Key stat proves that Michigan State’s Malcolm Bell is an All-Big Ten CB

It’s sometimes easy to forget that Michigan State football is still playing this season.

The Spartans have lost seven straight games and have two remaining — and Jonathan Smith is on the hot seat. The next matchup comes against a solid Iowa team on Saturday afternoon in Iowa City and then the season will be capped off with a neutral-site game against Maryland at Ford Field in Detroit. Both games could end up as losses and Michigan State could very well finish the year on a nine-game losing streak, but some guys have shown the same effort throughout the year.

One of those guys has been UConn cornerback transfer Malcolm Bell.

Bell has been one of the best players on the defensive side of the ball for the Spartans this season along with star linebacker Jordan Hall. Outside of those two guys, it’s been a pretty inconsistent showing for Michigan State on that side of the ball.

Both could very well earn All-Big Ten honors.

In fact, one key statistic proves that Bell should probably earn All-Big Ten honors this season in the secondary, whether that’s on the first, second, or third-team.

It’s gone relatively unnoticed because the defense has been so inconsistent and there has been a lot of shuffling at key positions, but Bell has the third-best forced incompletion rate in the conference.

Although he has yet to record a pick with the Spartans, and in his career, Bell has been one of the stingiest cornerbacks in the conference. He has recorded 37 total tackles, three tackles for loss, and five pass breakups while having the third-best forced incompletion percentage in the Big Ten — now that’s some serious production from a portal addition.

Michigan State may not have a chance of making a bowl game nor do the Spartans really have much to play for at this point, but at least Bell is giving it his all and he’s been complimenting the program along the way.

Unfortunately, Michigan State won’t have another season with the talented defensive back that was gifted to the Spartans from UConn. It feels like an All-Big Ten selection is in his future.

Or at least it should be.