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Jonathan Smith thinks Michigan State football can still compete with anybody

Michigan State may be in a better spot than people think.

By Trevor Michael

Sep 28, 2024; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Jonathan Smith watches from the sidelines during the fourth quarter as the Ohio State Buckeyes defeat his team at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Young-Imagn Images
Sep 28, 2024; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Jonathan Smith watches from the sidelines during the fourth quarter as the Ohio State Buckeyes defeat his team at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Young-Imagn Images / Dale Young-Imagn Images
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Michigan State football suffered its first Big Ten loss of the season Saturday night after Ohio State came to East Lansing and won 38-7. A 31-point loss is never what you want to see and it is a clear indicator that Michigan State has a long ways to go before they can compete and beat the best of the best.

But MSU may not be as far away from that as you may initially think.

Losing by 31 to one of the best teams in the country usually is a sign that your program has a lot to work on before they can potentially beat one of those teams. While that is most certainly true for Michigan State Jonathan Smith feels that his team can compete with any team they face going forward.

Smith points out that MSU needs to be better with penalties and getting off the field on third downs if they want to compete with anyone they face. Smith also went on to share that they need to clean up their turnovers and silly mistakes as well if the expect to compete with whoever they go up against.

Now I know all of those things Smith listed are problems that Michigan State has had all season, so at this point, it’s going to be hard to just fix those things overnight. Even with all those issues, however, Michigan State showed it can still compete with Ohio State.

If it wasn’t for a dropped interception in the end zone and a blown facemask call on Aidan Chiles’ fumble MSU would have only been down three points to the Buckeyes at the half. Does Ohio State still win this game even in this scenario? Probably, but this shows that Michigan State was right there in this game.

The Spartan offense was moving the ball extremely well and Chiles looked as sharp as ever in the first half. Michigan State’s defense was also getting some stops, forcing field goals, and should have forced two turnovers in the first half. All of that points to a team that was competitive with the No. 3 team in the country.

Sure the game got away from Michigan State later in the game, but these are all good signs to me. I never had anything positive to say after Michigan State got blown out in the last few years, but this year however just feels different.

Ohio State will be the best team Michigan State faces all season, so if they can compete with the Buckeyes at times why can’t they compete and beat any other team on their schedule?

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