MSU football: The Good, The Bad, The Random vs. Notre Dame

Well…it’s Iowa week I guess.

As we all know, Saturday did not go well. At all.

I mean, the energy was taken out of the stadium within four minutes of game time. Three hours of dud-ness at Spartan Stadium for arguably the most anticipated game of the year.

At least the tailgating was fun? Or if you watched from home, at least you could watch Iowa-Penn State?

Anyway, here’s the good (yes, there’s some good), the bad and the random from the weekend. Let’s duke it out in the comments.

The Good

Coghlin starts on right foot: Matt Coghlin piped in his first career field goal from 40 yards out. Very impressive – that had to have been nerve-racking to do in front of a sold out crowd. With MSU looking like they’ll be in some close games this year, his foot will be important.

Third down conversations: MSU converted on 11 of 19 third downs. They also picked up 496 yards off offense. Those are great numbers, but it’s baffling there was only 18 points scored this game. It’s hard to pick up nearly 500 yards of offense and not break 20 points.

Another 4-star QB commits: 4-star Dwan Mathis is going green, folks. Rejoice.

The hammered guy in front of me didn’t pass out: Or get sick. Spartans Will, baby.

Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images

The Bad

LJ Scott’s fumbling is back: His goal line fumble took MSU out of the game. Simple as that. Instead of a 7-point deficit, MSU went down 21 points after Scott – once again – coughed up the ball in a crucial spot. His fumbling issues are the one glaring problem in his game and it’s clearly not close to being fixed.

And I’m amazed at how the coaching staff handles it. He started the second half, despite there being two great running backs behind him that are fully capable of carrying the load. Gerald Holmes and Madre London need to get more spin. They’re not out there taking the energy straight out of the stadium with fumbles.

Scott is talented (duh), but how many more of these fumbles do we need to see before something is changed up?

Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images

Lewerke stumbles: We’ve seen two great games from Brian Lewerke to start the season – Saturday’s was the combo-breaker. The pick-six was less than ideal. Scrambling while holding the ball like the Statue Of Liberty right outside of the other red zone isn’t great. There were also a few times where his receivers had to dive for balls instead of being able to get some YAC.

Now we all know he’s better than what he showed in those moments. He still racked up 340 passing yards on 31/51 passing and had that huge run in the first half. He will bounce back.

Third down defense: Notre Dame was able to convert on eight of 14 third downs. Made me really miss playing MAC teams.

Penalties: Nine penalties for 97 yards. That won’t cut it.

So about that kick: Coghlin’s kick was great. The decision to kick it though? What was that? Yes, let’s kick a field goal so we can turn a three possession game into a…three possession game? Yes, 4^th-and-8 isn’t a guarantee, but when you’re down 21 points in the second half and are on the other team’s half of the field you go for it.

The Random

Volleyball school?: AWWWWW YEAHHHHH

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We are favored, apparently: The team that nearly beat a top five team is underdogs to the team that just got pasted at home. Alright.

Washington Spartans: We’re waiting on that donation check, Dan Snyder.