Michigan State football: Revisiting Week 4 goals vs. Maryland

2. Use the right offensive line combination

I actually have a lot of good things to say about how the offensive line played on Saturday. Take out any rush attempts by quarterbacks (sacks count against rush yards) and the offense averaged 4.8 rush yards per attempt.

There was progress and I guess that’s all we can hope for at this point in time.

Yes, there way too many penalties which is a result of not being in the right position so you have to cheat to block your defender. Some of that is talent, which I think we’re beginning to realize that this team lacks serious talent. But some of it is the coaches not putting players in the best position to succeed.

The play calling is still mediocre, at best, especially these long developing run plays resulting in second and third-and-long, and then long developing pass plays which result in offensive linemen having to hold their blocks for too long and having to hold to keep from getting their quarterback crushed. But there were stretches of great line play resulting in some pretty impressive drives that were derailed by one penalty, one dropped pass, one bad play call on fourth down.

Overall, this unit got better from the last few weeks and that needs to continue against a good defensive team like Iowa.