Michigan State football: What went wrong in first 2021 loss at Purdue?

1. Way too many penalties, self-inflicted wounds

Before the Michigan game, I made a point for three things that Michigan State football must work on before playing against Michigan. They held up, for the most part, only committing an “average” amount of penalties: seven.

The problem isn’t that Michigan State commits too many penalties, it’s that their offense commits them in horrible situations. So many Michigan State drives are killed by penalties and it has happened far too much in this game.

When the water level rises, Michigan State doesn’t have much room for error. If you combat that with an inconsistent defense, the result is not great.

Against Purdue, Michigan State committed poor penalties in bad situations. Most notably, the Spartans downed a punt at Purdue’s 1-yard-line. During the play, cornerback Justin White received an “illegal motion” penalty. Bryce Barringer’s next punt wasn’t as pretty — 37 yards, returned for 14 yards. That was a penalty that cost Michigan State 47 yards of field position.

On the other side, Purdue played a nearly perfect game in terms of mistakes. They stuck to a single gameplan, didn’t come outside of what they were doing, and only gave Michigan State 25 yards on three different penalties.

For much of the first half, the Spartans were hurting themselves.

It was the Kenneth Walker III fumble, the nine-play drive that ended in a missed field goal by Michigan State’s freshman kicker Stephen Rusnak, or the targeting penalty.

Even though that targeting penalty seemed as though it was the game’s turning point, Michigan State had plenty of time to get it going. Instead, they collapsed. Letting penalties hurt you is what kills a team and their chances of winning games.

What else? A defense that wasn’t prepared.