Spartan Avenue
Fansided

3 takeaways from Michigan State football’s frustrating loss to Ohio State

This game wasn’t as bad as the final score suggests.

By Trevor Michael

Michigan State's Jack Velling, right, runs after a catch as Ohio State's Sonny Styles closes in during the second quarter on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.
Michigan State's Jack Velling, right, runs after a catch as Ohio State's Sonny Styles closes in during the second quarter on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. / Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 3
Next

Nobody actually expected to win this game, right? For your sake, I hope you didn’t because Michigan State football suffered an ugly 38-7 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday night.

Now while that score is hideous, I do think the game was much closer than it suggests. I won’t sit here and tell you we should be happy about this game, but there are some positives that are impossible to ignore.

So let’s get right into it with my three biggest takeaways from the Spartans' loss to the Buckeyes.

1. Michigan State is closer than we think

I usually am one of the last people who look for moral victories, but I think I can make an exception. Michigan State wasn’t going to win this game and they also weren’t going to compete for a Big Ten title this season, so while wins and losses still matter the most important thing this season is to see improvement week to week.

And that is exactly what MSU showed (at times) this game.

Michigan State showed that they belonged on this stage, that they belonged on the same field against a team like Ohio State, and that’s something we haven’t been able to say the last few years.

Let’s take a quick look just at the first half.

MSU trailed the Buckeyes 24-7 at the break, but the game realistically should’ve been 17-14 in favor of OSU. Now I know this is a lame exercise, but stay with me. Michigan State dropped an interception in the endzone thrown right at Malik Spencer’s hands -- 99 percent of the time that gets caught. Then Aidan Chiles fumbled the ball while his facemask was grabbed and facing sideways, the refs make that call correctly 99 percent of the time which would have resulted in MSU being in a first-and-goal situation.

So if those two plays go Michigan State’s way we’re looking at a 3-point halftime deficit instead of 17. Seventeen points are essentially impossible to overcome against Ohio State, but three points aren’t.

Sure the second half wasn’t so great, but the Spartans proved they belonged against Ohio State for over half of the game.

Home/Spartans Football