By Free Press sports writer Chris Solari grades Michigan State football after the Spartans’ 15-6 win over the Wolverines at Michigan Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 7.
Offense: B
In many ways, Brandon Tullis is not the traditional No. 5 running back. But after Pat Fitzgerald went out and brought in four transfers during the offseason, the third-year junior found himself falling on the pecking order. A non-contact participant in Tuesday’s practice, the Texas native was all-contact against the Wolverines with career highs of 25 carries and 86 yards. He averaged 4.6 yards on his first 17 runs until appearing to aggravate a lower-body injury on the Spartans’ mammoth 17-play, 79-yard drive that siphoned 10 minutes, 41 seconds off the clock in the third quarter.
Wide receiver Chrishon McCray had his best game in two seasons at MSU, grabbing six passes for 92 yards, with 73 of those coming after the catch. The red zone offense, however, struggled to find the end zone. Quarterback Alessio Milivojevic, meanwhile, was sacked three times and bailed out on a few bad decisions, but the third-year sophomore played through a hand injury and served as the perfect game manager (21-for-32 for 188 yards) as the Spartans did not commit a turnover and dominated the time of possession, 38:07-21:53.
Defense: A
Other than two drives – a missed field goal and U-M's touchdown with 1:35 to play – the injury-ravaged defense played almost perfect, nearly picking up MSU’s first shutout of the Wolverines since 1967.
The Spartans, whose five takeaways entering this week ranked 133rd out of 138 FBS programs, picked off two Tommy Carr passes and forced and recovered a pair of Wolverines fumbles. Buried in the bottom 20% of the nation in sacks (12) entering Saturday, the Spartans dropped Carr five times while also stifling U-M for 54 rushing yards.
Defensive ends Anelu Lafaele and Trey Lisle are emerging as pressure-providers, while Derrick Simmons helped fill the void in the middle with the loss of injured defensive tackle Ben Roberts. Cornerback NiJhay Burt stepped up with an interception, a pass breakup and six tackles, while safety Nikai Martinez had seven tackles and a critical fumble recovery late in the third quarter. And MSU did all of this while losing safety Devin Vaught in the first half, having linebacker Brady Pretzlaff minimally after halftime and then losing linebacker Dion Crawford to an arm injury early in the fourth quarter.
Special teams: A
This was the encapsulation of why Fitzgerald has harped on special teams since taking the MSU job. Kicker Liam Boyd drilled five field goals – all of the Spartans’ scoring – and four of his six kickoffs went for touchbacks and one was fair caught.
(The one that was returned, MSU’s coverage unit dropped Bryson Kudzal with a hard tackle at the 21.)
Rhys Dakin continued to show why he’s up for the Ray Guy Award as the nation’s top punter, dropping three of his four kicks inside the U-M 20 and averaging 48.8 yards.
MSU also took advantage of the Wolverines missing their lone field-goal attempt off the upright with pressure from Eli Coenen, along with benefitting from two short punts to set up Boyd’s first two field goals late in the second quarter.
Coaching: A
Everything Fitzgerald has preached about this rivalry game meaning a little more than others on MSU’s schedule came to fruition, ending a six-game losing streak in the most momentum-shifting way possible.
Defensive coordinator Joe Rossi earned his keep with a masterclass in bringing pressure to a young, inexperienced quarterback and doing so with down-the-depth chart talent. Offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan continued to make sound calls with his personnel (though some of the red-zone schemes Saturday could have been better).
And everything that assistants (and program alums) Max Bullough, Courtney Hawkins and Matt Allen told players all week – and since the new staff took over in December – about the physicality and toughness needed for this game in particular resonated enough for the Spartans to be able to lift the Paul Bunyan Trophy for the first time since 2021.
Injured cornerback Charles Brantley is the only active player previously to have beaten U-M.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football grades vs U-M: Spartans practically perfect
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/michigan-state-football-grades-vs-100815282.html
