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    • Michigan State Football hangs on against Purdue: 3 quick shots
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    Michigan State Football hangs on against Purdue: 3 quick shots

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    1. The Spartans win, but waste all the energy this game could have given them

    If you were hoping to be inspired by Michigan State’s performance against Purdue, you’ll have to look elsewhere for inspiration. Anyway, in the final weeks of a tough MSU football season, there were at least some uplifting moments in a 24-17 win over the Boilermakers. By not taking a 24-3 lead in the second half, MSU mainly kept the hope of a 13th game alive, if you’re into that.

    For one half, this had all the hallmarks of a draw for the Spartans. Instead, it will go down as more evidence that MSU’s team is closer to the bottom of the Big Ten than it currently is the top. Because in the same game, MSU looked both way ahead of Purdue and then very much in the same realm, fortunate to escape, fortunate that Boilermakers receiver Jahmal Edrine dropped a pass with no one around him in the fourth quarter.

    In one respect, this MSU football season has had plenty of ifs and buts that go the other way, which is that it’s unfair to dwell on how close the Spartans came to losing this game. They won for the first time in a month. They won a fifth game, so there is still something to play for next week. They came out of the gate feeling like this season still means something to them.

    On the other hand, the good energy they had earned at halftime was squandered in the second half, when they were outplayed by the Big Ten’s worst team: they scored 14-0 and won 204-73. MSU, which went 6-for-7 on third downs in the first half, went 0-for-7 in the second.

    That is an unacceptable and immature response to being ahead and in control 24 hours a day. The offense that looked versatile and creative in the first half completely disappeared when the Spartans desperately needed a drive down the stretch. Something to work on for next week, I think.

    2. Let’s focus on the positive for a moment

    There were positive elements in MSU’s performance that should be pointed out. We’ll start with second-year quarterback Aidan Chiles, who has now gone two straight games without an interception — even if this time it was aided by a pass interference call. And he’s had two partially strong games in other ways, too. He showed good awareness and movement in the pocket and was accurate on key throws in the first half at all three levels. At halftime I thought he showed real growth.

    We also saw MSU run the football pretty well for a while. Kay-ron Lynch-Adams finished with 85 yards on 18 carries, including two carries of 10 yards or more. The ground game was consistent enough in the first half and when it is there you see the impact on the entire attack. But especially in the second half, there were too often runners in the backfield. Even Nate Carter’s second-quarter touchdown run should have been stopped, but Carter broke free and reached the corner.

    MSU’s defense, which gave up quite a bit in the second half, also had its moments — including three sacks in six straight games without any and fairly consistent pressure on Purdue quarterback Hudson Card. A diving interception by Jordan Turner late in the game might have been the difference. Turner played well all game. This is a vulnerable defense, especially at the back. And that won’t change this year. But it’s a defense that kept fighting even though it had to be on the field for most of the second half. In a tough season that is no small feat.

    3. There’s a lot at stake in MSU’s final against Rutgers

    Regardless of what happens in Rutgers’ game against Illinois on Saturday, the Scarlet Knights will come to Spartan Stadium next week as a team that has endured a midseason losing streak and is already bowl eligible after wins over Minnesota and Maryland in November. This is a better Rutgers team than might be thought. And given what we’ve seen from MSU over the past month — including Friday night — it’s hard to argue that the Spartans are the stronger team.

    In other words, if MSU wants to make a bowl game, it will be earned, rather than bestowed, by the schedule. Maybe it’s better this way. Nothing else about this season has been easy. If the Spartans play in a bowl game this year, they will have won there, with what they did against Rutgers, Iowa and Maryland – games they could have lost, against opponents with quality wins.

    I think going to a bowl game would make sense for the Spartans on a few fronts. First, it would feel like momentum, which is no small thing for a program that hasn’t had much of that in the past three years. That is important when recruiting and retaining your selection: the feeling that things are going well. Maybe that is felt internally after all. Players say yes. It’s hard to know. It never hurts to see it tangibly. In addition to the extra workouts and the staff’s extra contact with the roster while the transfer portal is open – which may or may not be that important – it would be nice to see this program viewed as a bowl team during bowl season, considering so many of the showcase games this year have gone poorly.

    MSU would like this season to be the foundation under Johnathan Smith. With six wins on that floor and a bowl game, it feels different than the atmosphere that comes with being 5-7 with a Week 12 loss to Rutgers.

    Contact Graham Couch at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.

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