Michigan State shaking up offensive line before BYU game
Dantonio and his staff will have to hit the tape hard before the Spartans’ next game against a BYU offense that has the same explosive components as Indiana.
A boring first half gave way to a thrilling second half in Bloomington, the game eventually spinning into overtime, where the Hoosiers stood tall on defense and benefited from a huge penalty to kick a game-winning field goal and pull a stunning 24-21 upset of the 17th-ranked Michigan State Spartans on Saturday night.
Indiana QB Richard Lagow vs. Spartans secondary.
Going into the season, the Spartans were tasked with replacing their all-time winningest quarterback, the Big Ten receiver of the year, and two All-America offensive linemen.
The win over Michigan State simply has a lot of people taking notice of IN football and that has to be encouraging for Hoosier Nation. Michigan State’s Tyler O’Connor had similar struggles, throwing three interceptions and being sacked four times against Wisconsin, largely due in part to being late on his progressions. IN took over and essentially played for a short field goal. Tyler O’Connor completed 18 of 38 passes for 224 yards. Redding’s streak of five consecutive 100-yard games ended last week. The Spartans only gave up 317 yards to the Badgers, but committed four turnovers on offense and couldn’t produce on the ground, being held to 75 rushing yards as a team.
Sloppiness stood in the Spartans’ way as well. So in the second half got a little more aggressive, didn’t manage a few things well.
Indiana’s defense was superb in the extra period, sacking O’Connor and second and third downs and forcing a 49-yard field-goal attempt that Michigan State kicker Michael Geiger missed. An uneven offense, which was further hampered by frustrating play calls from IU coaches, found its level across the final 20 minutes.
The Spartans, who fell out of the rankings this week for the first time since 2013, list Kodi Kieler as co-starter at left tackle. Don’t forget about his dime pass to Lagow, though.
The junior college transfer has had some impressive numbers through three games - including a school-record 496 yards passing last week against Wake Forest. Defensive tackle Malik McDowell also was ejected for targeting in the fourth quarter. There are a lot of IU fans that still believe seven or eight wins is possible. Runningback Gerald Holmes appeared to have scored on second down, but, somewhat controversially, his knee was ruled to be down with the ball just shy of the goal line. And after a lengthy delay to reset the game, IN stuffed Holmes on 3rd-and-goal.
Indiana Hoosiers wide receiver Mitchell Paige (87) celebrates scoring a touchdown with fellow wide receiver Nick Westbrook (15) in the second half of the game against the Michigan State Spartans at Memorial Stadium.
IN won the toss, electing to play defense first.
Jim Harbaugh reflected a bit on his own playing days when assessing the quarterback matchup for this weekend’s Michigan-Wisconsin showdown, the first time Michigan and Wisconsin will face each other with both teams in the top 10.
Oakes, who had already missed field goals from 40 and 50 yards in regulation, had the chance to seal an upset in overtime with a 33-yard try.
Michigan State started the fourth quarter with a punt that the Hoosiers immediately capitalized on. That defensive sequence was an example of IN finally winning some one-on-one battles IN the trenches, an example of the approach IU needs to see more often.