Michigan State Football: 3 implications of undefeated first half of 2021 season

1. Michigan State is a strong defense away from playoff contention

Michigan State’s offense has been fantastic this season while the defense has been utilizing a lot of the “bend but don’t break” strategy. Will that hold up all year against teams like Penn State, Michigan, and Ohio State? We’ll see, but it’s not a good strategy to rely on.

The defensive line has been really good all year and the linebackers, too, have been solid, but the secondary has been torched for the most part because of the scheme.

Scottie Hazelton and Harlon Barnett are giving major cushions to receivers and the soft coverage has led to a lot of dinking and dunking all the way down the field by opposing quarterbacks. No, they haven’t been beaten deep much, but the 5-10 yard passes all the way down the field and the fact that they’re on the field for five minutes at a time are not ideal.

Michigan State’s offense has carried the load so far and if the defense is able to catch up, the Spartans have a serious playoff-contending team.

And it’s not like the defense doesn’t have the pieces to be great because Quavaris Crouch, Cal Haladay, Jacub Panasiuk, Simeon Barrow, Drew Jordan, Tank Brown, Chester Kimbrough, Xavier Henderson, Darius Snow, Angelo Grose, Ronald Williams, Marqui Lowery, and Michael Dowell make up a solid group. It’s time they live up to their potential as a unit.