The Spartans failed to properly execute too many offensive plays Saturday, but the problem was more than just execution. It was going for the wrong plays at the wrong times, and offensive coordinator Dan Roushar was setting them up for failure.

If the wrong play works, you got lucky. If the wrong play fails, you end up walking off the field without a touchdown for the first time in almost eight years.

Cousins has done a decent job this season of not locking in on a wide receiver, but he admitted to forcing countless passes to senior wide receiver B.J. Cunningham when he was fighting double coverage Saturday.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. But what’s the catchphrase when you’re fooled over and over and over again?

“I felt that with how physical they were being that I needed to put the ball there so we’d get some pass interference calls,” Cousins said, justifying his forced passes into double coverage. “I felt like if I kept throwing the ball away, we weren’t going to get a flag.”

Not only did Cousins not get the call, he still threw the ball away and should have had more than one interception. Relying on your opponent getting 15-yard penalties probably isn’t the best strategy for moving up the field.

But this isn’t all on Cousins, and he shouldn’t have to take all the blame because Roushar’s play calling was atrocious — and that’s been somewhat consistent this season.

MSU’s drives all seemed to be a variation of successful rush, successful rush, incomplete pass, incomplete pass and punt.

I understand being forced to throw later in the second half when the Spartans were desperate, but when head coach Mark Dantonio acknowledged the Cornhuskers shut down their passing game, why would you keep passing when rushing is proving most efficient?

Every week, the Spartans preach about using the running game to stimulate the passing game, and then they abandon the run before it gets going.

Roushar could have been creative with rushing calls to establish a solid running game, but despite sophomore running back Le’Veon Bell and junior running back Edwin Baker gaining six yards here and eight yards there, Cousins kept throwing the ball away.

Albert Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” That’s exactly what Saturday’s game was, and it didn’t have to be.

_Michelle Martinelli is a State News football reporter. She can be reached at mart1114@msu.edu. _