Michigan State snap counts, PFF grades from Saturday’s loss to Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa – Michigan State football lost its third-straight game Saturday, falling 26-6 to Iowa at Kinnick Stadium. SpartanMag.com provides an inside look at Pro Football Focus’ (PFF) player grades and snap counts below.

HOW IT WORKS: GRADING SCALE

Each player is given a grade of -2 to +2 in 0.5 increments on a given play with 0 generally being the average or “expected” grade, according to the PFF site. Each play is reviewed and given a grade which is then converted into a complete game grade on a scale from 0-100.

BLUE: 90.0-100 = ELITE
TEAL: 80.0-89.9 = GOOD
GREEN: 70.0-79.9 = ABOVE AVERAGE
YELLOW: 60.0-69.9 = AVERAGE
ORANGE: 50.0-59.9 = BELOW AVERAGE
LIGHT ORANGE: 40.0-49.9 = POOR
RED: 39.9 or below = VERY POOR

QUARTERBACK

PLAYERSNAPSPASS PLAYSRUN PLAYSPFF GRADENoah Kim7946651.1

Noah Kim threw for 193 yards with zero touchdowns and three interceptions. The Spartans’ starting quarterback completed 25 passes on 44 attempts and finished with a 39.8 QBR.

Kim was pressured 11 times by Iowa’s defense. The Hawkeyes also tallied three quarterback hits and eight hurries on 46 pass attempts.

RUNNING BACK

PLAYERSNAPSPASS PLAYSRUN PLAYSPFF GRADENathan Carter65322772.8Jalen Berger126459.4Harold Joiner III11060.0Jaelon Barbarin10159.3

Michigan State’s rushing attack was the best it has looked since week two against Richmond, receiving a 76.3 grade, according to PFF.

UConn transfer Nathan Carter is closing in on 500 yards rushing through five weeks. The Spartans’ lead back rushed for 108 yards on 20 carries (5.4 yards per carry) on Saturday.

Jalen Berger returned after missing two weeks with a lower-body injury. Michigan State eased Berger in with three carries for 10 yards.

The Spartans are short on depth at running back with injuries to Jordan Simmons, Joseph Martinez and Jaren Mangham out. Harold Joiner III flipped back to running back ahead of Saturday’s game after repping at defensive back and linebacker for parts of the past two years. The former four-star running back earned one snap in his return to the backfield.

True freshman running back Jaelon Barbarin received his first career carry. The speedy three-star recruit picked up one yard on his lone snap.

WIDE RECEIVER

PLAYERSNAPSPASS PLAYSRUN PLAYSPFF GRADEMontorie Foster78453364.7Jaron Glover65392647.4Tre Mosley 40271357.2Tyrell Henry139459.6Christian Fitzpatrick137657.5Alante Brown82662.8Antonio Gates Jr. 11057.9

Iowa’s defense earned a 90.4 pass coverage rating, according to PFF, the best grade the Hawkeye secondary has earned this season.

Montorie Foster led Michigan State wide receivers with 78 snaps. Foster – who has struggled with drops recently – caught eight passes for 79 yards.

Jaron Glover saw the second most snaps by Spartan receivers. Glover caught one pass for nine yards on Saturday. The freshman earned a 44.0 run block grade on 26 run plays, according to PFF.

Senior wide receiver Tre Mosley saw the third most snaps and hauled in four receptions for 35 yards. The sure-handed receiver received run block grade of 77.6, the highest on the Spartan offense.

Christian Fitzpatrick had one reception for the third-straight game. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound receiver gained three yards on his lone catch.

Nebraska transfer Alante Brown caught two passes behind the line-of-scrimmage, giving him two rushes for just two yards.

Freshman Tyrell Henry – Michigan State’s return man – caught two passes for 14 yards. Fellow freshman Antonio Gates Jr. saw one snap on Saturday.

TIGHT END

PLAYERSNAPSPASS PLAYSRUN PLAYSPFF GRADEEvan Morris48232546.4Jaylan Franklin41251651.8Maliq Carr96377.8

Starting tight end Maliq Carr earned the highest grade on the Spartan offense prior to suffering a lower-body injury. Carr caught a season-high six passes for 43 yards in his nine snaps, earning a 77.8 overall grade, according to PFF.

Evan Morris received above average grades in both pass and run blocking, but struggled in the Spartans’ passing attack.

Wisconsin transfer tight end Jaylan Franklin had a season-high 41 snaps. Franklin hauled in two catches for 15 yards, doubling his total receptions on the season.

OFFENSIVE LINE

PLAYERSNAPSPASS PLAYSRUN PLAYSPFF GRADESC Nick Samac79463368.5LG J.D. Duplain79463358.2LT Brandon Baldwin79463354.4RG Kevin Wigenton79463364.4RT Spencer Brown69373257.2RT Ethan Boyd109166.5

Starting center Nick Samac and right guard Kevin Wigenton, along with back up right tackle Ethan Boyd, were the highest-graded Michigan State linemen. Wigenton moved into a starting role with Geno VanDeMark going down with an injury in week three.

Five of the Spartans’ six offensive linemen who earned snaps on Saturday graded above average in pass protection. Starting left guard J.D. Duplain received an average pass protection rating, earning a 66.7, according to PFF.

Starting left tackle Brandon Baldwin and starting right tackle Spencer Brown received the lowest marks for Spartan linemen in run blocking. Baldwin received a 54.4 and Brown received a 57.2, according to PFF.

Back up left tackle Keyshawn Blackstock was listed as ‘out’ on the Spartans’ availability report Saturday after rotating into the lineup the previous four weeks.

DEFENSIVE TACKLE

PLAYERSNAPSPASS PLAYSRUN PLAYSPFF GRADESimeon Barrow46261852.3Derrick Harmon42231974.9Maverick Hansen2071265.6

Derrick Harmon was the second-highest graded player on the Spartan defense. The redshirt sophomore tallied three tackles, one hurry and one pass deflection. Harmon was also credited with two run stops in his 42 snaps.

Redshirt junior Simeon Barrow earned high marks in run defense, but struggled with tackling, according to PFF. Barrow’s 27.2 grade for tackling – which is considered very poor – lowered his overall grade significantly. The starting defensive tackle earned a 75.3 in run defense, accumulating five tackles and two run stops.

Maverick Hansen finished the game with one tackle, one pressure and one run stop, earning an average grade, according to PFF.

DEFENSIVE END

PLAYERSNAPSPASS PLAYSRUN PLAYSPFF GRADEZion Young56233362.2Tunmise Adeleye38191950.8Khris Bogle1712550.8Brandon Wright106466.4Avery Dunn11059.4

Sophomore defensive end Zion Young scored above average in tackling. Young also received an average grade in pass rush and below average in run defense.

Texas A&M transfer defensive lineman Tunmise Adeleye – who slide inside on occasion – did not show much in terms of pass rush, earning himself a below average rating.

Khris Bogle received the third-lowest grade on the Spartan defense Saturday. While Bogle also earned an above average grade in tackling, he received average to below average grades in both run defense and pass rush.

Brandon Wright tallied the fifth-highest rating among Spartan defenders. The former running back turned edge rusher finished with one tackle on 10 snaps.

Redshirt junior defensive end Avery Dunn logged just one snap. He did not register any stats, resulting in an average rating.

LINEBACKER

PLAYERSNAPSPASS PLAYSRUN PLAYSPFF GRADECal Haladay55322356.0Aaron Brule53312256.1Jordan Hall41212070.4Darius Snow2011968.5Aaron Alexander10160.0

Cal Haladay logged the most snaps for the Spartans at linebacker. The redshirt junior earned the lowest grade out of the five linebackers who saw the field. Haladay struggled in both tackling (34.5) and coverage (44.2) on Saturday. The starting linebacker finished with eight tackles, but tacked on three missed tackles.

Graduate linebacker Aaron Brule just nudged out Haladay, earning a 56.1 overall grade. Brule received a 22.7 tackling grade, the lowest tackling grade on the Spartan defense. Brule tallied just one tackle on the night and missed two tackles.

Linebacker Jordan Hall earned the third-highest grade on Michigan State’s defense. While Hall also received low marks in tackling, his run defense and coverage grades made up for his two missed tackles.

Darius Snow is slowly returning from injury, yet finished with the fourth-highest grade on the defensive side of the ball for Michigan State. Snow earned above average grades in both run defense and tackling.

Walk-on linebacker Aaron Alexander played one down on Saturday. Alexander did not register any stats and received an average grade as a result.

CORNERBACK

PLAYERSNAPSPASS PLAYSRUN PLAYSPFF GRADEChance Rucker59352463.1Dillon Tatum48262260.8Ade Willie44031.0

True freshman Chance Rucker earned his second-straight start at corner for the Spartans. Rucker earned average-to-above average grades across the board. Despite being targeted four times, Rucker did not allow a reception.

Dillon Tatum also received an average overall grade. Tatum finished with a 75.7 grade in run defense while finishing with three tackles. Tatum allowed one reception on three targets.

Ade Willie played four downs on Saturday night. Willie was the lowest-rated player on the Spartans’ defense, earning a 31.0 overall grade. The sophomore was targeted once, allowing an 11-yard reception. Willie was also flagged for a defensive pass interference on an Iowa third-down play.

SAFETY/NICKEL BACK

PLAYERSNAPSPASS PLAYSRUN PLAYSPFF GRADEAngelo Grose59352480.9Malik Spencer56332350.2Chester Kimbrough2819951.8Brandon Lewis65162.5

Angelo Grose moved back to safety while starter Jaden Mangham and back-up Armorion Smith nurse injuries. It was revealed Saturday that Smith will miss the remainder of the season.

Grose received the highest grade on the Spartan defense this weekend. The senior excelled in both coverage and tackling, while allowing zero receptions on two targets.

Redshirt freshman Malik Spencer received the second-lowest grade on Michigan State’s defense. Spencer was targeted five times and allowed two receptions for 32 yards. While Spencer earned the highest tackling grade on the defense, his coverage and run defense grades lowered his overall rating significantly.

With Grose moving back to safety, Chester Kimbrough earned the start at nickel back. The Spartans frequently lined up in a 4-3 personnel package, giving Kimbrough 28 snaps. Kimbrough was targeted three times and allowed just one reception. The redshirt senior received low grades in both run defense and coverage. Kimbrough tallied the Spartans’ lone sack against Iowa.

Walk-on freshman defensive back Brandon Lewis tallied one snap. Lewis did not register any stats, resulting in an average overall grade.

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