Michigan State football grades for the Spartans' performance against Nebraska

Columnist Graham Couch grades Michigan State’s football team after its 31-13 loss to Nebraska on a scale of 1-10.

The Spartans had a touchdown drive before halftime where they got things humming by speeding up the tempo, along with three other trips well into Nebraska territory. And they had 22 first downs, same as Nebraska. But offense was largely a struggle for MSU in this game. The Spartans‘ 13 points are a fair total. Both MSU quarterbacks threw bad interceptions. Alessio Milivojevic was sacked five times, a couple of them probably his fault as much as the offensive line. Cam Fancher took a 15-yard sack that he can’t take, but he was under duress on the play immediately. The pass protection wasn’t at a winning level.

MSU’s running game did find its footing, even after Cam Edwards’ injury, with Jaziun Patterson rushing 16 times for 54 yards and a touchdown. MSU will need Patterson to run that hard and efficiently moving forward. And MSU will need the rest of its offense to be a lot better, especially out of the gate and on the opponent’s side of the 50-yard line.

MSU’s defensive front looks like a legitimate strength. It’s also perhaps the healthiest unit on this roster. The Spartans held Nebraska’s running backs in check and were staunch at the point of attack. When Huskers quarterback Anthony Colandrea got outside, that’s when he hurt the Spartans with his legs. MSU got a little pressure on Colandrea early, but didn’t record a sack, and didn’t record a turnover for the second straight week, though the Spartans did get a fourth-down stop when the game was still in doubt.

Kenny Soares’ personal foul penalty for hitting a Nebraska player in the groin was a killer, when it looked like MSU was going to get off the field. This wasn’t nearly as disciplined an effort as the first three games. Still, MSU’s defense wasn’t the reason the Spartans weren’t in the game in the fourth quarter.

MSU had its first really costly special teams blunder of the season, when the Spartans blocked a punt in the first quarter that should have given them the ball deep in Nebraska territory with a chance to go up 10-0, only to have the entire play negated by a holding call on MSU’s Evan Young. Nebraska then went down the field and scored to take a 7-3 lead and never trailed again. Otherwise, it was a pretty good day for the Spartans’ special teams. Rhys Dakin had two punts of about 50 yards each, one narrowly avoiding a block. Liam Boyd made field goals of 48 and 46 yards, before a 52-yarder was blocked. Still, not bad. And Kenneth Williams, playing against his old team, had a nice 23-yard kick return. It’s just that holding call on the blocked punt changed the game.

MSU’s offense looked stuck in the mud coming out of the chute. Nick Sheridan and Co. have got to find ways to create advantages early, even if there aren’t easy ones to be had. They did so by going uptempo late in the first half and it worked. That’s not a realistic way to operate an entire game, but this MSU team isn’t talented enough to play from behind. The Spartans have to get in the end zone early. Easier said than done with a roster that has some limitations and a young QB. But that’s what this staff is paid to figure out. MSU’s overall team discipline took a step back. I think you could see some frustration. MSU kept fighting. That’s not nothing and a sign of character and buy-in. But, in the end, the game looked like a lot of games over the last four years.

MSU’s upcoming schedule, which once seemed manageable, even favorable, now looks fairly difficult over the next few weeks, especially for this team, which is losing key players at an alarming rate and doesn’t look like it has enough advantages to win without catching some breaks. MSU didn’t catch any Saturday.

MORE:Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State’s 31-13 loss to Nebraska

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on X @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @GrahamCouch.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan State football grades for the Spartans’ performance against Nebraska