Michigan State’s defense has a lot to fix ahead of hosting Michigan

EAST LANSING – A senior wide receiver with more than 2,500 yards and two dozen touchdown career grabs lined up against a true freshman.

Indiana’s Elijah Sarratt had the obvious advantage in experience but Michigan State cornerback Aydan West remained step-for-step in coverage.

Being in position wasn’t enough as Heisman candidate Fernando Mendoza delivered a perfect strike to Sarratt for a 27-yard touchdown. It was a tip-your-cap moment in which the Spartans were beat by elite execution in a 38-13 loss on the road against the No. 2 Hoosiers last week.

The flip side came in film review and the plays Michigan State left on the field in Bloomington. Trailing 10-7 midway through the second quarter, the Hoosiers faced second-and-17 and Mendoza escaped pressure to compete a short throw to the sideline.

Tight end Riley Nowakowski was only a few yards beyond the line of scrimmage when he made the catch and nickelback Dontavius Nash was in position to drop him for a short gain. It would have meant third-and-long on the wrong side of the field for the Hoosiers.

Instead, Nash whiffed on the tackle and Nowakowski rumbled for 39 yards. One snap later, Mendoza found Sarratt, who cut untouched past safety Armorion Smith just shy of the goal line before crossing for a 24-yard score.

“It starts with the leverage we want to play with, being in your right spot to maintain that leverage,” Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith said on Monday. “It’s not always wanting one-on-one tackles now, we need to be able to play with great leverage, begin the tackle and get the party coming to ‘em. That showed up a couple of times we didn’t have enough guys getting in the spots, some of it because we’re playing with poor leverage and the ball’s going somewhere where it shouldn’t have gone.”

A lot more has gone wrong for Michigan State (3-4, 0-4 Big Ten) this season in all three phases leading to a four-game losing streak and questions about Smith’s job security. The uncertainty surrounding the program comes with a visit from No. 25 Michigan (5-2, 3-1) on Saturday night and a defense reeling.

The Spartans may be at a crossroads as a program heading into the latest rivalry matchup but the outcome is still decided between the lines. With a razor-thin margin for error, open-field missed tackles that result in explosive plays are killers for a slumping defense.

“When we go to a one-on-one tackle, we’ve got to do a better job of going lower,” Smith said. “We’re playing good athletes, big bodies, you go high on tackles you’re going to bounce off some of the time. We had some of that show up too.”

Under new defensive coordinator Joe Rossi, Michigan State limited explosive plays last season while tying for ninth in the nation with only six of at least 40 yards. The Spartans have already allowed eight fitting the same category through seven games this year and missing veteran secondary starters doesn’t help.

The Wolverines have won three straight in the rivalry and will present a different offensive challenge than a year ago. No more quarterback uncertainty for Michigan with true freshman Bryce Underwood running the show behind another potent run game. Alabama transfer Justice Haynes, who is questionable after missing last week’s win against Washington, and Jordan Marshall have combined for 1,139 yards and 12 rushing touchdowns this season.

Michigan State can’t keep giving away yards after the catch when there’s a chance to get a whistle. The Spartans also need to find a way to create more stops with their five forced turnovers are tied for 115th nationally. Their pass rush remains largely absent and two turnovers gained through four Big Ten games doesn’t help.

“We definitely emphasize it throughout the week,” Smith said. “I go back to being in those right spots with right technique, opportunity will come, physical tackles.

“You look at turnovers the last couple years nationally, oftentimes the No. 1 way to get a turnover is around the quarterback, whether you’re affecting him and that kind of thing. We’re going to keep on working at that and we want to create that because we do need to change the game with some turnovers.”