FOX Big Noon Kickoff crew breaks down MSU woes during four-game skid
In fifth-place in the B1G East, the Michigan State Spartans are mired in a four-game losing streak headed into Saturday’s showdown with No. 15 Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Serving as the FOX’s Big Noon Saturday game, the pregame show crew of Rob Stone, Reggie Bush, Urban Meyer and Charles Woodson took a stab at identifying what has gone wrong for Mark Dantonio’s team.
Here’s video of the segment, courtesy of CFB on FOX:
What's been the biggest problem at Michigan State this season?@CharlesWoodson, @ReggieBush and @CoachUrbanMeyer break it down ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/NBoMibIKof
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 16, 2019
In danger of missing a bowl game for the second time in four seasons, the Spartans were sitting pretty on September 28 at 4-1. Since then, however, it has been one misstep after another.
A gauntlet of a stretch, Michigan State was outscored, 100-17, in consecutive losses to No. 2 Ohio State, No. 16 Wisconsin and No. 9 Penn State from October 5-26.
Jumping out to a 28-3 second quarter lead over Illinois at Spartan Stadium on November 9, it looked as if the troubles were coming to an end. Instead, the Illini scored 34 of the game’s final 40 points to top the Spartans, 37-34, and secure a bowl berth of their own.
Allowing 23.6 points per game, defensive coordinator Mike Tressel’s unit is not as stout as the 2018 version, but still ranks 41st nationally.
The offense, unfortunately, has continued to plague this program. Featuring an attack spearheaded by redshirt senior quarterback Brian Lewerke and redshirt freshman tailback Elijah Collins, Michigan State is scoring just 23.1 points per contest, 107th among FBS programs.
Taking place at the historic Michigan Stadium, the Spartans/Wolverines clash is currently airing with Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt and “The All-American Girl” Jenny Taft on the call.