EAST LANSING – Free Press writer Chris Solari picks the winners and losers from Michigan State football’s24-21 loss to No. 23 Northwestern on Saturday, Oct. 17.
Winners
DE Anelu Lafaele
After suffering a season-ending injury five games into last season, the third-year sophomore and one-time Wisconsin transfer is starting to turn the corner – and more importantly, come off the edge – with ferocity for a program that has been in dire need of a pass rush. Two of Lafaele’s four tackles were sacks of Aidan Chiles, one of those a suplex slam of his former MSU teammate. Lafaele also forced Chiles to fumble on the first, though the Wildcats recovered.
DT Ben Roberts
The fifth-year senior is playing at an All-Big Ten level in his third and final season with the Spartans. Roberts repeatedly was in Northwestern’s backfield Saturday, finishing with eight tackles which for the second week in a row was a career high (he had seven vs. Illinois). The one-time Oregon transfer sacked Chiles twice and added another tackle for a loss and already has blown away his career high with 26 tackles on the season.
WR/KR Chrishon McCray
The need for explosive plays has been clear for weeks, and the senior provided two of them in succession Saturday to start the fourth quarter. McCray’s 41-yard punt return set up MSU’s offense near midfield with 12:48 left to play. Then two plays later, the former Kent State star got a step on Brenden Deasfernandes and raised his hand to get quarterback Alessio Milivojevic’s attention. McCray elevated over the Wildcats defensive back to snatch the ball at its high point, then raced away for a 53-yard touchdown.
Losers
Field goal unit
Kicker Liam Boyd was the Spartans’ MVP in the first half of the season, but the entire operation failed on his potential 33-yard game-winning field goal attempt with a little over a minute to play. Northwestern was able to get three players through the line in position for Brendan Flakes’ block, and Boyd’s attempt was low after holder Rhys Dakin had to reach for the ball from long snapper Nick Duzansky. It was Boyd’s third blocked field goal of the season, his only misses in 13 attempts.
Team health
Fitzgerald joked that MSU’s injury issues did not get worse Saturday, though there already is a load of them that have affected the top of the depth chart all season and the bye isn't until after next Saturday’s game at No. 10 UCLA. The offense did not have starting left tackle Ben Murawski and wide receiver Charles Taplin. It was worse on defense, with starting linebackers Jordan Hall and Brady Pretzlaff and starting cornerbacks Tre Bell and Tyran Chappell all out. The Spartans also did not have two of their backups in Charles Brantley and Caleb Wheatland.
Hurry-up defense
For 59 minutes, MSU’s defense played physically and aggressively to put the Spartans in position for a win. But with a minute to play and Chiles needing to get around 50-60 yards without a timeout to get into field goal territory, Joe Rossi eased off the pressure and sent four rushers while dropping seven. Chiles quickly hit a 21-yard throw-and-run in the middle of the field, then worked the sideline by picking on freshman cornerback Jeremiah Favorite twice for 12 and 17 yards to stop the clock. Those three completions and a 14-yard run took just 55 seconds to set up Jackson Kleather’s game-winning 34-yard kick.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: MSU football's D-line big winner in tough loss to Northwestern