It didn't take long on Saturday night for everyone to realize that USC's offense was going to have its way with Michigan State's defense. The Spartans did hold the Trojans to a field goal on their first drive before going down to score a touchdown and take a 7-3 lead, but Joe Rossi's defense just couldn't find a single stop for the remainder of the half.
Don't believe me? Just look at the number of punts USC had. After you realize it was just one, check out when it occurred. Yeah, it was with under 30 seconds left in the game.
Rossi's defense was so abysmal on Saturday night that the Spartans forced one late-game punt with 30 seconds left after giving up 45 points and 523 total yards while recording zero (!!) sacks and zero (!!) tackles for loss. That's right, the Trojans didn't have a single negative play in 66 snaps against Michigan State.
That's horrendous.
After the first game of the season, it looked like Rossi might be in line for a raise and an extension. His defense looked vastly improved, holding Western Michigan scoreless offensively.
Since then, it's been nothing but a disaster.
Michigan State gave up 40 points and over 400 total yards to Boston College as Dylan Lonergan just picked the Spartans apart through the air. The Spartans then gave up 24 points to an FCS team that was able to move the ball regularly. Then, on Saturday night, USC's Jayden Maiava and Waymond Jordan torched the defense.
I get it, the defense was down two of its best leaders after Jordan Hall was ejected on a bad targeting call and Wayne Matthews III went down with a scary injury, but there's no excuse for the rest of the unit. Missed tackles, missed assignments, defending receivers flat-footed, getting blown by, securing no tackles for loss. It was all bad.
The only positive from the defensive side of the ball was the fact that Armorion Smith forced a fumble in the third quarter that set up a huge touchdown to make it 31-24.
Other than that, it was all bad.
Since holding Western Michigan's offense to zero points, Michigan State has given up 111 points over the past three games. It's time that Rossi feels some pressure, because this is unacceptable.
Michigan State has historically been known for defense, but Rossi is not living up to that. He needs to make some changes in personnel, or he could be looking for a new job soon.