V-Cast: Michigan State has an opportunity to focus on self-improvement against FCS Prairie View A&M
East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State has a lot to clean up coming out of a 27-24 road win at Maryland against a good Big Ten team that has had three consecutive winning seasons. The Spartans came from behind to win the game on a Jonathan Kim field goal in the final seconds of the game, but the final outcome didn’t have to be as close as it was.
If the Spartans were able to avoid unforced errors like the first two interceptions thrown by Aidan Chiles, last weekend’s victory could have been a statement win with a margin of victory by 10 points or more. It wasn’t, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing given that the Spartans came away from Big Ten opener with plenty of coaching points, and the galvanizing experience of clawing out a win by overcoming adversity.
After practice on Wednesday, SpartanMag staffers Jim Comparoni and Paul Konyndyk weighed on the progress that was made between Week 1 and Week 2, and the areas that should be the focal point for Michigan State as they prepare for a home game against FCS opponent Prairie View A&M this weekend in the latest V-Cast.
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Areas that need work: Unforced errors have been concern for Michigan State each of the first two weeks of the football season. In the opener, the Spartan defense struggled with penalties of the 15-yard variety. Last weekend, Michigan State played a cleaner game on defense. The Spartans did, however, had too many penalties on the other side of the football. Against good defenses, the Spartans will not be able to afford flags for illegal formations, illegal shifts, holding, or illegal blindside blocks. Those penalties were not drive killers against Maryland and FAU, but they well could be against Bost College in two weeks. Two of the biggest unforced errors in the Big Ten opener belonged to quarterback Aidan Chiles, who had sloppy footwork on each of his first two interceptions. Good footwork takes hard work and dedication, and Chiles will put in the time.
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Michigan State needs to be better in the run game: During interviews on Tuesday, redshirt freshman Stanton Ramil pointed out that Michigan State needs to do a better job of moving people in the run game. Doing so would help the Spartans avoid some of the short gains or negative plays on first down that have been a problem for Michigan State in the run game. If Michigan State is right with its run blocking, the ground game should start producing four and five-yard gains with greater frequency than it has. Four and five-yarders in the first half turn into chunk plays in the second half run blocking is consistently effective. One of the issues with run blocking as it relates to Michigan State is the number of new faces on the offensive line. Losing Kristian Phillips to long-term injury certainly did not help Michigan State.
Cultivating depth in the defensive backfield: Michigan State has had injuries in its secondary each of the last two weeks, so it is important that the Spartans use this week’s game against Prairie View A&M to get meaningful reps for young defensive backs that could be called upon to play bigger roles in the event of further injuries.
