"Just not good enough," MSU head coach Jonathan Smith said. "It came down to sloppy play. We helped (their defense) look better."

The game started bad for the Spartan offense – as bad as the Wolverine defense could’ve hoped. On the third play of MSU’s opening drive and faced with a third down and two, Chiles ran the football on a designed quarterback power play and was hit hard by two Wolverines, knocking the ball out before being recovered by Michigan linebacker Jimmy Rolder. 

Following the fumble and a Wolverine field goal, the Spartan offense went three-and-out on three straight possessions. It took 15 minutes, 47 seconds — 53 minutes in real time — for Michigan State to record a first down.

The continuous lack of Spartan offense gave Michigan enough drives to find the endzone. Up 3-0, freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood and the Wolverine rushing attack moved the football down the field in eight plays, with Underwood finding pay-dirt on a 13 yard rushing touchdown that gave the Wolverines a 10-0 lead.

All night, the Wolverine offense was good – but not great. It struggled to find consistency in its passing game and struggled on third downs, yet it was the rushing attack and a tired Spartan defense that gave Michigan the edge. 

MSU and its offense failing to perform left its winded defense on the field more than it should have, correlating to more Michigan possessions which meant more Wolverine opportunities.  

"We did a lot of good today," junior linebacker Jordan Hall said regarding the Spartan defense. "But we just didn't do well enough when it mattered most."

The Spartans would score a touchdown – eventually. On a ten play, 75 yard drive that was highlighted by a Makhi Frazier 49 yard run, MSU rolled into the redzone where it capitalized on old fashioned football: good blocking and hard running. Junior quarterback Aidan Chiles finished the productive and motivating drive with a one yard touchdown run, bringing the Spartans within three. 

But this promising drive that displayed execution and blossomed hope was only nothing more than what seemed like a dream; a possible vision of what could have been. For the remainder of the game, the Spartans offense returned to what it was: bad. 

Even in the fourth quarter where the MSU defense supplied stop after stop, the Spartan offense couldn't hold their weight. Down 24-13 late in the game, MSU had the chance to operate a comeback that would’ve been remembered for decades. Instead, two back-to-back failed fourth-down conversions headlined by inefficiency and questionable play calls effectively ended the game.

When the final whistle blew, the Spartan offense finished with 305 total yards – 160 of which were in the fourth quarter. 

After a standout performance in last week's loss to Indiana, Chiles regressed and finished the game going 14-28 with 130 passing yards, finding the endzone once with a rushing touchdown. His favorite target was sophomore wide receiver Nick Marsh, who had six receptions for 75 yards. He was targeted 13 times and had one drop. 

The one positive of the game can be found in Frazier, who had 14 rushes for 109 yards. Yet in a game that means so much, losses cancel out anything positive. 

"All of this rests with the head coach in regards to everything that takes place in the program," Smith said. "It's my job, the role in regards to getting all three phases playing at a high level, and we have yet to put that together this year."

It’s been 1,456 days since MSU has beaten Michigan. It’s been a losing streak that’s been grueling, long and frustrating for the Spartans. After a 31-20 loss to Michigan, this grueling streak has been extended for another 360-some days. 

On a five game losing streak, the Spartans will hit the road to take on the Minnesota Golden Golfers at Huntington Bank Stadium next Saturday at 3:30.