Michigan State fell off the map in 2022 as quickly as they rose in 2021, being exposed from game one on. They let Western Michigan rack up 334 yards on offense and were only up 21-13 through three quarters, before two fourth-quarter touchdowns made the score look worse than it was.
Everything came into clear view two weeks later, when The Spartans took on Washington, and found themselves in a 29-8 halftime hole they would not come back from. Like their game against Western Michigan, two fourth-quarter touchdowns masked what became the theme of the season: The defense could not stop anyone, and the offense wasn’t the potent machine it had been when they borrowed Kenneth Walker III for a season.