Michigan State was only a few minutes from taking a touchdown lead over Ohio State into halftime last Saturday night when the big-play bug struck again. And again.
With 3:19 left in the second quarter, Buckeye receiver Michael Thomas shook free of a tackler near the 30-yard line and took J.T. Barrett’s slant pass 79 yards for a game-tying touchdown. It was the longest play a Michigan State defense has allowed since the end of the 2011 season. Two minutes and five players later, Barrett struck again. This time it was Devin Smith sneaking behind the Spartan secondary for a 44-yard touchdown pass. The late 14-point swing gave the Buckeyes a lead from which they never looked back.
“Big plays lead to momentum shifts, and that’s why we have to do a better job of eliminating them,” Michigan State safety Kurtis Drummond said after the game. “That’s something we harp on every week and throughout camp, explosive plays.”
Explosive plays are the reason Ohio State jumped to No. 8 in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings after the 49-37 win, and the reason why Michigan State will be fighting for bowl game scraps during the final three weeks of the regular season. Five times the Buckeyes ran plays that picked up 40-plus yards in East Lansing last weekend. All five of them (which accounted for 268 of Ohio State’s 568 offensive yards) occurred on drives that ended in touchdowns.
Wins helped cover the cracks in Michigan State’s proud defense earlier this season, but broken plays have been an issue throughout the year. Opponents have gained 40 or more yards on a single play 17 times against Michigan State in 2014. Only eight teams in the FBS have allowed more.
Giving up the long ball is a major change for a team that has built its recent success on an air-tight defense that avoids the mistakes that so often lead to losses. It’s a problem that threatens the defensive philosophy that has been largely responsible for Michigan State’s climb to a conference powerhouse.
“I don’t know,” said cornerback Darian Hicks, who got turned around in man coverage on Thomas’ 79-yard score. “We have new starters here. Obviously our team is not the same as last year.”
Last year’s Rose Bowl champions used an aggressive, suffocating defense to carry its fledgling offense early in the year. Head coach Mark Dantonio and defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi use a run-stuffing system based on frequently leaving its defensive backs on an island against opposing receivers. It’s a gamble, but the Spartans typically tip the odds in their favor with superior, well-trained athletes.
Four starters are gone from 2013’s stacked deck in the back seven. They include the Jim Thorpe Award winner at cornerback, two third-team All-Americans at linebacker and a first team All-Big Ten pick at safety. Their replacements have held their own for the most part this season, but against Michigan State’s two toughest opponents (Oregon and Ohio State), the defense surrendered 95 points. When the other team has playmakers that can match Michigan State’s athleticism, the Spartans have been burned this fall.
Narduzzi said he tried to keep his defensive backs out of one-on-one battles more often against the Buckeyes, but he didn’t want to abandon the principles that have made his defense so successful.
“Our kids have confidence in what we do,” he said. “... My thing is man, but we do play a lot of zone. [Ohio State did] a good job, and we weren't getting reroutes. They did a nice job. You have also got to get enough guys up there to stop the run. It's a fine line.”
Michigan State has leaned more on its offense this fall to hit some big plays of its own. The style change means that, at times, the defense spends more time on the field than in past years and gets stuck in more difficult position. The offense continued its prolific output with 37 points against the Buckeyes, but the players on that side of the ball didn’t feel like they did enough either.
“We put up 500 yards of offense, but when it comes down to it, we have to score more points than the other team,” tackle Jack Conklin said. “No matter where the defense is or how well they’re doing, they held us in games last year and this year at certain times. We need to step up to help them out, and we fell short.”
One loss to one of the country’s top teams is no reason to rethink the risk-reward benefits of Michigan State’s defense. That approach has been the foundation with which the Spartans won 20 of their past 23 games.
The loss and the big plays that brought it on are a reminder, though, if not a warning. As Michigan State continues to evolve, Dantonio and Narduzzi must recruit and develop the very best in the secondary if they want to continue the same defensive approach. The Spartan defense has to find a way to stop elite playmakers and beat the types of teams that help you grow from a perennial Big Ten power to a national championship contender.