3 keys to victory for Michigan State football vs. Prairie View A&M

3. Better third-down defense

The Michigan State defense has been a lot better than I ever expected so far this season, but there’s one thing they’ve really struggled with.

Third down defense.

Last week against Maryland the Terps went 11/17 on third downs. That isn’t a horrible total overall, but most of those conversations came during the first half.

Nothing frustrates me more than seeing the defense play well on first and second down only to give up a big play and have to start over on first down. So similarly to the first two points, Michigan State has a perfect opportunity to improve on this and build confidence agagainst a lesser opponent, so they need to do just that.

Again, we shouldn’t expect the defense to be perfect even against Prairie View, but I think it’s fair to expect the defense to force a lot of three-and-outs and to get off the field more often than not on third down.

So for all the great things Michigan State’s defense has done so far this season, this is the one thing that needs the most improvement from this side of the ball.