Michigan State Football: 3 implications of gritty win at Indiana

Oct 16, 2021; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Indiana Hoosiers wide receiver Jacolby Hewitt (2) misses a pass under coverage from Michigan State Spartans linebacker Quavaris Crouch (6) during the first quarter at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports /

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Oct 16, 2021; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Michigan State Spartans wide receiver Jayden Reed (1) is pushed out of bounds by Indiana Hoosiers defensive back Noah Pierre (21) during the second half at Memorial Stadium. Spartans win 20-15. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Offense is far from perfect

Through six weeks, it looked like the offense was darn near perfect. Outside of some second-half staleness and the ugly showing against Nebraska, the Spartans’ offense looked unstoppable and we saw it again a week ago against Rutgers as they scored on a few long pass plays to Jalen Nailor and a 94-yard touchdown run by Kenneth Walker III.

But the offensive line has been kind of shaky all year — we saw it against Nebraska and we witnessed it once again versus Indiana.

With the line struggle against Indiana’s front, Payton Thorne looked like he was uneasy all afternoon and Walker III wasn’t able to find any running lanes. It was just an overall poor performance from the offense. Thorne did also throw two picks and Walker had one of his worst games of the season, rushing for 84 yards on 23 carries.

Michigan State has two weeks to correct this before Michigan comes to town and that means preparing for Aidan Hutchinson and that aggressive front.

The offense has some flaws and we now see what needs to be corrected. The bye week comes at the perfect time.

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