It may not have been their best on Saturday night, PFF singled out five players that did excel defensively for the Spartans in the matchup with USC
A late night affair was a struggle for Michigan State football, who suffered their first loss of the 2025 season at the hands of USC on Saturday night.
While some things went well for the Spartans, others went far from it, and ultimately, it was a 45-31 loss for the Spartans. The team will now get a bye week to prepare for a bounce back spot against Nebraska on Oct. 4.
Reflecting on the game in Los Angeles, defensively, it was a pretty poor showing from the unit as a whole. MSU struggled, giving up 45 points and 523 yards. USC had 234 yards through the air and 289 yards on the ground. The Spartans did not record a sack.
After looking at the film, and evaluating the game, Pro Football Focus (Subscription Required) gave out their grades for the Spartans in the game.
Here are the top five players on the defensive side of the ball:
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DT Alex VanSumeren - 80.1
On a day the Spartans struggled as a whole defensively, junior defensive tackle Alex VanSumeren had a very strong effort on Saturday, recording six tackles and a QB hurry.
LB Marcellius Pulliam - 76.5
Pulliam was forced in a really tough spot, playing a ton of snaps in this game due to a targeting to Jordan Hall and not having Wayne Matthews and Brady Pretzlaff due to injury. The backup linebacker made the most of his 30 snaps, though, recording five tackles.
CB Joshua Eaton - 68.9
Eaton actually graded out better in coverage than his overall grade, but was dinged in the run game. Overall he had a solid showing.
DT Ru'Quan Buckley - 68.1
A reserve defensive tackle, Buckley got more run than he has had all season long, and had a strong showing in his limited snaps.
LB Aisea Moa - 67.6
Another linebacker thrusted into a much bigger role than anticipated due to the depleted linebacker room in the game, Moa had a strong showing in the game against the Trojans, recording 2 tackles, 2 QB hurries and batting a ball down at the line of scrimmage.
This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: PFF ranks Michigan State football's top five defenders against USC
Category: General Sports
