MSU has prided itself on how strong it finished games this season.
But there was nothing to be proud about Saturday as the Spartans failed to tame Northwestern’s offense and finished with a 37-17 loss.
Turnovers and miscues on offense and a defense that surrendered 506 yards keyed in MSU’s defeat - the team’s first loss under head coach Bobby Williams. MSU drops to 3-1 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten.
“We gave up quite a few rushing yards and they made some plays down the field throwing the football. It really kept us off balance,” Williams said. “We had our opportunities. We got down deep in their territory but we just couldn’t get any points on the board when we needed it.
“Northwestern did a great job. I don’t want to take anything away from them. We just didn’t execute the way we needed to.”
MSU also was unable to convert on 12 third-down situations, something that Williams said he was very concerned about.
“We’re not doing well on third down,” he said. “It’s been that way for the whole season and today it was evident we’re not improving in that area.”
Coming off an emotional double-overtime win at Wisconsin the week before, the Wildcats showed no signs of a letdown and scored on seven of their 15 possessions. Northwestern improved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Big Ten.
“It was a nice job by the offense and I knew that it would be because of the optimism we had coming in,” Northwestern head coach Randy Walker said. “We are a better football team this week than we were last week. We came out of the blocks and got the job done.”
Wildcat tailback Damien Anderson rushed for 219 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries, while MSU sophomore tailback T.J. Duckett gained only 71 yards on 19 carries - 13 of which were in the second half.
Freshman quarterback Jeff Smoker went 17-of-35 for 233 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. Junior receiver Herb Haygood and senior receiver Lavaile Richardson had five catches each for 75 and 62 yards, respectively.
Down 23-10 in the second quarter, MSU was unable to chip away from Northwestern’s lead, even when the offense managed to move the ball.
Before halftime, MSU drove deep into Northwestern territory, but came away empty-handed after Smoker’s pass to Haygood was intercepted at the 10-yard line. MSU opened the second half driving 71 yards, but again failed to get any points after junior kicker David Schaefer missed a 26-yard field goal.
“They were two important drives and we weren’t able to finish them off. You’ve got to be able to finish off a drive like that,” Smoker said. “It’s frustrating when you take a drive the whole way down the field and you can’t finish it off.
“To win games like this you’ve got to be able to put it in the end zone or at least between the field goal posts.”
MSU junior linebacker Josh Thornhill was also disappointed with the result. Thornhill led the Spartan defense with 12 tackles
“We expected to come out there and do a lot better. We expected to win and that didn’t happen today,” he said. “Embarrassed and frustrated probably summed it up.”
Arthur Alcid can be reached at alcidart@msu.edu.
