Michigan State’s overtime loss to Illinois didn’t just come down to the final two-point try. It also showed, in real time, how much the Spartans are still shuffling pieces around halfway through the season.
The snap counts from Saturday’s 38-37 defeat tell the story. Some players were pushed into bigger roles because of injuries.
Others barely factored at all. And in a game that turned chaotic late, a few personnel decisions stood out just as much as the scoreboard.
The most obvious change came on defense, where Michigan State was forced to lean on a pair of true freshman cornerbacks. Jeremiah Favorite had already gotten real reps the week before at Wisconsin, but KJ Deriso was the newer name in the mix.
He played 20 defensive snaps in crunch time against Illinois after logging just two last week, when the outcome was already settled. This time, he was on the field with the game still hanging in the balance.
That uptick came in a game where injuries hit both teams hard. Illinois may have lost starting quarterback Katin Houser after he hurt his hand on the Devin Vaught interception late in the third quarter.
Michigan State’s defense, which has already been battered by injuries this season, lost both of its starting corners and linebackers. The timelines for those players aren’t known yet.
On offense, tight end Carson Gulker was one of the most intriguing parts of the day. He’d seen snaps before, but Saturday was the first time he really became part of the plan in a meaningful way. That may have had something to do with change-of-pace quarterback Cam Fancher being out with a leg injury.
Gulker lined up at quarterback several times and gave the Spartans a different kind of look. He ran twice for seven yards, but the biggest moment came on a pass to Bryson Williams that would have been a touchdown if not for a flag for illegal block in the back. Even with the penalty, Gulker was credited with 19 passing yards on the play.
That kind of package gives Michigan State another wrinkle to play with. The Spartans have already had success using Fancher’s legs to alter a defense’s picture, and Gulker brings a similar kind of threat, only with a little more muscle attached.
His passing ability also remains part of the equation, especially since he was once in the same quarterback room with Trinidad Chambliss at Ferris State. The blocking issues are still a limitation, so his role figures to stay specialized, but offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan can clearly move him around in different ways.
One of the more surprising developments was how quiet the night was for running back Marvis Parrish. Jaziun Patterson may have had what was probably his best game as a Spartan, finishing with 119 scrimmage yards and four total touchdowns, but Parrish never really got going. He touched the ball only twice - once on the ground and once as a receiver - and finished with just eight yards from scrimmage.
Even stranger, Parrish was on the field for one of his eight snaps on the final play of the game. Michigan State moved quarterback Alessio Milivojevic out to the left before the two-point conversion, but the ball stayed with Parrish on the decisive overtime try. Illinois seemed ready for it and sniffed out the trick play quickly.
There was also a notable change up front. Left tackle Ben Murawski was not on the field in crunch time, even though Michigan State has rotated him because of its depth at offensive tackle.
Instead, Rakeem Johnson handled left tackle and Robert Wright Jr. played right tackle during the fourth quarter and on the overtime drive. Murawski’s 33 offensive snaps were a season low.
And when he did play, it wasn’t his cleanest outing. He was flagged twice, though one of those penalties was a questionable holding call. His 52.2 PFF grade was the lowest of any Michigan State offensive lineman, and that lined up with how things appeared on the field.
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