OSU 38 - MSU 7 / Week 5 Loss A Story of "what if" but Still a Step in the Right Direction

A win is a win and a loss is a loss. I'm not a fan or moral victories, and I don't want to blow smoke. Teams win all the time despite being the worse team for 80% of plays, and teams lose games even with the better performance. MSU has been on both sides of that.

MSU lost 38-7. OSU won by a good margin, they were the better team, with better players, and executed better than we did.

My takeaway though, is that we had what we needed to make the game closer than it was. Not to say we would have won. But it might have been easier to swallow. And that's why I say even with a loss, this team and staff showed something.

look back on this game is that we were 4 plays away from the score being very different,

1. In the 1st Quarter we opted to go for it on 4th and 1 with a QB sneak. I don't hate Smiths decision and logic, saying "FG's wont with the game against OSU". BUT at this point in the game we don't know that. We also have been pretty bad in short yardage situations and have a depleted OL, going against one of the best DL's in the country. Take the points. MSU +3.

2. Spencer drops INT, OSU scores later on the drive. So you take 7 off the board for OSU, and I'm fine just saying MSU punts, but OSU gets a FG on the next drive. OSU -4 points.

3. Velling fumbles in the 2nd Quarter in the OSU redzone. Let's just say the drive stalls and we kick a FG. MSU +3.

4. Another TO in the second quarter, this time a fumble, a Chiles run in the OSU red zone again. Note—he was face-masked on this play, which went uncalled. This was a good drive to this point, marching from our 25 to their 16. Let's give MSU the benefit of the doubt and say MSU scores a TD. MSU +7.

This totals MSU +13, OSU -4. Making the adjusted hypothetical final MSU 20, OSU 34. Still a two-possession loss. OSU stopped scoring in the 3rd quarter. In a closer game, OSU keeps its starters, and MSU does, too. Maybe OSU keeps scoring late, and they still reach a 31-point differential. OSU can also say they had big plays go against them. My point is more that just 4 plays and the butterfly effect go a long way in changing the game, the outcome, and how we feel about this game.