Couch: Harlon Barnett's challenge now is to keep Michigan State's football season from falling apart

EAST LANSING – It doesn’t matter who you play — when you lose 41-7 at home, things are not OK.

Harlon Barnett knows that. So do the rest of Michigan State’s coaches. Most of the players probably do, too.

When you lose 41-7 at home a week after your head coach is abruptly removed, that adds a wrinkle.

This was not a normal week of preparation for the Spartans. Nor was it so for their new, acting head coach, Barnett, who, Saturday night, was coming to terms with his own missteps shortly after MSU’s lopsided loss to Washington.

“I have to be better and I will be better,” Barnett said. “This past week, I had a lot of time away from just the football aspect, trying to connect with the guys more — and I’ve still got to finish up some of those (one-on-one meetings) — but I'm just trying to get back to what I was doing (coaching-wise) and normalize us a little bit.”

Barnett described the operation as “off-kilter a little bit” in the days that followed Mel Tucker’s suspension and his own promotion.

Entirely understandable. It doesn’t make Saturday any less deflating.

The worst part — for Barnett, I imagine, and for the other coaches, maybe even for the players, and definitely for the fans — had to be the sinking realization that this season could get ugly if not handled perfectly. And that it might get ugly anyway. MSU might not be good enough to avoid it.

More disheartening than MSU’s defensive performance Saturday was its offense. At least the Spartans’ defense was up against perhaps the best coach-quarterback-receivers combo in the country.

“The quarterback and the receivers and the OC (offensive coordinator), you can tell they have a real good understanding of that offense,” Barnett said. “They know where to be, they trust each other.”

MSU’s own offense, meanwhile, could do nothing. All the promise from Week’s 1 and 2 appear now to be the product of playing lower-level competition. The red flags surrounding MSU’s offensive line play during the first two games have escalated to a five-alarm fire. We’ve seen this before. That part of things isn’t fixable in-season.

Facing Washington this week turned out to be dreadful timing. But at least everyone knows exactly where things stand and how far away the Spartans are from the top of the sport and how dire things could become if they’re not dialed in.

Maryland’s visit to Spartan Stadium this coming week — another prolific quarterback and passing game — will be telling of where this season is headed.

What stinks for Barnett and for MSU’s other coaches is that they weren’t supposed to be on such a deadline. Fans would have been angered by Saturday’s result if it had occurred with Tucker at the helm. But he wasn’t an interim coach. He was trying to build something. And he had the contract to do it at a reasonable pace.

Barnett and Co. now have a nearly impossible needle to thread to keep their jobs. They must not only get this MSU team to grow into the season amid inescapable distractions, but to also demonstrate quickly that there is progress occurring — beyond the promise of the last two recruiting classes — that the trajectory of the program is something that shouldn’t be disturbed.

They don’t have Tucker’s 10-year contact. They’ve got 10 weeks. Well, nine now. Realistically seven, tops, before a decision needs to be made.

And Saturday didn’t help.

RELATED: Couch's grades for Michigan State's performance against Washington

I feel badly for Barnett, who waited his entire coaching life for this chance. But what sort of chance is it really? I feel for the other coaches, who, despite playing a role in the state of things, must feel a sense inevitable doom. I feel awful for the players, who didn’t sign up for this situation.

As of Saturday night, Barnett said that none of them yet have said they’re leaving or shutting it down to preserve their eligibility.

“Not one guy,” he said. “So that’s a good thing. And hopefully these guys won’t do that. They’ll look (at it), ‘Let’s finish this thing out.’ ”

“We are a week away from what happened (with Tucker), so that's out of their system. We played the game, played a really great team and so I think they're ready to go.”’

For his sake and for their sakes — and for the sake of anyone planning to sit through the next nine games — I hope so. College football is a short season, unless it starts to go wrong.

RELATED: Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State's 41-7 walloping at the hands of Washington

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU football: Harlon Barnett must keep MSU's season from falling apart