Overall

After starting the season 4-0, people were ready to bow down to the coaching staff and players.

Now after two consecutive losses, plenty of opinions have been voiced over certain coaching calls and big plays that weren't made by players.

The bottom line is that the Spartans have been playing good football. They've been in every game so far this season and have been worth the price of admission.

The Spartans are just a few big plays away from still being undefeated, but in the end it's the mistakes that must be minimized and big plays that must be made in order to win a Big Ten Championship.

Grade: B

Special teams

The special teams play has been horrid so far this year.

Junior kicker Brandon Fields has been inconsistent on punts and kicks, but turned a corner last week at Ohio State after the coaching staff minimized his duties to just punting.

Junior kicker John Goss has gone 4-for-9 on field goals, including two misses against Michigan, and two blocked at Ohio State — surely not what he had planned entering the year.

The coaching staff has made the proper adjustments in aspects of the kicking game, but there's no hiding that kicking, punting and kick returns have been awful to this point.

Grade: F

Coaching

With the exception of last week's late second-quarter goof-up and inadequate preparation to start off the U-M game, the coaching has been OK this season.

John L. Smith seems to have full control of the program and has inducted good attitude into the heads of his players.

Smith has had his players ready to go in MSU's four wins, but drew coaching questions in the two losses.

In the end, it's the mistakes you want back that matter the most.

Grade: C+

Offensive line

Despite the Ohio State game, the offensive line has been outstanding.

The loss of senior Stefon Wheeler hurt the squad, which has been consistently giving Stanton inhuman amounts of time to throw the ball.

And they're not half bad at run blocking, either. The Spartans are the second leading rushing team in the Big Ten, behind quarterback-less Minnesota.

Senior center Chris Morris has been the consummate leader on the line, which has gotten better with age.

Grade: A-

Defensive line

The defensive line has made some big plays at key times, most notably the fumble recovery touchdown by senior Domata Peko.

At the same time, however, the line only has 12 sacks through six games and was unable to get sufficient pressure on Michigan's Chad Henne and Ohio State's Troy Smith.

The line has a lot of depth and high hopes for the future, but an ankle injury to senior Brandon McKinney in the early going has prevented the line from getting in a real rhythm as a unit.

Grade: C

Quarterback

Junior Drew Stanton, to put it lightly, has been amazing.

Not only is he a leader on the team, he is loved by the coaching staff and by coaches all over the Big Ten for his attitude and his tenacity.

Stanton has quickly become the Big Ten's most accurate quarterback. Although he has toned down his running in comparison to last season, he is still dangerous on his feet when he needs to be. Redshirt freshman Brian Hoyer has been steady when called upon, and together, they lead the Big Ten in pass efficiency by a large margin.

Grade: A

Running backs

The trio of senior Jason Teague, sophomore Jehuu Caulcrick and freshman Javon Ringer have brought the pain to run defenses across the nation thus far.

Ringer has been the biggest surprise, coming straight out of high school and pacing the Spartans' attack.

Teague, despite missing a game due to a team suspension, has been steady.

Caulcrick has fallen out of the rotation, but has proven he can be a big bruiser as shown by his 140-yard performance against Kent State.

Grade: A

Wide receivers

The only black mark on the receiving corps is the Michigan game, where they dropped six balls, many coming on third down.

Other than that, seniors Matt Trannon and Kyle Brown have been steady, with Trannon having a breakout year. Junior Jerramy Scott has formed a good rapport with Stanton and sophomore Terry Love seems to be on the brink of superstardom.

The surprise of the group has been junior Kerry Reed. The junior college transfer has come in and made an impact despite not seeing the field too often.

The biggest asset of this group is its ability to block. The Spartans have sprung many a big play because of the receivers' blocking.

Grade: A-

Linebackers

Sophomores Kaleb Thornhill, Sir Darean Adams, and junior David Herron Jr. have given the Spartans a solid backing at the linebacker position.

The trio has 106 total tackles and three sacks between them and they all show the ability to jump up and stop the run as well as the presence to defend the pass.

Adams has made two interceptions on the year including one for a touchdown, giving the defense some of the big play presence it was said to have lacked coming into the season.

Most notably, the three linebackers all continue to improve as the season goes on and will likely be the strong point of the defensive unit in future years.

Grade: B+

Defensive backs

This area of defense has been plagued with inconsistency.

Although shining in games against Kent State, Hawaii and Illinois, the defensive backs were ripped to shreds in MSU's two losses and overtime win at Notre Dame.

Missed tackles and inabilities to make plays have contributed to more woes for senior cornerback Jaren Hayes.

And junior cornerback Demond Williams still is learning the ropes.

The bright spots have come from senior cornerback Ashton Watson and senior safety Eric Smith, but giving up an average of 279.5 passing yards per game is nothing to hang your hat on.

Grade: D