Any dwindling bowl hopes for Michigan State flew out the window expeditiously on Saturday as the Spartans watched an early 7-0 lead disappear and turn into a 28-7 deficit just minutes into the second half.
Michigan State had more yards than UCLA in the first quarter and then had single-digit yardage in the second and third quarter to lose 28-10 in embarrassing fashion.
Yes, Michigan State was without several key players like Alessio Milivojevic, Jordan Hall, and Jaz Patterson but the injuries also piled up during the game with Ben Roberts getting carted off and coming back to the sidelines on crutches and Marvis Parrish going down on the first drive with a leg injury.
Michigan State was shorthanded again, and it showed. What’d we learn from Michigan State’s 28-10 loss to another top-10 team?
Michigan State just doesn’t have the talent
Down about a dozen key players, Michigan State just doesn’t have the talent nor the depth to hang with a team like UCLA. The Spartans looked gassed late and it was obvious as the 7-0 lead disappeared and turned into a 21-point deficit in the blink of an eye.
Losing Parrish early on after Patterson and Cam Edwards were already out essentially eliminated any run game that the Spartans may feature. Kenneth Williams, the primary kick returner, had 17 carries for 54 yards with a couple of nice runs, but he was stuffed for the most part all game. Michigan State had 29 rushes for 47.
The quarterback situation with Milivojevic out wasn’t much better as Kayd Coffman and Leo Hannan combined for 109 yards, a touchdown, and two picks on 13-of-25 passing.
The defense, too, struggled while down several key starters like Roberts, Tre Bell, Charles Brantley, and Hall.
Can’t win without talent.
Nick Sheridan needs to figure it out
Michigan State’s first-year offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan called a really bad game on Saturday which followed a decent two-game stretch against Illinois and Northwestern when the Spartans scored 61 total points. His play-calling on Saturday was really stale.
Obviously being down a starting quarterback and running back changes things but running the ball up the middle on every first down with a speedster back who’s better in open space is just not the move.
Also, can we please get rid of the Wildcat? Someone needs to tell Sheridan it’s 2026, not 2010.
Bowl hopes are officially dead
The already-dwindling bowl hopes were on life support entering Saturday’s game and with a 7-0 lead early, Michigan State fans had a sliver of hope.
Things changed quickly.
Following a sixth straight loss, Michigan State now needs to win out if it plans on making it to the postseason for the first time in five years but with Michigan, Washington, and Oregon on the schedule still, that’s probably not happening.
Time to turn our attention toward basketball. Football should be about playing the young guys for the rest of the year.
The bowl drought (likely) continues for yet another year.
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