Film Room: Illinois vs. Michigan State
A lot of good, but MSU comes up a couple of yards short against the Fighting Illini.
In the highest offensive output of the season for Michigan State, it was gratifying to see proof of concept in running the ball, and the development of the passing game.
Against Illinois' 3-3-5, quarterback Alessio Milivojevic was relatively well-protected and had his best game of the season, and one of his best games as a Spartan. The running game also picked up, with Jaziun Patterson running for nearly 100 yards and three touchdowns, while he added an additional score in the passing game.
We get into what worked well in the video, though I want to see the offense replicate some of its success against a less desultory defense. Defensively, I think defensive coordinator Joe Rossi is in a bit of a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" type of situation, where depth issues mean he can't trust certain players on islands in coverage, but a lack of pressure allows opponents to pick apart the zone-drop defense. That said, busts like what happened on the first play of overtime MUST be eliminated.
Ultimately, the Spartans failed on a two-point conversion in overtime and lost to the Fighting Illini by a final score of 38-37. Bit there were encouraging signs for MSU.
We break it all down in the video below.
Watch the film review video below:
