Jonathan Smith ascended the stairs to the short platform and sat down in front of the mic.
For the first time, Michigan State football’s first-year head coach felt the sting of a loss to rival Michigan. He needed just two words to sum it up.
“Frustrating. Disappointing,” Smith said after his Spartans squandered chance after chance Saturday. “A lot to digest in the game.”
And a lot to process about where his fledgling program has gone wrong time after time this season. His answers, usually measured but succinct, turned curt and caustic deep inside Michigan Stadium as the real-time assessment progressed in the half hour after MSU’s 24-17 loss to the Wolverines.
MSU GRADES: Growing pains still leave offense unpredictable
What happened at the end of the Spartans’ first drive? A delay of game penalty on quarterback Aidan Chiles while preparing to go for it on fourth-and-goal at U-M’s 2-yard line backed them up and forced them to attempt a field goal instead — one which kicker Jonathan Kim missed after Smith did not burn a timeout before taking the 5-yard flag.
“That’s on me,” Smith said. “I’m thinking about the first drive. Go down there, saw the clock where it’s at, it’s fourth-and-2, I was like, ‘You know what? We’ll just take the three (points), and we don’t even get that.”
Why did MSU, clinging to a 7-6 lead in the final minute of the first half, try to pass inside of 20 seconds left and at its own 39-yard line, especially when Chiles already had been dodging a slew of oncoming defenders getting pressure? The Wolverines’ pass rush again disrupted Chiles, who was chased down from behind by U-M defensive end Josaiah Stewart, fumbled through the strip-sack, then watched Kenneth Grant pounce on the ball in front of the jubilant Wolverines bench.
“We’ve got timeouts. We said we’re gonna run the ball,” Smith explained. “And if we pop for a run for a first down, we’re gonna be back on the ball and go. Aidan, didn’t look like he liked his first read, so he goes to extend and we give them the ball.
“Just can’t do it.”
And that disastrous decision to take an onside kick?
“We were down a score,” Smith said. “The way the thing was going, the clock was moving, what we saw on tape. They recovered.”
BIG TEN INSIDER: Michigan football did all it could to avoid calamity; Michigan State helped, too
Those were just three instances of the self-inflicted damage the Spartans (4-4, 2-3 Big Ten) suffered against the Wolverines (5-3, 3-2). Ultimately, it was the string of errors — many of which carried over in some capacity from the first seven games of the season — that doomed Smith’s team despite continued improvement on offense and defense.
“The group battles,” Smith said. “But really in all three phases, there’s some things we didn’t do well enough to earn a win tonight. And that’s why it’s frustrating and disappointing.”
Yet make no mistake: MSU dominated the defending national champions and three-time Big Ten champs for long stretches Saturday night along both lines of scrimmage. The Spartans outgained the Wolverines in total yards (352-265), outrushed them (163-119) and passed for more yards (189-126). They controlled the ball for a stunning 37:05 to Michigan’s 22:55.
“Just too many missed opportunities,” said running back Nate Carter, whose 118 yards on 19 carries were nearly three times the combined effort of U-M’s duo of Kalel Mullings (18 yards) and Donovan Edwards (24 yards). “When we move the ball like that and we get into the red zone, we have to capitalize on those opportunities and we have to finish with points. And unfortunately, we didn’t do that.”
The red-zone problems that plagued the Spartans against Ohio State and Oregon didn’t disappear. Penalties at inopportune moments persisted. Chiles’ turnover problem continued, his fourth lost fumble and 11th giveaway overall. MSU’s linebackers struggling in coverage remained, losing Michigan’s lone offensive threat — tight end Colston Loveland — for two touchdowns and a 2-point conversion.
It just hurts a little more when it happens against your rival. Particularly in a game that felt ripe for the taking.
“We believe we should have won this game. And I think everyone in our locker room knows that we probably should have won this game,” said Carter, the only player MSU made available after the defeat. “There was no doubt in our mind coming into this game that we shouldn’t have won. And there’s no doubt in our minds that every single game after this is now a winnable game.”
That begins with a visit from red-hot Indiana on Saturday (3:30 p.m., Peacock). The 13th-ranked Hoosiers are 8-0 overall and 5-0 in Big Ten play, coming off a 31-17 home win over Washington on Saturday.
After that, MSU gets its second bye week of the season before heading to No. 24 Illinois on Nov. 16 and finishing with home games against Purdue on Nov. 22 and Rutgers on Nov. 30, still needing two more victories to get bowl eligible.
“We’re gonna have to regroup,” Smith sad. “We’re gonna deeply digest this one, and then we move forward.”
But that queasy feeling won’t go away easily after how close the Spartans got to a signature win for Smith against their biggest rival and how much they still must learn to stop tripping themselves up.
“It hurts, especially when we have so much success,” Carter said. “And at the end of the day, we shoot ourselves in the foot a lot.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
Subscribe to the “Spartan Speak” podcast for new episodes weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football after U-M loss: ‘We should have won this game’
