Michigan State football: 3 quick reactions to loss against Ohio State

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Ohio State Buckeyes running back TreVeyon Henderson (32) runs over Michigan State Spartans linebacker Cal Haladay (27) and Michigan State Spartans cornerback Chester Kimbrough (12) in the first quarter during their NCAA College football game at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio on November 20, 2021.Osu21msu Kwr 07 /

1. Michigan State’s defense is bad, really bad

After Purdue put up more than 500 passing yards on Michigan State’s defense, that reaffirmed that the Spartans would need to rely on offense more this season. The issue with the Purdue loss wasn’t the yards themselves, but that Michigan State couldn’t keep up, even when Purdue had a one-dimensional offense.

Purdue had -12 rushing yards against Wisconsin. Working on defending the pass may have helped them more, but now I’m starting to doubt that this defense is not salvageable.

The good news for Spartan fans is that the problem here is fixable. Mel Tucker is a defensive-minded guy who was a defensive coordinator almost everywhere he’s been. He was even the defensive backs coach at Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, and LSU.

We know this will be fixed. Whether that will be next year or by 2024 isn’t known. This is definitely the worst defense anyone will witness from a major program. It can only get better.

The Spartans have been running a bend-not-break strategy because it’s what they have. This isn’t Scottie Hazleton’s go-to strategy, I’m sure he doesn’t want this either. Maybe it’s what he needs to work with.

This season, Michigan State has done well against the big pass and has been able to keep the ball in front of them. They’ve also stiffened in the red zone and have the seventh-best red-zone defense in FBS. It was pretty visible against Michigan this year.

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