REHASH & ANALYSIS: Michigan State suffers heartbreaking 26-16 defeat to Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa – An all-heart performance by Michigan State ended in heartbreaking defeat, 26-16, at Iowa on Saturday night in a wild blackout setting at Kinnick Stadium. 

Michigan State, playing in its third game since the suspension and firing of former head coach Mel Tucker, led for most of the second half, but miscues at inopportune moments cost the Spartans.

Michigan State fell to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the Big Ten. Iowa improved to 4-1 and 1-1.

“They (the players) are dejected, like we all are,” said Michigan State interim head coach Harlon Barnett. “But these guys have a fight to them, and they just keep coming. I’m praying that they will keep coming like they have and that’s why I want to get a win so bad for them, so all this effort they are putting in – we’ve got to reap the harvest at some point in time.”

The Spartans controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball for most of the night, and did a good job of containing the Iowa running attack. But Michigan State couldn’t move the ball in the fourth quarter when it had the lead and a chance to add to it. Meanwhile, Iowa turned the game around on special teams.

TURNING POINT

Iowa’s Cooper DeJean 70-yard punt return with 3:45 left gave Iowa a 23-16 lead. Michigan State’s punt coverage team was held up by Iowa’s return team, giving DeJean tons of room to maneuver. Michigan State’s Sam Edwards had a chance to tackle him near midfield, but DeJean escaped. 

Barnett said after the game that Michigan State had both of its gunners over to the left side of the field, for a directional punt to the left. But Ryan Eckley’s punt sailed to the right, giving DeJean too much open field.

One series earlier, with the game tied at 16-16, Michigan State faced third-and-three at its 27-yard line with less than five minutes to play. But tight end Evan Morris was flagged for a false start, bothered by Iowa’s crowd noise and influenced by a quick shift from Iowa’s defensive front. 

Then on third-and-eight, offensive tackle Spencer Brown was flagged for a false start, due to the same crowd noise and shifting defensive front.

“I’ve been saying the last several weeks, you just have to play with more discipline – the penalties, the turnovers and things like that are what we must clean up if we want to come out on the other end,” Barnett said.

On third-and-13, quarterback Noah Kim’s pass intended for a diving Tre Mosley fell incomplete, leading to the punt, which was returned by DeJean for the go-ahead score.

“This is the first game since I’ve been in this position that we were leading in a game and it felt good and we were playing well,” Barnett said. “And we just couldn’t finish it at the end.”

IT WAS OVER WHEN…

Stunned by the punt return and the sudden deficit, Mosley fumbled after making a 5-yard reception at the Michigan State 30-yard line. Iowa recovered with 3:29 left. 

Iowa drove 14 yards for a 34-yard Drew Stevens field goal to give the Hawkeyes a 26-16 lead with :59 seconds remaining.

“Losing sucks,” said senior offensive guard J.D. Duplain. “It’s one of the worst feelings ever in the world. I almost hate losing more than I like to win. 

“Our people are going to be down and it’s going to hurt because we put in all this time. Everything we do is to win a football game. Every single decision we make in life is to win a football game, and when it doesn’t happen, it hurts. After games, you are going to see it in peoples’ faces. It just means that we care.”

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Michigan State quarterback Noah Kim was 25 of 43 for 193 yards with 0 TDs and 3 interceptions. His first interception blew a scoring opportunity in the first half, on a first-and-10 heave to the end zone from the 20-yard line. 

His final interception came with :10 seconds left and the Spartans facing an impossible situation in this game, and a mounting challenge in the weeks ahead for interim head coach Harlon Barnett. 

“We will watch the film very closely,” Barnett said when asked about the quarterback position. “We have two weeks. That’s a good thing. Jay (Johnson) and I and the offensive staff will all talk to see if something needs to be done or not and evaluate it, and being very, very realistic and fair at the same time.

“Everybody is always being evaluated and there is always competition going on. It’s no different than at any other position.”

Nathan Carter rushed 20 times for 108 yards. Michigan State out-rushed Iowa 156-63 and out-gained the Hawkeyes 349-224.

Montorie Foster had eight catches for 79 yards.

Michigan State kicker Jonathan Kim finished 3-of-4 on field goals, with a long of 58. He missed his fourth and final field goal attempt from 50 yards with :38 seconds left in the third quarter. The kick bounced off the right upright, and would’ve extended Michigan State’s lead to 19-13.

Iowa’s Deacon Hill replaced injured Iowa QB Cade McNamara in the first quarter. Hill completed 11 of 27 passes for 115 yards with 1 TD and interception for a struggling Hawkeye offense which found just enough play-making ability on special teams to pull out a victory. 

HOW IT WENT DOWN

Leading 16-13, and with Kim having already thrown two interceptions, the Spartans kept a short leash on the junior QB for most of the second half. 

After turning the ball over on downs on a failed QB sneak at their own 31-yard line early in the second half, Michigan State punted on its next three possessions. With a 3-point lead, Kim surveyed the field but safely threw the ball away on three third-down pass attempts rather than test a Hawkeye pass defense that feasts on interceptions.

The conservative plan seemed to be working until a 15-yard punt by Ryan Eckley gave Iowa a short field midway through the fourth quarter. Iowa’s Drew Stevens connected on a 36-yard field goal to tie the game at 16-16 with 5:19 left. The scoring drive went for just 20 yards.

SCOOP AND SCORE

Michigan State took a 16-10 lead on a 42-yard fumble return by linebacker Cal Haladay. Haladay scooped up a loose ball caused by a heavy hit by defensive tackle Simeon Barrow. Barrow did a great job of pursuing down the line while defending an outside zone and then leveling a hit on Iowa RB Leshon Williams.

“That was a great play and he was flying,” Barnett said. “Cal can run and he protected the ball at the end and got it into the end zone. Great play. But we’re on the bad end of the turnover margin and we need to get on the good end.”

GUTS, NO GLORY

A Kim QB sneak on fourth-and-one at MSU’s 31-yard line was stuffed for no gain with 9:50 left in the third quarter.

Michigan State defensive end Zion Young registered a sack on third down, forcing a Stevens 53-yard field goal, which cut the lead to 16-13.

THE FIRST HALF

Jonathan Kim kicked three field goals in the first half as the Spartans went into the locker room trailing 10-9. He boomed a 58-yarder on the last play of the second quarter, setting a Kinnick Stadium record. It was the longest field goal by a Spartan since Ralf Mojsiejenko hit a 59-yarder in 1983 against Purdue. 

“When we came in at halftime, he (Kim) said, ‘Were you nervous about me kicking?’ I said, ‘Not at all. Not all. I know your potential. I know what you can do.’ He’s a heck of a kicker. We’re fired up that he’s on the team,” Barnett said.

Noah Kim completed three passes to Montorie Foster on the final drive of the first half. He hooked up with Foster on a pretty 16-yard square-in, marking his best intermediate pass of the night to that point. Then he found Foster for 16 yards on a scramble rules comeback, and then hit him for 8 more on a comeback to put the Spartans in Jonathan Kim’s range for the 58-yarder, providing a big momentum boost going into the halftime. 

Michigan State out-gained Iowa, 222-135 in the first half. Michigan State stuffed the Iowa running attack in the first two quarters, holding the Hawkeyes to just 10 yards rushing on eight attempts.

“Our guys are playing with great, great effort, with all the distractions and things that have been going on,” Barnett said.

MISSED OPPORTUNITY

The Spartans led 6-3 and had the ball first-and-10 at the Iowa 20-yard late, threatening to add to their lead midway through the second quarter. But Noah Kim was intercepted on a deep stutter-and-go pass attempt for Foster. Iowa cornerback Cooper DeJean played off coverage, didn’t bite on the double move and was in easy position to nab the interception in the back of the end zone. 

Iowa capitalized on the turnover immediately, slipping tight end Eric All into the secondary on a sneak route. A rub route caused Michigan State linebacker Darius Snow to fall to the ground, and All ran free for a gain of 32, plus a 15-yard penalty on Tunmise Adeleye for roughing the passer. 

Two plays later, Iowa dusted off a counter boot pass to the tight end, a play Iowa has been running for 40 years but had to table it in recent weeks due to Cade McNamara’s immobility caused by a training camp injury. But Hill ran the play well on this occasion for 13 yards, and at other times in this game. 

Two plays later, Hill connected with tight end All on a “now” route screen, with All lining up in the slot, and lumbering 14 yards for a TD, breaking five tackles, with Jordan Hall, Simeon Barrow and Khris Bogle among those whiffing. That TD gave Iowa a 10-6 lead.

Iowa didn’t have many plays working through the first three quarters of game, but the sneak route to the TE, the counter boot and the “now” route were enough to produce a halftime lead.

“We played hard, so that’s what you love about this team,” Barnett said. “Through all the stuff that’s been going on, they still go out and give you max effort. We just don’t play with the discipline and the attention to detail that’s required to win these types of games. That’s how the Big Ten is. You have to have great discipline and attention to detail. Until we learn how to do that consistently, we’re going to end up with these types of results.”

Michigan State tied the game at 3-3 on 31-yard Jonathan Kim field goal. The drive was keyed by a 16-yard pass to Maliq Carr on a hook, with 15 yards tacked on due to a hand-to-the-face personal foul. The drive stalled on second-and-5 at the 11-yard line when Evan Morris was flagged for an illegal block below the waist.

Michigan State took a 6-3 lead on its next possession when Kim hit a 32-yard field goal. Michigan State converted third-and-one at the Iowa 22-yard line with Nathan Carter surging 3 yards on an inside zone. Michigan State’s short-yardage offense struggled earlier in the season but has been better in the past two games, with the exception of an expensive fourth-and-goal stoppage against Maryland last week.

Earlier in the drive, Kim drew Iowa off-side on a fourth-and-two hard count at the 35-yard line. 

The drive stalled on third-and-five at the 14-yard line when the Iowa pass rush put heat on Kim. Kim spun and threw a dangerous incompletion, giving Jonathan Kim a chance to put Michigan State up, 6-3.

MALIQ CARR BANGED UP

Carr had six catches for 43 yards in the early going as Michigan State utilized the safe, short passing game against Iowa’s turnover-hungry defense. But Carr went down with a lower body injury in the second quarter and did not return. He was not in uniform in the second half.

ECKLEY IMPACT

Walk-on punter Ryan Eckley hit a 67-yard punt to the Iowa 5-yard line with 14:05 left and Michigan State nursing a 16-13 lead. 

In the first quarter, Eckley punted a 61-yarder which was downed at the Iowa 3-yard line. But Eckley’s shanked 15-yarder in the fourth quarter was costly, setting up Iowa’s game-thing field goal. 

Michigan State was without long snapper Hank Pepper and reserve defensive back Justin White. Both players have left the team, planning to transfer. Pepper is a true junior. He will have a chance to redshirt this year and head to another team retaining junior eligibility.

Michigan State will face Rutgers on Oct. 14 at noon, following the upcoming bye week.

“We were a little bit banged up and guys get a chance to heal up over the next couple of weeks and then get a chance to go up there and face a Rutgers team that’s playing, I think, pretty well right now,” Barnett said. “So we’ll lock in on those guys and focus on our discipline and turnovers and how we can eliminate doing those things and come back strong again. As you see, these guys give great effort. It’s not about the effort, the toughness, the physicality. We just have to get some things cleaned up.”