Michigan State's football season is already halfway done.
The Spartans just lost their fourth consecutive game on Saturday, falling to Illinois 38-37 in overtime. MSU now sits at 2-4 overall and 0-3 in Big Ten play, and any final record better than 4-8 would feel like a pretty big surprise. Since the fall is halfway done, let's take a look at each position group and hand out some grades.
Quarterback: C-
Things have been up and down for starting quarterback Alessio Milivojevic this year. He looked relatively sharp in the first two games of the season against Toledo and Eastern Michigan, but then was pedestrian (at best) in the following three games. Saturday's game against Illinois was a step in the right direction for him, as Milivojevic threw for 196 yards with two touchdowns and no turnovers, though a better day was anticipated with the Illini's defensive struggles.
These final six games will be huge for Milivojevic's future at Michigan State. Pat Fitzgerald and the staff may have an interesting decision to make at quarterback come winter if Milivojevic begins to struggle again, with their likely options being giving Milivojevic another year or aiming for a new starter in the transfer portal.
Running Back: B+
Running back has been the position group Michigan State's otherwise anemic offense has leaned on this year. Unfortunately, MSU only got a little more than three games from star player Cam Edwards before he suffered a season-ending knee injury against Nebraska. Edwards had been exceptional up to that point with his jump cut and ability to turn plays destined for little to no gain into modest successes.
Jaziun Patterson has backed up Edwards really well, though. He was Michigan State's best player on Saturday against Illinois, scoring four total touchdowns and getting more than 100 yards from scrimmage. Patterson has consistently run pretty tough and looks a lot like the Iowa-made running back MSU expected when it landed him from the transfer portal.
Wide Receivers: F
Wide receiver hasn't been a weakness for the Spartans in a while, but it might be their biggest one overall this year. Michigan State surprisingly didn't make any transfer portal additions with a serious track record of production this offseason, despite the losses of Nick Marsh to Indiana and Omari Kelly to the exhaustion of his eligibility.
MSU's starting trio of Rodney Bullard Jr., Fredrick Moore, and Chrishon McCray is pretty solidly towards the bottom of the Big Ten. The Spartans have had one of the least explosive offenses in the country through the air; their 10 pass plays of 20+ yards this season are tied for the fewest among Power Four programs.
Tight Ends: B-
Tight end has also been a slight bright spot for Michigan State's offense this year. A lot of that has been the emergence of second-year tight end Jayden Savoury. His 23 catches through six games are tied for the most on the team, and his 228 receiving yards are only 14 behind Bullard for first as well.
Keeping Savoury will have to be very high on the priority list for MSU this coming winter. He's the caliber of player the Spartans have struggled to hold onto in recent years, and he'd command a lot of attention on the open market with his three remaining years of eligibility. Brennan Parachek began the year as the TE1, but Savoury pretty quickly planted his flag as the team's top player at the position once the season officially kicked off.
Offensive Line: C-
There was plenty of hope that this year's offensive line could finally piece it together. Michigan State heavily emphasized the trenches in the portal this past January, landing several higher-profile guys in left tackle Ben Murawski (UConn), Nick Sharpe (South Carolina), and Trent Fraley (North Dakota State). It's probably a better offensive line than last year's, but it's still not a group that is consistently providing protection for Milivojevic or getting push in the run game.
MSU has allowed the second-most sacks in the Big Ten this year, with 19. Not all of that is on the offensive line; some of it has been Milivojevic holding onto the ball too long at times, but some blame has to go in that direction when the quarterback is going down that often. Michigan State's rushing offense is also the third-worst in the conference at 124.2 yards per game. The team's 3.31 yards per carry is the second-fewest in the Big Ten as well.
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