Inability to finish plays costs the Spartans
After former USC quarterback Matt Leinart revved up the crowd, which appeared to fill roughly half of the LA Memorial Coliseum and included a decent Spartan contingent, the Trojans won the toss and elected to take the ball. It took USC three runs to pick up their initial first down before opening the playbook a bit. Quarterback Jayden Maiava made use of the middle of the field and some well-designed screen passes to move the ball to the MSU 3 yard line. The Spartan defense, aided by a delay of game penalty on USC, eventually held though and were able to force a field goal attempt. After a nearly 6 minute drive to start the game, USC settled for an early 3-0 lead.
Michigan State didn’t take long to answer. Brandon Tullis got the start at running back for MSU and gained 2 up the middle. A nicely designed play had Aidan Chiles rolling right and finding Chrishon McCray to get MSU to third and 2. Makhi Frazier came in here and picked up just enough with a carry up the middle. Chiles then found Nick Marsh for gains of 9 and 19 yards to get the Spartans into USC territory. Chiles rolled right again and found a wide open Chrishon McCray for a 42 yard touchdown to give MSU a 7-3 lead after a nearly perfect opening drive for the offense.
Unfortunately the USC offense was also cranked up for their second possession and MSU had no answer. Eli Sanders gained 29 yards on two carries to quickly move the ball into Spartan territory. Maiava then found Makai Lemon for 20 yards before Sanders gained another 9 on a short run and a sideline completion at the 15. Maiava called his own number from there and took it untouched to the end zone for a 10-7 USC lead with 2:38 to go in the first quarter.
Michigan State took over and started moving on the ground this time. Tullis lost a yard to start the drive but gained 8 on his next carry. A pitch to Elijah Tau-Tolliver gained just enough to move the sticks. MSU was then aided by a holding call on USC before the quarter ended with the Trojans up 10-7 but the Spartans moving with the ball on their own 45 yard line.
Michigan State couldn’t continue the momentum to start the second quarter though. Tullis was dropped for a loss of 1 and then Chiles was sacked to end MSU’s second drive. Punter Ryan Eckley came on and did his job, pinning USC at their own 7
Michigan State was able to capitalize on the field position Eckley provided as things continued to spiral out of control for the Michigan State defense. Maiava found Lemon for 27 over the middle to get the drive going. The Spartans had a chance to get off the field on the next series but, on a third and 5, Maiava scrambled and found Lake McCree for 6 yards to move the chains. Worse, for Michigan State, Jordan Hall was called for targeting on the play, getting disqualified and moving the ball to the MSU 40. Maiava then found Lemon again wide open for a 40 yard touchdown. It took USC just 5 plays and 2 minutes to go 93 yards to extend their lead to 17-7 with 11:36 to go in the half.
On offense, Michigan State was struggling to regain the success from their first drive. A Chiles checkdown to Frazier gained a couple to start MSU’s third drive. On second and 8, USC’s Jahkeem Stewart was in the backfield as the handoff to Frazier was happening and busted the play for a loss of three. Chiles gained 8 on a third and 11 scramble but the Spartans had to punt again, with Eckley getting USC to down it at their own 11 this time.
Waymond Jordan promptly got USC moving again with a 35 yard run but Michigan State was able to hold from there. The Spartans brought a blitz on third and 4, which led to a Maiva incompletion. USC opted to go for it but only picked up three yards with a completion to Lemon. The MSU defense held this time and gave the ball to the offense at their own 45.
Chiles looked to go deep on the first play of the drive but settled for an 8 yard scramble. Frazier made a nice cutback and picked up 15 to keep MSU moving. Michigan State reached into their bag of tricks on the next play and it worked – barely. Omari Kelly fumbled a backwards pass from Chiles but picked it up and then found Michael Masunas who toe-tapped it on the sideline for a 12 yard gain.
A swing pass to Kelly gained 10 more and it was first and goal for MSU at the USC 8. MSU would go no further on this drive though but not before they dug even deeper into the playbook. Kelly took a reverse and appeared to be looking to throw it back to Chiles, but SC had pressure and forced an inaccurate pass. Next, Frazier was met in the backfield again on the second down play and then Chiles was under pressure and couldn’t find McCray in the corner on third down – his first incompletion of the game. Michigan State had to settle for a 29 yard field goal from Martin Connington to cut the Trojan lead to 17-10 with 4:26 to go in the half.
After a personal foul penalty on the ensuing kickoff, USC started their next drive on their own 12. The Spartans won the first two plays of the drive and had a golden opportunity to get off the field and give the ball back to the offense with a chance to tie it before the half.
That didn’t happen. MSU brought pressure on the third and 10 play but Maiva found Jaden Richardson for 11 to keep USC’s offense on the field. The Trojans continued on the march from there. USC converted a third and 2 with a 17 yard swing pass to Lemon. Jordan gained 9 and then 20 on the ground. An old-fashioned option pitch to Sanders picked up 16 and gave USC first and goal at the 9.
Much worse for MSU, Wayne Matthews III went down on the play. He was down on the field for several minutes before being placed on a backboard and placed in an ambulance.
As soon as play resumed, Maiva found Tanook Hines in the end zone to conclude the 11 play, 88 yard drive for a 24-10 USC lead with 37 seconds to go in the half.
Rather than taking a knee and going to the locker room, Michigan State attempted to cut into the lead. On third and 6, Chiles found Omari Kelly for 33 yards to get the ball to USC’s 38 with 11 seconds to go. The next play took 8 seconds though and Chiles had to throw it away, leaving the Spartans with a 56 yard Connington field goal attempt. It was wide left and USC took their two touchdown lead into the locker room.
The Trojans had an astonishing 355 total yards at the half, balanced between 191 through the air, with Maiva completing 14 of 20 passes, and 164 on the ground, where the Trojans averaged 9.1 yards per carry. USC scored on 4 of their 5 first half drives.
Chiles was 8-11 for 124 yards but MSU only ran for 36 on 2.8 yards per carry in the first half.
There are obviously many plays that determine the outcome of a game but Michigan State would surely like to have that third and 10 deep in USC territory on the Trojans’ last drive of the half back.
Michigan State opened the second half with the ball and needed a positive drive. Instead of that, however, MSU produced a three and out with Chiles doing all he could to avoid the USC rush on second and third downs.
It took one play for Southern Cal to have the ball back in the MSU red zone as Jordan broke a few tackles en route to a 40 yard run. A few plays later, Maiava found Walker Lyons for a 10 yard catch and run TD to make it 31-10, USC not even 4 minutes into the second half.
The Spartans would have to start their next drive on their own 13 after a late hit frustration penalty on Rakeem Johnson after the touchback on the kickoff. The Spartans overcame the poor field position though, with plenty of help from USC. Chiles got the drive started with a 12 yard designed run but then the Spartans appeared to stall and were punting three plays later.
USC ran into Eckley on the punt though. MSU took the 5 yards and brought the offense back on the field for a fourth and short in their own territory. Chiles couldn’t find anyone open but did catch USC with 12 men on the field to move the chains for MSU.
Marsh drew a pass interference call to pick up another first down in USC territory. Then it was Makhi Frazier doing the work for MSU. Frazier had runs of 7, 6, 11, 12 on a great cutback, and 2 more to get the Spartans into the red zone.
USC helped out again with a hands to the face penalty which put the ball on the 4 yard line. Then, a Chiles keeper, where he had to break a tackle and change direction, brought MSU within two scores at 31-17 with 5:58 to go in the third quarter.
After a touchback for USC, Michigan State got exactly what they needed on the first play of the next Trojan drive. The Spartans forced a fumble and Grady Kelly recovered, giving MSU the ball at the USC 32.
After a 1 yard Frazier run, Chiles to Kelly picked up 17 and then MSU banged away from there and got it to the USC 1. Here, MSU faked a tush push play with Velling right next to Chiles, who was under center, at the snap but then Velling flared out towards the pylon, took the pass from Chiles and just got the ball across the goal line. Suddenly it was only 31-24, USC, with 40 seconds to go in the third quarter.
There was a lot of life on the MSU sideline at the quarter break and the Spartans had another golden opportunity on the first play of the fourth quarter. USC was facing a third and three and the Spartans got a lot of pressure on Maiva but he was able to escape and pick up 13 to keep his offense on the field.
USC picked up another first down as McCree was able to haul in a tipped pass for a gain of 10. The Trojans would later convert a fourth and 3 and then a third and 6 on a facemask penalty on Ade Willie. The facemask call put the ball on the Spartan 4 where Makai Lemon was able to run it in and make it 38-24, Trojans, with 8:20 to go.
Southern Cal would quickly get the ball back after extending their lead. After two short Tullis run and a sack of Chiles, MSU faced a fourth and 7 at their own 28 with 6:35 to go. The Spartans went for it but Chiles’ pass was too far in front of Kelly, who appeared to have a step on his defender. Instead of keeping the ball, MSU gave it back to USC on the cusp of the red zone.
It took USC 7 plays from there to find the end zone again. The Trojans’ last score came on a Maiava keeper from 1 yard out to make it 45-24 with just 2:57 left.
Michigan State wouldn’t quit though as Chiles and the starters stayed in the game. Chiles couldn’t connect with Marsh on the first play of the drive but hit Kelly for a 75 yard bomb on the second to get it back to 2 scores at 45-31 with 2:39 to go.
The Spartans’ onside kick attempt didn’t work and, with MSU out of timeouts, USC was able to take the clock down to 15 seconds before punting to MSU. The Spartans ran one play and that was it: 45-31 USC – Final.
Maiava finished 20-26 for 234 yards and 3 touchdowns for USC but the Trojan run game really hurt the Spartans. Jordan gained 157 yards on just 18 carries. USC finished with 27, first downs, 517 total yards and converted on 8 of 11 third down attempts.
Chiles was 12-21 for 212 yards and 3 TD’s for MSU. The Spartans were able to find a little more traction in the run game in the second half but still only finished with 108 yards on 31 carries (3.5 ypc).
Post game, Smith noted that there were positive signs regarding Wayne Matthews but he was awaiting more information. Aidan Chiles and Alex VanSumeren also commented on Matthews saying it was awful seeing him go down like that and that it was hard to refocus after his injury while crediting Matthews for his leadership ability.
Chiles and VanSumeren also indicated that MSU didn’t finish and didn’t execute well enough tonight. Chiles made clear that this MSU team wants to win but got out played tonight. Chiles also said there won’t be any sitting around during the bye week. He said “we just lost a football game, we have to figure that out.”
Smith noted that he liked the fight in the Spartans and that they were locked in for the whole trip but that MSU obviously didn’t do a good job of stopping USC. They always attempt to set themselves up for a four quarter battle but tonight they didn’t do enough. There was frustration in the locker room but MSU would look to take a similar approach to last year when they came off a bye week following the Oregon game. The Spartans returned from that experience to produce perhaps their best game last year – a 32-20 win against Iowa. That game was in Spartan Stadium but MSU will face Nebraska in two weeks in Lincoln. Hopefully their post bye week recipe for success travels well.
Category: General Sports
