Michigan State football gets a reality check before saying goodbye

EUGENE, Ore. – After another emphatic loss Friday, it would have been easy to conclude that Michigan State football's Jack Velling was out of touch with reality. But in reality, he simply refused to accept that his Spartans weren't yet good enough to compete with the Big Ten's elite.

Sweaty and exhausted, he stubbornly refused to give up on this program. With 61 new players, a first-year starter at quarterback, and a coaching staff that hasn't even been on the job a full year, he's somehow at a disadvantage this season compared to the more sophisticated players in the competition.

“Normally you would do that,” Velling said after No. 6 Oregon’s 31-10 win over the Spartans. “But I don’t think I don’t believe that with this team, with the guys we have in the locker room. I think we can do it with what we have.”

But the truth was that they couldn't compete that night against the mighty Ducks, who overwhelmed the Spartans in a game that wasn't as close as the final score suggested.

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It was MSU's second lopsided loss in seven days, following its 31-point loss to Ohio State last weekend.

This setback left the Spartans reassured but optimistic after they managed to break through the Buckeyes during their first four offensive possessions.

But after Oregon defeated them at every turn on Friday, it was difficult to salvage anything positive. The Ducks made a good impression at MSU by playing a physical style of football that has long been synonymous with the Midwest-focused conference they just joined. They outgained the Spartans for 154 yards on the ground and collected five sacks, dominating the point of attack on both sides of the ball.

“The starting position,” said Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith, “was not to our advantage.”

Nothing was real in a game where the opponent suffered a shutout well into the final quarter.

As the sun set behind the cozy, picturesque 54,000-seat Autzen Stadium in the early evening, darkness descended on the Spartans and any glimmer of hope quickly faded. The opening to an unlikely upset closed at exactly 10:02 of the first quarter, seconds after the ball was ripped from Aidan Chiles' arms as he neared the edge of Oregon's end zone.

The fumble, his 11th^Th The turnover of the season wiped out the Spartans' first possession and destroyed the momentum MSU had just built as the sophomore quarterback rewarded Smith's fourth-down gamble by delivering a 44-yard strike to Nick Marsh, who tied the game Spartans advanced to the 2-yard line. It was a devastating blow to a team that went into Saturday's game determined to erase the barrage of critical errors that sparked their losing streak – now at three games.

“You can’t leave a ride without points,” Chiles said Tuesday. “That’s our biggest thing. … We all know we have to get to the end zone.”

But the Spartans didn't get there on Friday until there were about eight minutes left in regulation time and the game had long since been decided. After the Chiles' mistake at the beginning of the first quarter, the Spartans simply remained flat. On their next seven drives, they moved the ball just 75 yards. Running backs Nate Carter and Kay'ron Lynch-Adams were unable to gain a foothold as they regularly faced defenders in the backfield. Meanwhile, the Chilean cauldron repeatedly collapsed under the pressure of Oregon's ferocious defensive front. The root cause of both problems was a leaky, flexible offensive line that couldn't break open many holes or provide adequate protection.

“When you play against really good teams,” Smith said, “the little mistakes are exposed and execution becomes more difficult. “We're not there yet.”

INSTANT PLAYBACK: With the loss at Oregon, Michigan State once again showed how far it is from the Big Ten's elite

Smith must have understood this reality before returning to the state where he spent two different periods of his life, as quarterback and head coach at Oregon State. After all, he's not naive. It took him years to lift his alma mater's struggling program from the basement of the Pac-12 to the upper echelons. This gradual rebuild spanned five years, with the Beavers going from just two wins in 2018 to ten wins by the end of the 2022 season.

The renovation project he took on at MSU last November may not prove as arduous as this one. But it will still take time. That was even more evident on Friday, when the Ducks shredded the MSU defense at a rate of 7 yards per carry in the first three quarters and the Spartans' offense seemed trapped in quicksand under the command of their talented but raw 19-year-old quarterback seemed .

“It sucks to lose,” said redshirt junior cornerback Charles Brantley, who made one of MSU’s two interceptions. “They were good opponents, but we could have done better than we did. Honestly, we can compete with anyone.”

Velling agreed with this point and said so.

Both seemed to be in denial.

Finally, the Spartans don't seem to be able to compete with the Big Ten's best teams yet. They're still a work in progress in the middle of the first season of Smith's Regime, which is understandable.

For this reason, they deserve a small mercy – even if Velling and Brantley are unwilling to accept it.

Contact Rainer Sabin at [email protected]. Follow him @RainerSabin.

Michigan State football gets a reality check before saying goodbye

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