3 Observations from MSU's Loss to the Cornhuskers

Now, it would be unfair to sit and put the complete blame on Michigan State's special teams unit. The offense averaged a measly 3.5 yards per play, and there were multiple points where MSU's defense didn't do enough, especially in the second half.

But a sizeable portion of the blame has to be on the Spartans' third phase. Honestly, a part of what makes it disappointing is that MSU has performed quite well there through the first four games. Against Nebraska, it seemed like everything fell apart.

Ten Cornhusker points can be largely or entirely attributed to two easily preventable special teams gaffes. The worst was the blocked punt for a touchdown during the first quarter, where it appeared that Rakeem Johnson blew a blocking assignment.

The other was when Sam Edwards and Jay Coyne collided on a short kick from the Cornhuskers during the third quarter, allowing the ball to go free. Nebraska pounced on it and eventually kicked a 27-yard field goal after only traveling 19 yards during the drive.

Stanton Ramil's Importance Was Revealed

The biggest piece of injury news for MSU this week was that it would be without starting left tackle Stanton Ramil for roughly a month.

It was evident that Michigan State's offensive line needed him against Nebraska, as the unit had its worst collective performance of the season to this point.

Against a struggling pass rush and a front seven that entered Saturday outside the top 100 in college football in rush defense, the Spartans allowed consistent pressure on Aidan Chiles, allowed him to be sacked four times, and MSU only averaged 3.7 yards per carry with sacks filtered out.

Milivojevic is a Capable QB2

Partially because of offensive line struggles, Chiles took a beating. Early in the second quarter, he had to leave the game due to injury, which meant backup Alessio Milivojevic came in.

Understandably, there are concerns about how good Milivojevic is. Entering Saturday, he'd thrown two actual passes in college, and both were intercepted. When he came in during that second quarter, he looked plenty composed, completing his first two passes of the day. The latter of those two on his first drive was a touchdown pass to Jack Velling, the first of Milivojevic's career.

At the end of the game, head coach Jonathan Smith gave Milivojevic another drive, with Nebraska firmly ahead and Chiles looking pretty battered. MSU's backup led a smooth, seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. On that possession, Milivojevic completed three passes of 16 yards or greater. Chiles' longest pass of the day was 14 yards. Milivojevic also ran in a touchdown on a QB sneak to finish that drive off.