Michigan State Earns A Needed Win Against Maryland: Michigan State vs Maryland Reaction & Analysis

I stated controversially in the 2024 preseason that I thought that Michigan state had one of the best Big 10 staffs perhaps the best Big 10 staff and while a win over Maryland a Maryland team who had a turnover who was outgained by well over a 100 yards and quite frankly isn't returning a lot of production from last year a win over them doesn't necessarily indicate that Michigan state has the best Big 10 staff or even one of the best I think given Michigan State's recent history this was a much needed win and it was a sign that at the bare minimum Michigan state has a better coaching staff a better head coach a better strength and conditioning coach a better offensive coordinator and a better defensive coordinator and better assistance than Maryland does because Maryland had I said this in my preview as for a reason why I picked Maryland to win this game for which I was wrong I said that Michigan State could win I said that I would pick Michigan State to win this game if it were played in East Lancing but with Marland being under Mike Loxley and his regime since 2019 that's 1 two 3 for 5 years going on six years of his program being built and Michigan State being in year one full of over 50 new players and taking over from a disastrous coaching regime that included Mel Tucker Scotty Hazelton and Jay Johnson all of whom are frauds I didn't think that Michigan state had the cohesiveness the togetherness the team factor to go up to Maryland and earn a win I thought it it was possible but for that reason I gave Maryland The Edge and picked them to win 27 to 17 you know that was almost the result of this game actually Maryland and their kicker Jack house were in position to make this 2717 and at that point it's probably a Maryland win because Michigan state was being inconsistent all day long uh he hooks it whiffs it and then next play Nick Marsh is thrown just an absolute intercontinental ballistic missile of a pass accuracy by military grade into his arms for a 77 yd touchdown pass ties the game up takes all the oxygen and energy out of Maryland and then Michigan state gets the ball back Joe rosi forces a stop with his defense and Jonathan Kim wins the game with a 37 yard field goal Michigan State is better than they were last year this is a team that plays hard they have a plethora of talent more Talent than you may believe and we're going to break that down here but before we dive deeper and I read you the stat lines and I talk about the path forward for Michigan State and Maryland I want you whether you're a Spartan a terapin a buckeye a wolverine a bulldog fan a Crimson Tide fan a longhorn fan a Hawkeye fan even if you are a black bear fan from Maine or a rattlesnake fan I think that's Florida A&M's mascot from Florida A&M if you're a college football fan period I want you to like the video to subscribe to the channel to click that notification Bell and to share this video around so that we can get more college football fans here on college 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in the lead and it felt like they were going to win that they had things at least somewhat under control for marand it was a little like that uh briefly it felt like Michigan State could take a two-score lead early in the third but then Aidan Chiles threw a pick in the endzone Maryland went down scored a field goal scored a touchdown at one point Maryland was given in the fourth quarter mid fourth quarter a 95.8% chance to win from there fail to convert fail to get in the end zone drops to a 94.3% then they missed the field goal given a 90.2% chance to win still one play later they're only given a 53.2% chance to win per FBI because of an unexpected 77 yard missile to Nick Marsh Aiden Chiles looked like a quarterback who in a year or maybe in a few months but more likely a year or two could be like a Heisman caliber quarterback could be a historic college football Elite QB he finished the day off with 24 completions on 39 attempts 363 passing yards 9.3 yards per attempt three touchdowns three picks he had eight carries for 11 yards on the ground was sacked two times and he didn't have the best protection in the world not the worst either he did I think a good respectable job of escaping the pocket maneuvering it and even of throwing and is factoring in the fact he chucked three picks one of which I think even two of which were pretty egregious definitely on Tom Fornelli whoopsy Daisy scale definitely he's mentioned it several times on his show Aiden Giles is like literally just like a wave like a soundwave it it's it's crazy how up and down he can be but that's only one takeaway from this game and we'll dive into Michigan State a little bit later but on this show we save the best for last we talk about the losers first consequentially get the ugly out of the way Maryland I got to be honest here with the caliber of Team you have with the losses that you sustained in the preseason this was a game that if you wanted to lock up a bull bid you could not afford to lose or if you wanted to chase bigger and better things Mike Loxley saying that they want to compete for Big 10 championships you cannot lose this game they smashed Yukon 50 to7 and I knew that Yukon was even worse than Florida Atlantic and Florida Atlantic is terrible but based off of week one Maryland looked like the far better team and for much of this game Maryland was in the lead and Maryland for much of this game did look like the slightly better better team it wasn't as it wasn't lopsided at all for any portion of the game but Maryland for much of the game outside of the early third quarter and the final minutes of the fourth was consistently ahead and they lost you have Virginia on September 14th week three at 8:00 pm that's a night game and Virginia right now I believe they are yeah they Virginia's 2- 0 they came back and beat Wake Forest by a point on the road I expect that Tony Elliott is going to bring his best in this game it's a Revenge spot after Virginia was up 14 nothing on Maryland last year and then Maryland proceeded to blow them out then they get Villanova on the 21st play at Indiana the 28th and Indiana looks like for an Indiana program that has just been horrible for most of its life cycle they look like a monster compared to your average Indiana team they get Northwestern October 11th travel no they host USC October 19th travel to Minnesota the 26th travel to Oregon November 9th host ruter the 16th of November host Iowa the 23rd of November and they travel at Penn State to close out the year on November 30th right now objectively neutral field off the top of my head I don't have a power ratings yet though I'm working on it so this may be inconsistent but if I were to try my best to objectively pick Maryland's schedule I would say Virginia I I'd say win though of course the best team doesn't always win Villanova win I would say Indiana is a loss Northwestern is a win USC is an L Minnesota is an L Oregon l ruter l Iowa close but L but Iowa always plays teams close anyway and their offense has issues in the passing game and Penn State's a blowout like 4-8 5- seven is what I would pick is absolutely what I would pick and that's what I picked in the preseason when I picked Michigan State to win this game and even if Maryland won this game with how Indiana looks and USC they look better than I thought they were going to be in the preseason Minnesota looks about the same um Oregon looks far worse but it's on the road and I just don't see how Maryland is beating a team like Oregon Oregon will beat anyone and I mean anyone who does not have great average trench play or higher me Boise State came close because they have jeti and they have Ahmad hassanian at defensive end they because they have great players on the defensive line and experienced o line and Elite running back most teams don't have that even even like big 10 SEC most teams don't have those type of individuals and it takes a team even with how down Oregon seems to be it take a team that has awesome individuals individual players and also great trenches and I just don't think Maryland has that uh Penn State obviously I think is still much better than Oregon um well not just better than Oregon but Maryland sorry for the little brain fart there Iowa ruter Northwestern Indiana Minnesota they're probably winnable but it's going to be tough you needed you needed this game you needed it to go bowling after losing the majority or around half of your production including your all-time leader in passing yards in tallia tagaloa and ultimately it didn't happen Maryland moves to one in one 0 And1 in Big 10 conference play it is another winnable game where you have a clear advantage that Mike lockley doeses not win whether it was in 2022 against her do or last year against Illinois and against Northwestern and I mean look getting blown up by Iowa in 2021 doesn't help the case either I mean I don't fault him at all for losing to Michigan Ohio State or Penn State I just don't but there have been winnable games many times with lockley at Maryland who's been here for now over half a decade and he has a track record of losing some of these games where he does have an advantage Maryland had an advantage here and they slipped they slipped up they choked again they forced three punts and three turnovers and they still lost the game they also missed a field goal too so all in all not a good look for Maryland for Michigan State they did not have a great performance either however knowing the type of team they were in week one and the type of team they were last season the fact that they already have over 20 penalties on the season in two weeks and right now they are averaging over a 100 yards in penalties and they still find ways to win and they earned a sack in seven tfls they got another interception they averaged over 15 yards per reception and over four yards per carry on the ground this is a team who through the portal good moves in the portal some moves that I'm sure have probably not worked out and better coaching and better game management they're now 2-0 1 and0 and CH and the passing offense looked better the defense looked about the same they're just playing a much better offense in Maryland compared to Florida Atlantic my belief that Jonathan Smith is a top 10 head coach has been reinforced by this game since 2021 the beginning of 2021 he is 27 and 13 at Oregon State and at Michigan State two program s who under his regime did not have top 30 Talent rosters and he's 27 and 13 17 and 11 in Pack 12 formerly rest in peace to the Pack 12 and now Big 10 conference play now I don't think Michigan state they're not going to go 10 and two they're not they're probably probably I would side even closer to perhaps definitely not going 9 and three because rut Michigan Iowa Oregon Ohio State potentially Illinois Indiana Purdue and Boston College could have some weight to them I know for a fact that Ohio state does um I think Michigan Oregon ruter Iowa they definitely do a Boston College has the best offensive line that Michigan state is going to face um this may be bold but if Donovan Jackson's not back for Ohio State it will be the best offensive line they face in the month of September it will be Donovan Jackson's a critical part to Ohio State's offense and Boston College has a really good offensive line so I'm saying that to say Michigan State schedule is very tough I mean Ohio State's the best team in the Big 10 Michigan the longer they go in the season unless they quit on their coach they're going to get better because of how young they are uh for Oregon they have some major issues but a massive advantage over everyone except for maybe Ohio State in skill position play Iowa just has really good defense um and they're they're going to be I think the same if not better than they were last year I'd probably still side towards better I'm talking about schedules with these teams because they kicked off Big 10 conference play Michigan State earned a conference win Maryland suffered a conference loss and Conference wins and losses are more valuable than non-conference wins and losses neither of these teams are going to be going to Indianapolis but Michigan State plays PR R viiew A&M next week they can rest they can try new things they can try to get healthy because they sustain some injuries and whether they want to try and earn a road win over Boston College or maybe they want to shift their chips in the middle of the table um and try try to prepare for Ohio State and Overlook Boston College I don't know but I can tell you that watching Jonathan Smith at Oregon State in these first two games at Michigan State that coaching staff Works their butt off they outwork their opponents they out scheme their opponents and they need to get better at discipline um they need to get better at communication and there's a lot of work to be desired but Michigan State as of right now is like already better than they were last season and they're probably close to if not already better than they were in 2022 like if this team right now played 2022 Minnesota at home they would not nearly get shut out 38 nothing and score a late gar or thir I think 34 nothing or score a late garbage time touchdown make it you know like 34 to7 that wouldn't happen um they wouldn't I think lay down and just die to Indiana at home they wouldn't do that they're they're better coached than they were under dantonio in the later portion of his tenure and under Mel Tucker and Scotty Hazelton and Jay Johnson for sure I'm impressed with Jonathan Smith and I have been for a long time so this is not like me saying oh well what a big win no this is a big win for year one but in year two a performance like this outside of the throws that Aiden child made would and should be frowned upon the Spartans are a team again that's well coached they have talent Aiden Chiles could be an elite QB in the future Nick Marsh looks like a great wide receiver they're wide receivers some of their younger guys are coming through it's an underrated group Jack velling had a few good plays for the Spartans he had three receptions for 25 yards 8.3 yards per reception a critical first down monter Foster jiren Glover Nick Marsh each had a receiving touchdown Giles threw three picks uh jiren Glover fumbled the ball but it wasn't lost Nate Carter had a good game 11 carries 59 yards 5.4 yards per carry their running back room is deeper than it was the previous two seasons the receiver core is being better utilized than it was the previous two seasons quarterback looks better than the previous two seasons and Aiden Charles right now looks like he has a way higher ceiling than pton Thor never did um it's just on offense you see the potential and this defense is more balanced than any defense under Mel Tucker and depending on what happens throughout the rest of the year it could be Michigan State's best defense since 2019 um certainly will be the best defense since the start of the 2022 season because the 2021 defense secondary was awful but that front seven was pretty wicked that's really my take away in this game is that Smith knows how to coach he knows how to maximize his team's chances to win and they will play they will punch above their weight class that's really the concluding segment for the Michigan State Spartans my MVP for the scheme is wide receiver Nick Marsh Nick Marsh had nine receptions for 194 yards and a touchdown eight re it was really eight receptions 194 yards and a touchdown but I included his stats from the previous game just to show you that through two games because of an insane game against Maryland but he he's averaging right now about a 100 yards per game and he's young so the fact that he's emerging here it's the same it's the same thing not saying they're the same caliber of player it's the same thing with Jeremiah Smith at Ohio State it's the same thing with Ryan Williams at Alabama with Bryant west at Clemson with Cam Coleman you have a lot of younger freshman who will have to play three years of college football before going off to the NFL that like right now are showing flashes of being potentially Elite whether it's in week one week two um one of them both of them and Nick Marsh could be one of those guys we'll see if this is a flukish performance or not but given the offensive pedigree of this staff I kind of doubt it I was really impressed with the routes that he ran he caught two deep balls constantly getting behind Maryland's defense that's why he led the wide receiver room in Targets in receptions um if if you don't count Aiden ches he led the team in total yards it's crazy and the defense stepped up earning stops um Maryland was 11 of 17 on third down but they stepped up and got a stop when it mattered Michigan State averaged more yards per pass and more yards per Rush than Maryland did the only battle that Maryland won was the turnover battle they had plus two in the turnovers they had 20 less penalty yards and they controlled the clock for about an extra five minutes Michigan State I don't know if they're the better team than Maryland but they're certainly about equal I would say and seeing that this was at Maryland Michigan State very well could be the better team and I think by the end of the year they will be the better team because there's a lot more moving pieces that are trying to get settled at Michigan State than Maryland it's like the analogy I used for Colorado Nebraska with you know the Lego box they're trying to sift the Lego box right now and see what pieces fit in and sort the different like sizes of Legos the you know the blue and red type Legos and the the you know all the ones that have multiple moving parts to them the ones that are just like blocks they're trying to sort the Legos Maryland has their Legos sorted even though they have some new pieces and they have younger pieces but Michigan State situation is a lot more chaotic and they still made more of it and won the game compared to Maryland by the end of the year I guarantee you Michigan State's much better than Maryland is by the end of the season even with the tougher schedule I think the staff's resilient I think therefore the roster is going to be resilient as well watch out for Nick Marsh watch out for Aiden ches if he gets his turnovers under control he's immediately one of the best quarterbacks in the Big 10 Nate Carter KRON Lynch Adams that's a great running back Duo and dquan de has come through in games uh Charles Brantley and Angelo gross have Chris Bogle has now had a sack in the first two games each of the first two games I'm impressed with this team Kent tally as well with a half tackle for Law and he had a performance against FAU in The Limited playing time that he had too there are players on this team there's underrated Talent so pay attention to the Spartans not just this year but especially in the future down the line as well thank you all so much for watching this video remember to like subscribe click the notification Bell and comment your thoughts down below thanks to crash 2488 and Nebraska Rascal for being Heisman patreon members and sponsoring this video in Channel thanks to Chris Lane Conor little o isar and Tyler Nye for being all American members and sponsoring this video and channel thanks to John Lyn roaming gome Matthew sale Austin Christmas and Janisha Cockrell for sponsoring this video and channel is All Conference members this patreon list will be updated for tomorrow's videos join through the link in the description or down below in the pin comment also check out my merchandise store via the link in the description or down below in the pin comment and for $25 a month for 6 months um you can get a free signed cge fo ball with Sam t-shirt by signing up as a Heisman member having a great day guys and I will see you all very soon bye-bye