50 defining moments from the 2021 Michigan State football season: No. 12

Only a dozen days until Michigan State football is back. Today, I look at the most recent Spartan game, where Jalen Nailor came through in the clutch.

Welcome to the final 12 articles of the 50 defining moments of the 2021 Michigan State football season. This is the 39th article and I would like to thank all of you for reading along. Today, one of Jalen Nailor’s best moments of the season is highlighted.

For those of you who missed yesterday’s article, please click here. If you would like to look at previous articles of this series, feel free to scroll through my writing profile.

No. 12: Jalen Nailor’s 2-point conversion catch vs. Pitt

Why No. 12?

After a Jayden Reed touchdown that has its own article in a few days’ time, the Michigan State football team led by one point and elected to go for two. This would give the Spartans a field goal advantage in the dwindling minutes of the game.

Ironically, considering the article yesterday, the Spartans ran crossing drag routes on this play. This is another way to run a pick route and free up a receiver. On the play, Thorne lines up with three receivers to his right and Jalen Nailor in the left slot, with Jordon Simmons in the backfield.

Connor Heyward, lined up in the slot on the right, and Jalen Nailor each run drags angled towards each other. Heyward’s route is a little deeper with Nailor tiptoeing the goal line. Linebacker Sirvocea Dennis sees Heyward coming near and tries to grab Heyward. This was a questionable move by Dennis, as it is asking for a flag for pass interference as well as turning his back to Nailor, who is screaming across the field like a missile.

After Dennis’s brief engagement with Heyward, Dennis turns around only to have Nailor fly by. Payton Thorne throws the ball to Nailor at this time, and Nailor dives across the line to give the Spartans a late cushion.

This was another simple call by Jay Johnson with excellent efficiency. Not every two-point attempt needs to be elaborate, the team just needs to score. Thorne worked through his reads and looked off the defenders just enough to give Nailor the space he needed. Without Kenneth Walker in the backfield, this play was edited accordingly, keeping Simmons in as a blocker as opposed to the decoy that Walker was in moment No. 18.

Thorne threw a perfectly timed ball here, with Nailor just passing Dennis and having a few lateral yards to work with to get into the end zone. He also does a great job at not panicking due to the apparent pressure coming from the right. He steps up into the pocket despite the brief glance of a free defender.

The Spartan offensive line deserves a lot of credit here too. At the snap, every lineman is actively engaged besides right tackle Spencer Brown, making his first career start. Brown was beat off the snap but did not quit on the play. After his defender got the edge, Brown remained on his hip. The defender stumbled from some contact, and Brown took full advantage of this, recording a pancake block. Who would have thought that nearly getting beat gave Brown a highlight?

Nailor and Heyward deserve a lot of credit too. After Heyward had already caught a touchdown pass in this game in epic fashion, the defense was very aware of the threat wearing No. 11. When Dennis went to engage with Heyward, the tight end was fully aware and lets himself get turned and thrown. This clears Nailor to speed by and catch the ball with about a yard of space on all sides. All Nailor does is secure the ball and slightly dive to his left, clearing his way into the end zone.

While this play gave the Spartans some much-needed breathing room, the Panthers would never score again, most likely due to not having Kenny Pickett on the field I am sure. Additionally, there was a defensive play that slightly beats this one out for impacting the end result of a game. As you can guess, that play is rated a bit higher and still has an article coming. Additionally, this play falls below the touchdown due to it only giving the Spartans padding to their lead, while the touchdown gave Michigan State football control of the game.

That being said, being ranked in the top dozen moments of a Peach Bowl-winning season is not bad at all. The “wow” factor also does not come out as much on this play. Finally, most people remember Nailor’s game for his acrobatic single-handed catch that did not impact the score of the game whatsoever. As a result, it is underrecognized and I hope this brings it back to prominence.

Statistically, this is much like my other two-point writeups. There are no official statistics besides points scored for a player and team that are impacted by it. However, this attempt did make the Spartans one-for-two on their attempts this game, following a failed attempt after the Heyward touchdown.

Tomorrow, you get to see the second defensive play in three days for the Spartans. Despite being the worst pass defense in the FBS last season, the Spartan defensive backs made some major plays.