“I made a dumb coaching error against Ohio State,” Narduzzi said. “We didn’t go live on the quarterback that week. We should have treated him like a tailback and been live. … We won’t make that mistake again.”

Narduzzi said Ohio State’s sophomore quarterback Braxton Miller is the most similar player to Robinson he’s defended, and after Miller rushed for 145 yards against the Spartans almost three weeks ago, the defensive coordinator said his unit could have benefited from tackling in practice.

This week, freshman safety Demetrious Cox and sophomore receiver Tony Lippett have simulated Robinson in practice and been the recipients of Narduzzi’s push for more hitting.

MSU’s defense also has done extensive work on catching passes after Narduzzi said he counted four dropped interceptions in last week’s double-overtime loss to Iowa.

“Like I’ve said for five years here, when guys are put in position, they’ve got to make plays. If you make plays, you win; if you don’t, you have a chance to lose,” Narduzzi said. “We’re doing all kinds of ball drills this week. … We’re going to find a way to hold onto the ball this weekend.”

Narduzzi added although he hasn’t seen any similarities in the defense’s struggles to get the ball back in the fourth quarter in the team’s three losses, he said he’s going to try to strike a better balance of playing time so players stay fresh late in the game, which should be aided by the return of senior defensive tackle Tyler Hoover.

“If I put backups in the game, there’s a possibility of us giving up yards early in the game, and then you’re playing from behind instead of playing from ahead. It’s a double-edged sword,” he said. “We’ve got to get more out of our backups and be able to put them in there and get it done and try not to play your best 11 players every snap, and that’s what we’ve done.”