Michigan State football report card: Offense fails in loss to Michigan

EAST LANSING — Chris Solari rates the 24th-ranked Michigan State Spartans on a scale of 1 to 10 after their 21-7 loss to No. 6 Michigan.

Offense: 2

This would be lower without the caveat for QB Brian Lewerke admitting after the game he played with a right shoulder injury he suffered last week at Penn State. There was no question he played well below 100 percent in the game, with 66 yards on 5 of 25 passing. He did catch a touchdown pass, though, on a trick play that was the only highlight for the offense. Lewerke’s injury also took him out of the run game, which was entirely inefficient in LJ Scott’s return. He ran 10 times for 25 yards, and MSU finished with just 15 yards on the ground after sacks. The injury to Felton Davis III also makes the need for getting Cody White back as soon as possible critical for the offense moving forward.

Defense: 6

MSU’s defense played well for much of the game. Two deflected passes that turned into receptions were costly. A deep ball TD over CB Tre Person was by far the longest pass play of the game, with one other going for 25 and the other 12 Michigan receptions for 16 yards or less. Karan Higdon powered his way to 144 yards on 33 carries, with 38 coming on one play. Not stopping Shea Patterson’s fourth-and-2 option run eventually gave U-M a TD cushion instead of another chance for MSU’s offense to tie the game in the final quarter. The Spartans did force a turnover deep in Wolverines territory to set up the lone offensive TD.

Special teams: 6

It was sloppy, much like the day. Punter Tyler Hunt rescued a bad snap and booted it 60 yards rugby-style to flip the field, and the accidental discovery had MSU using that form to punt for the remainder of the game after some early struggles with traditional punting technique. New return man Shakur Brown quickly became former return man after fumbling a punt, but the Spartans’ defense saved him by forcing a turnover shortly afterward.

Coaching: 5

This one is tough, given all the personnel limitations. That MSU was in it late somewhat remains remarkable. Still, there was that egregious third-and-20 option call out of a wildcat formation that makes more sense in hindsight with knowledge of Lewerke’s injury, but still went nowhere and ended MSU’s first drive of the second half. But the trick play throwback from Stewart to Lewerke worked. And defensively, MSU held Michigan in check by bending for much of the game until it broke with the long Patterson TD pass and a long, time-consuming scoring drive to put it away after the Spartans’ defense had been on the field for much of the second half. But there always be that what-if about whether or not Mark Dantonio should have pulled an ailing Lewerke in favor of backup Rocky Lombardi instead of giving the starter the choice.

Contacst Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Download our Spartans Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!

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