MSU football analysis after Jonathan Smith’s presser ahead of Indiana
The Lansing State Journal’s Graham Couch and the Detroit Free Press’ Chris Solari discuss the situation surrounding Jonathan Smith and MSU football.
EAST LANSING – There remain a lot of questions about why Michigan State football fell apart against UCLA. And about the future of the coaching staff.
Offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren knows its his job to find the answers. In a hurry. With a dominating and punishing Indiana defense waiting.
“I told the offense I’m gonna do all I can to put together an awesome plan this week, to put you guys in the best position to go make plays and go win a game on Saturday,” Lindgren said Tuesday, Oct. 14.
As Year 2 with coach Jonathan Smith and Lindgren continues to spiral, with the Spartans mired in a three-game losing streak, the Hoosiers and second-year coach Curt Cignetti are flourishing. After earning a College Football Playoff berth last season, No. 3 Indiana is 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the Big Ten as it prepares to host MSU (3-3, 0-3).
ANALYSIS: Jonathan Smith era of MSU football is in peril. It’s hard to see a path forward
The Spartans are coming off a humiliating 38-13 homecoming loss to the Bruins on Saturday in which the offense fell apart after opening with a touchdown drive for the fifth time in six games this season. MSU had 253 yards of total offense, six drives of four or fewer plays and watched starting quarterback Aidan Chiles get knocked out of the game early in the third quarter. Chiles is questionable for the 3:30 p.m. game in Bloomington, Indiana (Peacock).
Lindgren and Smith had the entire team watch the UCLA game back together rather than as position groups. Both he and Lindren felt that helped create better accountability.
As for why the Spartans, playing at home, lacked the competitive bounce-back and fight they showed in their previous losses on the road at USC and Nebraska?
“I don’t know if I completely have the answer,” tight end Jack Velling said Tuesday. “I think we still have the fight, just it wasn’t clicking. Really, I don’t have the answer to that. But we still got full confidence in this team and this staff.”
The Spartans scored fewer than 18 points against a conference opponent for the seventh time in 15 Big Ten games under Smith and Lindgren. Chiles has started every game since arriving with the staff as a transfer from Oregon State before last season. MSU is 3-9 in conference play and 8-10 overall under Smith.
But it was the dismal, lifeless showing against UCLA that enraged MSU fans and have them calling for changes. Smith and Lindgren hear it and have said the need to improve is urgent.
“The pressure at this level comes with the job, it comes with the territory. It’s part of it,” Lindgren said. “You got people in the building that you trust and you’ve worked with before. When you get to times of adversity, you just gotta keep going to work and trust that those around you are gonna take care of their business and get the job done at a high level.”
Lindgren said Cignetti’s success has been structured around 13 players he brought with him from James Madison in 2024, when the Hoosiers went 11-2 and 8-1 in the Big Ten to finish No. 10 in the US LBM Coaches Poll. Indiana lost in the CFP first round at Notre Dame, 27-17.
In the Hoosiers’ 47-10 blowout win at MSU last season, they sacked Chiles (who also left that game with an injury) and backup Tommy Schuster seven times.
Should Chiles be unable to play this week, the Spartans would give redshirt freshman Alessio Milivojevic his first career start against an IU defense tied for third in the Football Bowl Subdivision with 22 sacks this season, No. 4 in both total defense (229 yards per game) and scoring (11.3 points) and sixth in passing yards allowed (142.2).
MSU’s offensive line has given up 15 sacks of the elusive Chiles this season, which ranks tied for 25th-most allowed nationally. He finished 8-for-17 passing for 66 yards with a lost fumble on his one sack against the Bruins.
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The less-mobile Milivojevic took over early in the third quarter, and finished 8-for-18 for 100 yards with a touchdown. However, the Bruins already were leading by 17 points when Milivojevic entered the game and stretched it to 31 by the end of the third quarter while mostly playing soft coverage with minimal front-seven pressure the rest of the way.
“Alessio, we’ve got a lot of trust in him,” Lindgren said. “I think it’s definitely gonna be a challenge. That defense gives you a ton of different looks in the secondary. They’re super-active up front. … It would be a challenging game but an opportunity that he would welcome.”
Milivojevic is 14-for-27 for 171 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in 50 career collegiate snaps the past two seasons (24 against UCLA, 12 against Nebraska, 12 against Western Michigan and two last season against Rutgers).
Also if Chiles is ruled out, that likely would mean true freshman Leo Hannan – who has yet to play – would be the backup. Lindgren said he did not consider giving Hannan a series late in the UCLA game to give him his first experience in college.
“It wasn’t necessarily discussed,” Lindgren said. “I think Leo would be ready if we put him in there. Looking back at it, that would’ve been something that I think would have been good. It’s always nice to get a young guy a little taste of action before he’s maybe forced into action at some point.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
