EAST LANSING– Michigan State football, after dropping two straight B1G matchups on the road, opened its homecoming weekend with positive energy coursing through East Lansing. After two smooth drives to open their matchup with UCLA, the Spartans folded shortly thereafter and never recovered. The Bruins claimed the road conference win as ‘Take Over Your Trap’ blared from the visiting locker room.
“Very surprised by it, I think all of us that went through the week felt good, back to work, guys with energy and focus through the week,” MSU head coach Jonathan Smith said. “Surprised the performance went the way it did.”
Here are the takeaways from MSU’s sobering 38-13 defeat as the Spartans drop to 0-3 in conference.
Neuheisel and Nico stay hot
The Bruin offense and Spartan defense found new life a week ago with both units needing to establish consistency. It looked like MSU had the upper hand early, sticking sophomore quarterback Nico Iamaleava in an opening three and out with an eager crowd getting fired up.
However, it was clear UCLA assistant head coach and new play caller Jerry Neuheisel wanted to prove himself more. The Bruins carried all the momentum from their upset over Penn State in a dominant performance featuring 38 unanswered points, as Neuhesiel mixed in some creativity with effective decision making.
“I don’t think the looks have dramatically changed on both sides,” Smith said. “I do think just watching off the tape and experiencing today that energy and belief out of that group out of UCLA…. Credit to those guys they came in here and played a really good game.
Senior running back and MSU transfer Jalen Berger perfectly exemplified this on his two touchdowns. His first of the game, set up by an MSU failed fourth down attempt at its own 34 yard line, saw Iamaleava motion out as Berger took the direct snap to house through a 16-yard gap. On their next drive and just when MSU thought they had another stop with the game still in hand, Neuheisel still had some tricks available.
This time drawing up a fake punt snapped to junior running back Jaivian Thomas who ripped off 20-yards into Spartan territory. Iamaleava then carved up the Spartans on simple slants, crossing routes, and quick outs to the flat throughout but especially a few plays later. Berger secured a goal line leak out to the left endzone corner here, he finished his day with 83 yards on 13 carries with a third touchdown, getting vengeance on his old squad where it mattered.
“That’s a great team, they really turned things around the last two weeks,” junior linebacker Jordan Hall said. “we’re always clawing and fighting back no matter the situation, that was something that was kinda unfortunate.”
Iamaleava’s best receiving weapon of the day came from junior wide receiver Mikey Matthews, hauling in only two catches but for 46 yards. Neuheisal injected confidence in his guys, sucked the life out of Spartan Stadium Saturday, emptied the stands in the second half, and audible boos to rain down from the stands by halftime.
“I like playing at a place and being a part of a program we’re people genuinely care, have some energy and passion,” Smith said. “And that’s a two way street when you play at a place where there’s a high amount of care factor and passion with it.”
By afternoon’s end, his quarterback dusted the MSU defense with 180 passing yards with 16-24 on completions. These numbers don’t necessarily jump off the page but UCLA had effectively ended this game halfway through the third quarter and had slowed down significantly.
“Just gotta play better, execute better, it’s really unfortunate bringing that performance to such a big crowd,” Hall said. “Just gotta keep getting prepared throughout the week, be able to execute.”
Spartans stuck in reverse
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the squad for MSU offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren seems to have lost the touch over two weeks. The Spartans had a clean opening drive with a balanced attack, ending on a two-yard draw from junior quarterback Aidan Chiles.
Just when it looked like MSU had its rhythm back from last week’s outing it all came to a screeching halt. This was partly due to early mistakes from the offense with two giveaways in plus territory. The previously mentioned turnover on downs started the downfall but then a sack fumble forced by senior defensive lineman Devin Aupiu solidified it.
This was the sixth sack of the year for the Bruin defense and came away with three total turnovers on the day including on downs. Chiles largely had time to throw in the first half but either flat out missed his target or the UCLA secondary was locked in on the receivers. Chiles, in a shortened outing due to injury and giving way to freshman backup Alessio Milivojevic in the third quarter, finished with just 66 passing yards on 8-17 passing.
“Just not good enough, starting with myself and the staff, this week, we’re responsible to prepare these guys through the week,” Smith said. “You know they [UCLA] come out and execute, play with great energy and we didn’t have it today. Told the locker room we lost a bunch of one on ones, all three phases.”
Smith mentioned Chiles exited and did not return due to the hit laid by senior defensive lineman Keanu Williams, his status for next week is unknown. Sophomore wide receiver Nick Marsh grabbed seven catches for 77 yards and a garbage time score to become MSU’s leading receiver on another frustrating day.
No one else in the core recorded more than 25 yards receiving for the game. While the defense got walked all over, the offense just kept letting it slip further and further away, getting out gained in total yardage by 165.
“I think we missed a couple open throws early, then when you miss early you feel like you want to get into a rhythm,” Smith said. “I think passing is a lot about rhythm and we have failed to get into one in the passing game the last couple weeks.”
Sophomore defensive back Cole Martin was the stand out with a tackle for loss and six total, but the Bruins executed more of a team effort. MSU had a chance to get back on track against a decent but beatable defense, but UCLA secured a season best performance by snuffing out any of the Spartans’ will.
The laboring road ahead and what happens now?
Previously in this season, even in its losses, MSU always showed some determination to stay in the fight. These efforts fell short twice on the road but many hoped the return home would give them an extra spark to finish one.
On a day where the student section got free rally towels with their seats, it was poetic that the Spartans waved the white flag for the first time all year. Looking ahead into the schedule, this was a must win game for MSU in their path to become bowl eligible and that road just got a lot rockier.
Chiles has spoken about this team being different and wanting to win throughout the campaign with the wins and close losses. This however is a different type of feeling, one of missed opportunity and regression that will truly test MSU’s metal going forward.
“I don’t think we matched UCLA’s, new life, new energy on some one on ones and gotten beat. I don’t think there was any loafing out there,” Smith said. “The care factor is there with this team though, I just think we gotta come up on Saturday.”
The previously established issues of MSU’s pass rush, pass defense, mental mistakes, and lack of focus were all coming together in the worst way possible for the green and white. All the positivity gained from the first three games has now dissipated, it’s up to the players and coaching staff to either respond with half the season left or keep spiraling.
“We have a phrase, I’ll probably butcher this, but we have it in the defense room. Good times create soft people, soft people create hard times, hard times create good people,” Hall said. “That’s just where we’re at right now, we’re in hard times, we’re gonna continue to work through those times and we’re gonna be hardened.”
The answer to what happens starts with a tall task, as the Spartans take on a top ten Indiana squad on Saturday, October 18th at 3:30. Jacob Maurer and Kyle Keegan will have the broadcast live from Bloomington, IN streaming at https://impact89fm.org/ and locally at 88.9 FM.
