Michigan State special teams break downs contribute to walk-off loss at Iowa

Michigan State suffered yet another tough loss in Big Ten play as the Spartans led by double digits heading into the fourth quarter before squandering the lead at Iowa. A walk-off field goal ensured the Hawkeyes sent MSU packing with a 20-17 loss. Multiple break downs on special team punt formations against Iowa's elite returner proved an important difference. The loss drops MSU to 3-8 on the season and 0-8 in Big Ten play.

Alessio Milivojevic started under center for MSU again with Aidan Chiles still marked out on the injury report after being replaced earlier this season. Milivojevic finished the day 25-for-42 for 255 yards and two touchdowns alongside one interception. Overall, MSU finished the day with 335 yards on offense, out-passing Iowa 255-147, but the Hawkeyes almost doubled the rushing yards on the Spartans, 154-80.

Brandon Tullis led the ground game with 56 yards on eight carried, though Elijah Tau-Tolliver carried the bulk of the load with 16 carries for 35 yards. In the air, Jack Velling finished the day with 88 yards on eight catches and Chrishon McCray added 75 yards on six plays, one catch along going for 45 yards, along with two touchdowns.

Wayne Matthews led MSU in tackles with nine, including seven solo, while Malcolm Bell added an interception and a sack among his five tackles. Jordan Hall added eight tackles and a sack.

First Half

A classic Big Ten battle of little offensive production and not a single offensive touchdown ensued for fans in this one. The Spartans did manage their first interception since Oct. 4 at Nebraska when Malik Spencer picked off Mark Gronowski at the MSU forty four yard line with 5:26 remaining in the first quarter. After another video review (MSU's previous drive was reviewed for whether Iowa returned a Nick Marsh fumble for a touchdown, but review deemed Marsh touched the ball while out of bounds so called it back for MSU), the call on the field was overturned and it was MSU's ball.

The Hawkeyes had the last laugh as they forced a three-and-out then returned Ryan Eckley's 48 yard punt 62 yards for a touchdown. The PAT was good and Iowa led 7-0. It was the sixth touchdown return of Kaden Wetjen's career and set a new school record for Iowa.

Michigan State was able to get on the board after a marathon 14 play, 78 yard drive that ate up over six minutes of game clock from the 9:13 mark until settling for a 27 yard field goal with 2:54 left in the half to make it 7-3. On their final drive of the half, the Spartans decided to try an up-tempo drive from their own 10 yard line with 1:09 left on the clock, but it ended with Milivojevic being picked off at the MSU 43 yard line.

Second Half

After a low-scoring first half that brought back, if not fond, then at least nostalgic anti-expansion memories of the Big Ten West in terms of offensive production, the second half was a comparative smorgasbord of scoring. MSU got in on the action first after recovering a fumble by Gronowski that was forced by Quindarius Dunnigan and recovered by Hall at the Iowa 38. Despite a holding penalty against the offensive line on first down pushing it back 10 yards, two plays later Milivojevic connected with Chrishon McCray for a 45 yard touchdown. After the PAT, the Spartans were up 10-7 with 8:58 left in the third.

A quick three and out by the Iowa offense on its next drive resulted in MSU taking over at its own 20 after the punt. An 11 play, 80 yard drive by the Spartans' offense was capped off by another passing touchdown to McCray, this one for five yards. After the PAT, the Spartans were up 17-7 with 1:13 left in the third while fans were suddenly starting to feel good about the team, or at least some of them surely were.

The Hawkeyes next drive carried over into the fourth quarter and ended with a 26 yard field goal to cut their deficit to a one touchdown lead, trailing 17-10 and 11:27 remaining in the game. Suddenly it seemed like a Big Ten West game again as MSU was forced to punt on its next two drives after three-and-outs and the Hawkeyes were the same sandwiched in between. On that second MSU punt, though, Ryan Eckley shanked it out of bounds at the MSU 46 to give Iowa relatively good field position to start. The Hawkeyes managed to convert for a fresh set of downs after their first two plays, but then the Spartans' defense held firm, including a third down sack that turned into a turnover on downs at the MSU 33 yard line after Gronowski threw incomplete on the fourth down attempt.

Yet again the MSU offense couldn't find the plays to keep the defense off the field here, though on the third down incompletion that ended the drive and forced a punt it was questionable whether a roughing the passer and/or a defensive pass interference flags weren't warranted and Milivojevic made that known after the play on the roughing the passer no call. The punt this time was returned 40 yards to put Iowa at the MSU 42 yard line, yet another break down on special teams where Wetjen made Spartan after Spartan miss or fail to complete a tackle while he ran through it to set his team up for success. The Hawkeyes used the shortened field to their advantage and punched it in for a touchdown five plays later. After the PAT, Iowa tied it up 17-17 with 1:29 left.

MSU tried but was unable to run the clock out, forcing a punt with just 41 seconds left. Despite Eckley putting it back to the Iowa 21, the Hawkeyes used just four plays to advance to MSU's 26 yard line and kicked a 44 yard field goal as time expired for the win.

Michigan State returns "home" for its regular season finale when it takes on Maryland at Ford Field in Detroit next Saturday, Nov. 29. Kick is set for 7 p.m. Eastern Time on FS1.