For the Michigan State Spartans, 7 has become a very uncomfortable number.

In their 6 losses last year, the Michigan State Spartans’ margin of loss was just 7 points or less. In their first road game to California this year, they lost 38-31 and their margin of defeat was again 7 points or less.

This year begins the second season under the tutelage of Mark Dantonio and there are at least three things that can be said with certainty about the Spartans: they are in every loss until the end, they play hard and they give up a lot of points on defense.

In their last 7 losses, Michigan State has given up 233 points (33+ per game) and scored 195 (27+ per game). Appreciate the fact that it’s hard to win games in Division 1-A (what the NCAA likes to call their Football Bowl Subdivision) when you’re watching your opponent 5 touchdowns a game.

Dantonio thrives on defense. He was the architect of Ohio State’s defense on their 2002 National Championship team as defensive coordinator. He still has a year or two to go at Michigan State to recruit his type of players and make them productive on the field. Trust me when I say he’s getting tired of being scored in the meantime.

Jeff Tedford’s California Bears went 5-0 in last season’s opener, rose to No. 2 in the AP Top 25 poll and then finished the regular season with a disappointing 1-6 before beating the Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl.

Against Michigan State, California once again got off to a fast start when Bryant Nnabuife returned a blocked punt for the first touchdown and Cal took a 17-7 lead in the locker room at halftime.

After struggling on offense for three quarters, the Spartans were able to convert 3 third-down plays and received a gift penalty for roughing the kicker during a 97-yard drive that ended with a 10-yard TD by Javon Ringer, pulling within 3 points. at 24-21. Shane Vereen finally broke out on an 81-yard touchdown run to put Cal on top with 4:21 remaining.

Michigan State hit a 29-yard touchdown pass from Brian Hoyer to Mark Dell to get within 7, and had another chance to try to tie it in midfield, but Hoyer threw 4 straight incompletes to end the game.

Brian Hoyer is a fifth-year senior quarterback for the Spartans. His stats in the game were 20-of-48 (41%) for 321 yards and 1 TD pass, all of which could be fine, but when the game was on the line, Hoyer didn’t have leadership or make good decisions. Senior Javon Ringer took 27 carries for 81 rushing yards and scored twice.

Last year, Michigan State scored more than 33 points per game and ranked 29th nationally in scoring offense, but Mark Dantonio needs to realize he has a real problem on defense.

The Spartan defense is so porous that they need to borrow that umbrella from the Morton salt packaging label. You can’t give up 5 touchdowns a game and comfortably win more games than you lose. You have to shut down teams with a block defense that says we’re going to shorten the field for you until you’re going nowhere.

Another problem concerns players who are big and bad. No matter how ugly you play, when you lack speed you can’t catch the player running next to you. The state of Michigan lacks speed. California was a much faster team and that advantage alone helped them win and Michigan State lose.

The Spartans will now host state rival Eastern Michigan, which rushed for 413 yards and shut out 1-AA Indiana State 52-0 in its home opener. If Michigan State hopes to have any kind of season, the Spartans need to field the Eastern Michigan Eagles like Seabiscuit in Pimlico.

Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley