50 defining moments from the 2021 Michigan State football season: No. 9

It is 9 days until the Michigan State football team is back on the field. One question is who will replace Jalen Nailor, the subject of today’s moment.

Welcome back to the 42nd article in this Michigan State football series. After six weeks of articles, we have gotten down to single digits in moments for this list.

I was seriously debating about putting a Kenneth Walker play for moment No. 9, but after having Noah Harvey (No. 45) making an interception for moment No. 45, and then Payton Thorne throwing for moment No. 10, I did not want to go overboard. Additionally, there are still a few days until my next Walker play is featured.

Today, we look at one of the fastest players on the team last year, Jalen “Speedy” Nailor. This is my last article on him in the series, so expect a long one.

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. 9: Jalen Nailor’s fourth-down conversion vs. Michigan

This came in the second quarter and went to Nailor. Not to be confused with the other fourth-down conversion to Jayden Reed, which had an article exactly one week ago (moment No. 16).

Why No. 9?

This play was special for the Spartans. After Andrel Anthony took a ball 93 yards to the house against Michigan State to begin the game, the Spartans faced an uphill battle. After a few Wolverine field goals and a Kenneth Walker touchdown, the game was a 13-7 slugfest. Michigan State football faced a fourth-and-1 as they looked to take back the lead. Sitting at the Wolverine 48, the Spartans needed this conversion to avoid a short-field situation.

Unlike the last fourth down highlighted, this play was a manageable situation and had many options. With a powerhouse in the backfield and a mobile quarterback, as well as a multitude of threats at receiver, Jay Johnson could have called any normal play and be fine.

Simply put, Johnson laughed at this idea. He dug into his bag of tricks and pulled out a pass to Nailor. I complimented Johnson for not being “too cute” in play calling a few days ago, but on this play, that “cute” call was most unexpected. For those armchair coordinators at home (like me), this is why we watch the games and the coordinators make the big bucks.

After a read-option keeper was stuffed on third-and-one, it was expected that the Spartans’ biggest threat, Kenneth Walker III, would receive the ball on the ensuing play. Instead, Johnson dialed up a double play-action, to Walker and then to Jayden Reed, who was running in the motion to take an end around. Reed then hesitates and then sprints to the flat, drawing all the Wolverines’ eyes to the biggest Spartan receiving threat.

Nailor, meanwhile, runs out and slows, starting to square up for a block. He engages for a split second, which was just long enough to draw the safety down, in full pursuit of Reed. Similarly, Nailor’s corner now believed Reed was the recipient of this play. When Nailor disengages, the corner is still facing Reed. Nailor now takes off into the vacated center of the field. Thorne, after staring down Reed, looks over to a wide-open Nailor. A simple toss later and Nailor is off to the races.

If it was not for the speed of future first-round pick Daxton Hill, Nailor would have had a touchdown on this play. That said, complaining about only gaining 40 yards on fourth-and-short is a preposterous idea.

The offensive line, again, deserves credit here. They sold the run without drawing any downfield blocking penalties, letting this play develop. Seeing the levels of the play that were needed to progress to free Nailor, the line’s job on this play was nothing short of superb. By the time there is a hand in Thorne’s face, Nailor has five yards of separation to account for any off-target throw.

Walker and Reed did excellent jobs at drawing attention to themselves. At the front of the play, Walker fakes the handoff and instantly looks to block. Reed then fakes taking the next Thorne handoff and then slips to the flat. At this point, all eyes have been drawn in by Walker and then flipped over to Reed. Now the play boils down to the quarterback play of Thorne.

Speaking of Thorne, he did an excellent job of selling both elements of the play action and not immediately looking to Nailor. This play needed to develop and required a patient quarterback, which was exactly what Thorne was. Then, facing the fearsome Heisman runner-up from Michigan, Thorne delivered a great throw. While he could have led Nailor to an outside shoulder catch for more room to work with, can I nitpick this great of a play? I think not.

Finally, Nailor completes this play. After selling a block and then sneaking away, Nailor just needs to look the ball in and run for his life. He does both of these, with the only thing preventing him from reaching the end zone being a shoestring tackle by Hill. Full marks for every member of the team. This was excellent recognition by Hill, there was nothing Nailor could have done to get a touchdown on this play.

Nailor was one of the most experienced members of the 2021 Michigan State football roster. I remember watching his 75-yard jet sweep as a true freshman against Indiana. Over the last four years, Nailor has gone from a one-dimensional speed player into a force on the field. He can block downfield for the run game, carry the ball well, cut back excellently, and create separation. Oh, and he has good hands, too, if his final game as a Spartan did not clue you in.

On top of this, he has the fifth gear that every coach dreams of. As a result, Nailor was one of the Spartans lucky enough to hear his name called in the 2021 NFL draft. The now-Minnesota Viking has a bright career ahead of him. Like Heyward, I will miss Nailor on Saturdays but might have to pop in to watch his games on Sundays now instead.

To get to the final part, why here? This play is my first single-digit play, and I have a few reasons for that. The play call and the guts it took to dial this up in so short of a situation is a move I must respect. The outcome of this play makes it so much better. Nailor gets so many yards against the vaunted Michigan defense by a little trickery, and it helps lead to a Walker touchdown the next play. The “wow” factor is there in every element, with it being a big play as well as a heck of a play call. This came with the Spartans trying to reclaim the lead and get back into the game, making it a crucial situation. Finally, it was dynamic, with the field being flipped on this one play.

So why not higher? This came at a crucial time, but there was still over a half of football remaining. There was no guarantee on how this game would play out without this one play, and there was technically enough time for Michigan State football to rally if this play failed. Sure, a touchdown might make this play move a bit higher, but I am very comfortable ranking this play right here with how it turned out.

Statistically, this was part of Thorne’s 196-yard outing against the Wolverines. It was the first of his two major fourth down conversions through the air on the day. For Nailor, this was part of his 75-yard effort in his final game in the battle for Paul Bunyan. It was his second longest play against Michigan in the two contests he played against the Wolverines, with the longest being a 53-yard catch-and-run in 2020.

Thank you for making it through this mammoth of an article. Tomorrow, I will highlight the Spartan defense yet again, and from later in this game as well.