After the first two drives of Saturday’s Michigan State football game against UCLA, it felt like the Spartans were going to just run away with an easy win.
The Spartans made a stop on UCLA’s first possession and went right down to score a touchdown with over nine minutes left in the first quarter. They then held UCLA to a field goal on the next drive, holding a 7-3 lead — nothing to worry about, right?
Well, the defense stopped getting stops. The Bruins were able to score on essentially every possession from that point on, taking a 24-7 lead into the half that probably should have been 27-7, but the Bruins missed a field goal right before halftime.
Jonathan Smith and Co. looked lost, but 30 minutes was still a lot of time to turn things around. It was clear early in the second half that a win just wasn’t in the cards.
And that falls on Smith.
Not only did they look completely unprepared to face a 1-4 team that was coming off its first win of the season, but they also looked completely overmatched. Looking overmatched against a 1-4 team on your own field is grounds for firing, and while Smith’s buyout is massive, it’s officially time to have that conversation after a 3-3 start.
Michigan State began the season 3-0 and everyone raved about the solid coaching in the Boston College game, but the fall from “grace” has been drastic.
The Spartans not only look hapless offensively now, but they can’t even move the ball anymore — at least over the past two games. And the defense has looked horrendous (outside of the second half of the Nebraska game) for about a month now.
The team is in the same place as it was a year ago. No progress has been made and recruiting continues to take a hit. This program is no better off now than it was a year ago, and this loss will hurt everything even more. Recruits will likely continue to reopen their options and Smith will continue to look lost on the sidelines while his team is losing winnable games.
While it’s tough to already have the conversation just 1.5 years into his tenure, it feels like a 38-13 loss to UCLA at home is the breaking point.
There’s no coming back from this. This likely signifies another bowl-less season.
Michigan State is better than this mediocre program flirting with last place in the Big Ten, and I’m just not sure Smith fits with vision. It may be time for J Batt to make a list of options.