Jacoby Windmon and Michigan State’s defense were blindsided for a second straight week, getting drilled by a balanced Minnesota attack in Week 4. By the time halftime rolled around, the Gophers were up 17-0 and had kept the Spartan defense on the field for a long time.

At the end of the game, Minnesota had racked up over 500 yards of offense and blew past the Spartans 34-7. To make matters worse, the loss for Michigan State came inside Spartan Stadium.

After the game, Windmon was frank about the preparation of the defense. He admitted Michigan State prepared for the Gophers to come out running the ball behind Mohamed Ibrahim, but that is not what happened. While Minnesota did utilize Ibrahim, the offense came out throwing the ball efficiently behind Tanner Morgan.

Speaking of Morgan, Windmon also admitted the defense was not prepared for Morgan’s ability to scramble outside of the pocket. While Morgan did not run a lot, he converted some huge 3rd-down plays with his legs, an issue Windmon thinks could have been prepared for during the week but the Spartans “didn’t think he was much of a runner.”

Windmon’s comments are particularly troubling, to say the least. Trying to determine where preparation fell apart for the Spartans is not 100% clear, but it is clear Michigan State needs to make big adjustments moving forward.