really get a chance to drag Nebraska into the deep waters as the Cornhuskers controlled the clock for most of the second half, but Michigan State remained focused and stayed alive probably longer than it should have to force overtime. The Spartans won in overtime for the first time since 2012.

The Spartans would pick off Adrian Martinez who had his way with the defense all game long in the opening possession of overtime as Chester Kimbrough made a heck of a play.

A long run by Kenneth Walker III in overtime set up a chip-shot field goal for Matt Coghlin and the Spartans marched off winners to improve to 4-0 on the year.

Here are some of my thoughts from the victory:

• Kenneth Walker needs some help. The offensive line didn’t do the Heisman-contending running back any favors on Saturday night as he was constantly hit in the backfield. He finished with 61 yards somehow but he needed 19 carries to get there. His offensive line did him no favors against a blitz-heavy Nebraska defense.
• Jayden Reed is Mr. Dependable. The talented receiver did a little bit of everything on Saturday night from returning punts, kicks, and making catches all over the field. He finished with the Spartans’ only two touchdowns — one on a flea-flicker touchdown catch and another on the game-tying punt return. He might be the most explosive player on the roster and when the Spartans need a big play, he delivers.
• Payton Thorne got a wake-up call. Looking almost invincible through the first three games of the season, Thorne threw a pick on his first drive and bounced back to complete eight of his first nine passes, but he completed just 6-of-14 passes to end the game. He went 14-for-23 with 183 yards and a touchdown, but he couldn’t seem to complete anything in the second half. He can’t let this happen again if Michigan State is going to compete.
• The defense had a rough night. If we’re going to be honest, the defense just wasn’t there for Michigan State against Adrian Martinez and the Cornhuskers. They were missing tackles all night long and had Martinez swallowed up in the backfield on multiple occasions in which he broke free and picked up big gains with his legs. He also passed for 255 yards on 25-of-36 completions. The defense needs to figure things out pretty quickly.
• We got to see flashes of what Tre Mosley can do. Without Ricky White again, it was Jalen Nailor, Reed, and Mosley starting at receiver and the latter led the way with six catches for 70 yards and he looked like a budding star. If he can build on this, Michigan State might have something special here.
• Connor Heyward is flourishing in his new role. We’ve talked about it before, but Heyward is looking great in his new role as an H-back/tight end for the Spartans. He had two catches for 39 yards, including a huge 34-yarder near the end of the first half in which he broke a few tackles and put Michigan State in position to score. He’s also been great in run blocking and just an overall leadership role.
• The offensive line needs work. It’s been said above and it’s pretty simple: this unit needs some changes. Saturday’s performance was unacceptable.
• This team is mentally strong. For a second straight week when things were tight in the second half, Michigan State didn’t get rattled. The game looked like it was headed toward a disappointing loss for the Spartans, but a huge punt return touchdown reignited the sidelines and after the game, the players said they were never in doubt. They also said that their conditioning helps them in these situations and we’ve now seen that in back-to-back weeks.
• Tuck comin’. That’s it.

What’d you think of the Spartans’ clutch win?