One Big Problem for MSU Before Facing Elite UCLA Run Game

EAST LANSING -- Lots of things and individual plays cost Michigan State a big win against No. 25 Northwestern last Saturday. Poor tackling was one of them.

The Spartans' defense missed 15 tackles during their 24-21 loss to the Wildcats, according to Pro Football Focus. It's actually one fewer than the 16 recorded missed tackles against Illinois a week prior, the season high, but it felt like MSU's worst tackling game both watching live and upon my first rewatch.

Do Injuries Have Big Impact?

The fact that Michigan State had real struggles tackling in the open field wasn't a surprise. PFF says the Spartans have gotten worse at tackling this season, with a missed tackle rate of 14.4% this year compared to 13.1% in 2025. It was also 12.9% in 2024, so things have gotten worse in that area in each of Joe Rossi's three seasons in East Lansing as defensive coordinator.

MSU's defense has been hit particularly hard by injuries this year, though. The Spartans played that Northwestern game without perhaps their top four outside corners and their top three linebackers. Those injuries don't seem to be the entire cause of the team's tackling woes, though.

NiJhay Burt and Jeremiah Favorite were asked to play every single snap at outside corner. Burt is probably the CB4 or CB5. It seemed like nickel was his path to the field before the injuries piled up. Favorite is a true freshman who really isn't even in Big Ten-level playing shape yet at just 172 pounds. He didn't look like a fish out of water on Saturday, but he did look like a young guy learning on the fly. Favorite was charged with three missed tackles; Burt had zero.

"I lived through this as a player (at Northwestern) in '93 and '94, and we had some young pieces that had to play," head coach Pat Fitzgerald said Monday about the corner situation. "It didn't always go the way they wanted it, or we wanted it, and specifically, to this guy, the way I wanted to play. But you learn so much more by doing, and especially on the corner, man, you've gotta have high competitive juices, and you've gotta have a really short memory, and get back up."

Dion Crawford and Cam Stodghill were the starting linebackers. Crawford has been a contributor when healthy this year, but he's still probably LB4 when everybody's available. Stodghill has played more defensive snaps in his last two games (130) than he did in Michigan State's first five games (90). Safety Aveon Grose was also getting snaps at linebacker in more obvious passing situations.

The tackling problems weren't entirely with Crawford or Stodghill, though. They combined for 25 total tackles (five solo) and 3.0 tackles for loss, and just one missed tackle, charged to Crawford. That means only four missed tackles out of 15 were from guys who were starting because of injury woes.

Missed Tackle Chart vs. Northwestern

Bold indicates a player who would be expected to start for a fully healthy Michigan State team.

What It Means vs. UCLA

If MSU has 15 or 16 missed tackles again in its next game at No. 9 UCLA, the Bruins will probably end up winning by at least two scores. UCLA runs the ball for 231.0 yards per game, which leads the Big Ten, ranks fifth in the Power Four, and ranks 12th in the FBS. The Bruins also pick up 5.63 yards per carry; that's third in the Big Ten. It's the best running attack Michigan State will face this season, based on the per-game and per-carry statistics.

"Their offensive skill is as good as we've seen all year," Fitzgerald said about UCLA. "I mean, it's every bit as good, if not better, than the skill we saw at Notre Dame on tape."

UCLA interestingly threw it a little more often this past Saturday vs. Wisconsin, which could be to get new starter Ty Dieffenbach into a rhythm, or it was because the Bruins actually only averaged 3.2 yards per carry against a pretty good Badger front seven. Dieffenbach went 22-of-33 through the air for 264 yards, no touchdowns, and one pick.

There are three running backs who will likely get carries for UCLA this Saturday. Wayne Knight, one player new head coach Bob Chesney brought with him from James Madison, is the best of the bunch. He's got 571 rushing yards on 6.8 per carry and a Big Ten-high 11 touchdowns. Anthony Woods has 347 yards on 6.5 per carry and five scores. Jaivian Thomas has totaled 200 yards on 4.9 a rush and three touchdowns. Tackling is always important, but it's especially so here.