Last Saturday, Michigan State was defeated by Washington 39-28 at Husky Stadium.

The running game was one of the immediate factors that MSU offensive coordinator Jay Johnson pointed out during a press conference on Tuesday morning.

Another area that Johnson addressed was the “lack of complementary football” while looking at the film from Saturday’s game. Acknowledging the goal line stand from the defense and the offense settling for one play drives.

While on the other hand, Johnson did credit Spartan quarterback Payton Thorne on his energy to keep on moving, despite the unfortunate game. Providing that Thorne’s interceptions are from his willingness to not quit and possibly overwhelmed in the pocket with “trying to do too much.”

This game is a good wake-up call for the Spartans football program to put more effort into its run game, as Johnson mentioned. The Huskies took advantage of the miscues from MSU and capitalized on them.

Michigan State will return to action at home in its B1G opener against Minnesota at 3:30 p.m. ET.