How Michigan State football is working to correct series of small flaws that led to loss
EAST LANSING — Mel Tucker, in Saturday’s immediate aftermath of Michigan State football’s first loss of the season, instinctively knew his coaches and players were “gonna be sick when we watch this film.”
It held true. Tucker on Monday called the ninth-ranked Spartans’ 40-29 defeat at unranked Purdue “death by inches.”
Even though it was the 536 passing yards by Boilermakers quarterback Aidan O’Connell that ultimately proved to be too much for MSU (8-1, 5-1 Big Ten). And Tucker met with his team leadership after Monday’s practice to prepare for Maryland on Saturday to discuss the issues and “do some things differently.”
[ Mel Tucker takes shot at those who whine about refs: 'Makes your program soft' ]
“We laid out some things that we need to do,” Tucker said.” I talked to the coaching staff, the offense, defense and special teams, and I said, 'Give me the problems we have and give me all the possible solutions, and let's put together a plan and go to work and get these things fixed. And we're in the process of doing that.”
MSU’s secondary ranks last among 130 Football Bowl Subdivision schools, allowing 326.7 passing yards per game. The Spartans are the 76th-rated team in passing efficiency defense (136.52), but they have yielded 939 yards through the air and 73 points the past two games. And Purdue converted 12 of 19 attempts on third and fourth downs, another season-long concern for Tucker’s team.
“I don't like bend but don't break, that's not the philosophy,” Tucker said. “When you're bending, that means you're not getting off the field on down. So if you don't get off the field, you extend drives. And then if you can hold them to a field-goal attempt, that's points off the board. But we weren't able to do that. …
“It was not really that much different between what we saw Saturday and what we've seen in previous games. It's just that we didn't make enough plays to pull it out, so it's a total lack of execution.”
BIG TEN WINNERS, LOSERS: Michigan State's pass defense even worse vs. Purdue
Which brings it back to Tucker’s “death by inches.” He saw problems in all three phases against the Boilermakers.
“Death by inches is basically when you don't have success on a play, because you got 11 guys out there and one guy doesn't do what he's supposed to do,” he said. “And then because the margins are so narrow when you're competing at a high level, all it takes is that one mistake, that one mental error, that once missed assignment or whatever to kill the play. Offense, defense and special teams.
“We have death by inches in the first quarter, the second quarter, the third quarter, fourth quarter — all the way through — and we weren't able to overcome that at the end, and we got to beat.”
No injury news
Tucker, who spent 10 years in the NFL and served as interim head coach of Jacksonville for five games in 2011, does not plan on confirming if players are hurt or out for the season.
“I don't like to talk about injuries, because I don't like to tell our opponents who they're gonna play, who they're gonna face, who's available, who's not available,” Tucker said. “You have to do that in the NFL, but we don't have to do that in college. We don't have to go probable, questionable and all that. I like to give out as little information as possible.”
[ MSU's young skill players step up; one CB picked on the most ]
MSU played without starting left tackle Jarrett Horst (undisclosed), starting wide receiver Jalen Nailor (right hand) and starting kicker Matt Coghlin (undisclosed) on Saturday at Purdue. Cornerbacks Chuck Brantley (shoulder) and Ronald Williams II (back) both played through visible pain, with freshman Brantley leaving the field for a period in the second half and Williams not playing until then. Fellow cornerback Marqui Lowery (left leg) also has been hampered since the start of the season, while linebacker Cal Haladay and backup walk-on kicker Stephan Rusnak — Coghlin’s replacement — played with casts on their right hands. Backup offensive lineman Matt Carrick, defensive end Jack Camper and tight end Trenton Gillison also all did not travel for undisclosed reasons.
“Obviously everyone's banged up at this time of year. No one's really 100%,” Tucker said. “So you go out there and do the best that you can, and then it's gonna be what it's gonna be.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How Michigan State football is working to fix flaws that led to loss
