EAST LANSING — Forget competing for a national championship. Mel Tucker’s Michigan State football team hit perhaps the low point of his three-year tenure Saturday.
By the end of the first quarter. And it kept getting worse for the Spartans against Minnesota, on defense and offense.
The Gophers overpowered No. 21 MSU from the outset and dominated in the trenches all afternoon en route to a 34-7 victory at Spartan Stadium.
Quarterback Payton Thorne committed three turnovers: two interceptions and a red-zone fumble. The Spartans managed just 240 yards on offense (75 of those on a final touchdown drive) despite the return of wide receiver Jayden Reed, and they gave up 508 on defense — 268 through the air and 240 on the ground — as Jacob Slade and Jeff Pietrowski joined Xavier Henderson and Darius Snow as starters sidelined with injuries.