Michigan State Football: Midseason report card for 2021 Spartans

Michigan State football is officially halfway through its 2021 season and if you thought the Spartans would be undefeated at this point, you either drank way too much green Kool-Aid this offseason or you’re a genius.

Either way, you have to feel like the smartest person in the room if you saw Michigan State reaching bowl eligibility through six games.

How has this happened? Some fantastic offense with a solid scoring defense.

Which position group gets the highest grade after a 6-0 start?

Offensive Line: C+

You can’t have a good offense without a decent offensive line. And that’s exactly what Michigan State has: not good, not bad, but decent.

Jarrett Horst has been really solid out of the portal this season and Kevin Jarvis is always pretty solid, but I’d like to see more consistency up front. It shouldn’t be that difficult for Kenneth Walker III to find running lanes against inferior opponents. Far too often, he’s being hit at or behind the line of scrimmage, and that’s due to poor run-blocking.

Yes, the run-blocking leaves a lot to be desired which is why this group gets a C+.

But where I believe they are most improved is pass-blocking. Payton Thorne has been kept upright for most of the season and he’s only been sacked eight times through six games. Not too bad.

Overall, plenty of room for improvement for Chris Kapilovic’s group.