Michigan State football: 3 goals for Week 9 matchup vs. Minnesota

Michigan State football gets a reprieve with a matchup against Minnesota on Saturday. While there are no easy games when it comes to the Spartans, they are a middle of the road program in the weak Big Ten West.

If there was ever a game to see if Katin Houser is the real deal this one is it.

When Minnesota plays good quarterbacks, they lose. When they play bottom-tier quarterbacks, they win. It’s that simple.

Let’s take a deeper dive on Minnesota’s pass defense woes and two other goals for the Spartans to get off the loss train.

1. Let Katin Houser cook

When it comes to statistics, Minnesota is as middle of the road as they come. In most major categories, they rank right around that 6-8 mark. Where the Gophers excel is interceptions, where they rank third in the Big Ten with nine, and they rank seventh in the nation in penalties per game (more on this later).

But looking at their box scores, the formula is simple. If your quarterback throws for more than 200 yards, you can probably beat Minnesota. In Minnesota losses, North Carolina’s Drake Maye threw for 414 yards, Northwestern’s Ben Bryant threw for 396 yards, and Michigan’s JJ McCarthy threw for 219 yards.

When Minnesota wins, all quarterbacks have thrown for less than 175 yards. Be aggressive in the pass game, even if it means an interception and Minnesota can’t keep up.

Sounds simple, right? But simple isn’t in Jay Johnson’s vocabulary. Even basic short yardage runs take four seconds to go from snap to handoff. Houser’s arm isn’t strong enough yet for those long sideline throws so stop trying it. Quick throws over the middle have been working. Getting Nate Carter in space works. Keep doing that. Toss sweeps to the short side don’t equal a lot of space.

Now, to say that the Michigan defense is better than the Minnesota defense is to say that The Beatles are better than a fourth grade recorder concert, but this Spartans’ football team can just keep surprising us, and not in good way.