Big Ten football Misery Index: Michigan State football still working on its reinvention

The ability to reinvent on the fly is vital in today’s Big Ten conference.

Just look at Michigan State football, which has reinvented itself from a run-first, 11-2 group into a squad that gave up 614 yards Saturday vs. Ohio State.

Come to think of it, that’s pretty much what the Spartans did last year against the Buckeyes, which is why it feels like defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton — whose crew gave up at least 400 yards for the 17th time in 26 games — might be reinventing his résumé sooner rather than later. (Though at least they kept OSU under 50 this time around. So much for inflation.)

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Of course, coaching changes always seem like the answer around this time of year, especially with what’s happening out in the Big Ten West.

Last week’s No. 1 team in the Big Ten Misery Index, Wisconsin, needed just five days to reinvent itself as an offensive juggernaut — and through the air, no less! The Badgers replaced semi-favorite son Paul Chryst (a former offensive coordinator) with even-more-favorite son Jim Leonhard (a former offensive coordinator) on Sunday night — they waited until after the Packers game, we think — just in time for a showdown with Northwestern, which apparently is still waiting for its defense to clear customs on the return from Ireland. The Badgers picked up 322 yards passing (more on that in a bit) and 193 yards rushing, days after managing 2 — TWO — yards rushing against Illinois.

Unfortunately for the Badgers, their first Big Ten win still leaves them a game back of the Huskers of Corn, who have taken down Big Ten East foes in back-to-back weeks under interim coach Mickey Joseph. Nebraska’s secret? Reinventing themselves as a squad with woeful Indiana and somehow-worse Rutgers on the schedule.

Unfortunately for those Huskers, they have the most reinvented team in the West coming up at the end of the month: The Illini, whose, um, offense-challenged victory over Iowa late Saturday gave them a share of the West lead in just their second season under coach Bret Bielema (who has reinvented himself from an Iowa lineman and a Wisconsin coach to an Illinois king, or something like that). Illinois has wins over the Badgers and Hawkeyes in the same season for the first time since 1989, when the Illni’s schedule also featured teams from the Big 8, Big West, Pac-10 and an eight-team ACC. (Those conferences have all reinvented themselves, too, though we’re still not sure how many teams are in the Pac-12.)

On the other side of that field goal-fest in Champaign, Brian Ferentz, Iowa's offensive coordinator, would like to suggest that firing assistants isn’t always the answer. He’d also like to remind us that a lot of teams score six or less in October. We’ll agree — though most of them are trying for the World Series, not the Big Ten title game.

Last and also often least, we have Rutgers, which would like to reinvent Piscataway as anything at all after 21 straight Big Ten losses at home. Then again, coach/zen master Greg Schiano came out against reinvention: "Whether you win 14-13 or lose 14-13, you have to be the same person." While we ponder whether those are truly the only two options for the Scarlet Knights, let’s run through the misery index, from least miserable to most in Week 6:

14. Wisconsin: W, 42-7, over Northwestern

Record: 3-3, 1-2 Big Ten. Last week’s ranking: 1.

Sure, embattled Badgers QB Graham Mertz passed for five touchdowns, matching the mark he set in his 2020 collegiate debut, but even more unexpectedly, sophomore running back Braelon Allen completed a 21-yard TD (to a fellow RB, naturally) to raise his passer rating this season to 269.07. ( That’s 2-for-3 for 33 yards, a TD and no picks, all on direct snaps.) Who says Wisconsin is a ground-control program?

13. Ohio State: W, 49-20, over Michigan State

Record: 6-0, 3-0. Last week: 13.

Buckeyes QB C.J. Stroud had as many TD throws to a Spartan on Saturday afternoon — a pick-six directly to cornerback Charles Brantley — as either of the QBs wearing green did. That could be why coach Ryan Day cited "20 mph wind" as the toughest defender Saturday in East Lansing.

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12. Illinois: W, 9-6, over Iowa

Record: 5-1, 2-1. Last week: 14.

The Illini kicked the eventual winning field goal one play after the refs wiped out an 81-yard scoop-and-score by Iowa, saying that backup QB Art Sitkowski was down on his elbow before losing the ball, in case you were wondering about the argument for importing a quarterback from Rutgers.

11. Michigan: W, 31-10, over Indiana

Record: 6-0, 3-0. Last week: 12.

Cross off another line on Jim Harbaugh’s “Be Like Bo” list: The Wolverines’ back-to-back 6-0 starts are their first in consecutive seasons since 1976-77. (U-M lost the Rose Bowl both seasons, so still a ways to go.)

U-M GRADES:Second half saves Wolverines up-and-down showing at Indiana

10. Purdue: W, 31-29, over Maryland

Record: 4-2, 2-1. Last week: 11.

Two TDs in the final 3:19? That’s the thing about trains in the Beltway; they’ll get you where you’re going, as long as you don’t care when they show up.

9. Nebraska: W, 14-13, over Rutgers

Record: 3-3, 2-1. Last week: 10.

We’re not saying it’s been a while, but the last time the Huskers of Corn beat two Power Five schools back-to-back — Illinois and Michigan State on Nov. 10-17, 2018 — folks still thought Scott Frost was gonna turn ol’ Big Red around.

8. Indiana: L, 31-10, to Michigan

Record: 3-3, 1-2. Last week: 4.

The Hoosiers showed off their IndyCar-style offense in Saturday’s fourth quarter. Somebody tell OC Walt Bell those cars got gears other than reverse, eh? (It’s almost basketball season; with minus-12 yards on 12 plays to end the game, it’s a good thing there’s no over-and-back rule in football.)

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7. Rutgers: L, 14-13, to Nebraska

Record: 3-3, 0-3. Last week: 6.

The Big Ten might not be letting Washington join the club, but good to see the Scarlet Knights smuggling Frasier out of Seattle.

6. Minnesota: DNP

Record: 4-1, 1-1. Last week: 2.

The Row-the-Boaters were off, but it was still a big weekend for wood-wielding Gophers on water — freshman Jimmy Snuggerud (formerly of Plymouth’s U.S. National Team Development Program) picked up a hat trick for the hockey team Friday night.

5. Penn State: DNP

Record: 5-0, 2-0. Last week: 5.

Word out of Happy Valley is that the Nittany Lions tweaked their bye-week schedule a bit; probably good, considering they’re 3-5 following weeks off under coach James Franklin.

4. Michigan State: L, 49-20, to Ohio State

Record: 2-4. 0-3. Last week: 7.

At the rate the Spartans are giving out air miles, they oughta send the cornerbacks out with bags of peanuts and a complimentary beverage, too.

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3. Maryland: L, 31-29, to Purdue

Record: 4-2, 1-2. Last week: 9.

The Terps had an extra point blocked by a defender who should have been called offsides and a tying 2-point conversion wiped away by an illegal lineman downfield. We’d say they’ve got some terrible luck with flags, but enough talk about their helmets.

2. Northwestern: L, 42-7, to Wisconsin

Record: 1-5. 1-2. Last week: 8.

Wildcats coach Pat Fitzgerald, down 28-0 with two seconds left in the first half, opted to attempt a field goal on third down rather than go for a touchdown, to a chorus of boos. (Well, at least a few boo solos — the game was in Evanston, after all.) Kicker Jack Olsen missed the chip shot, and suddenly we’re wondering how small that $800 million new stadium can get.

1. Iowa: L, 9-6, to Illinois

Record: 3-3, 1-2. Last week: 3.

All the B-Ferentz haters will have to wait for another couple weeks, as dad/coach Kirk nixed a question on firing his son/offensive coordinator Saturday night: “No, we won 10 games last year,” Ferentz said. “I don’t know if you’re aware of that.” After this season, can you blame Hawkeye fans for forgetting how to count to 10?

2022 BIG TEN MISERY INDEX

WEEK 0:Michigan puts off the pain at least till Week 3

WEEK 1:The gospel of Michigan QB requirements

WEEK 2:Michigan football, Michigan State prove savvy shoppers

WEEK 3:Dog-eat-dog games for Michigan football, MSU

WEEK 4:Paying tribute to past coaches

WEEK 5:Who's afraid of ghosts? Not Michigan football

Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @theford.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Big Ten football Misery Index: Michigan State football's reinvention