EAST LANSING — Michigan State looked to have Arizona State pinned.

It was third-and-8 late in the fourth quarter, with the score tied and time winding down. The Spartans desperately needed to get a stop and deployed just two defensive lineman with four linebackers and five defensive backs anticipating the pass.

It didn’t matter.

Brandon Randle and Antjuan Simmons blitzed off the edge. Andrew Dowell followed the tight end across the formation. Joe Bachie and Jon Reschke drifted to their right.

No one covered Eno Benjamin. The Sun Devils running back picked up 25 yards before getting tripped up, getting his team to midfield and keeping the drive alive. MSU never got the ball back, as Arizona State milked the clock from there to kick a game-winning field goal as time expired for the 16-13 upset on Saturday in Tempe, Arizona.

That one play showed many of the 24th-ranked Spartans’ biggest weaknesses in passing situations in their two games. They have given up 699 yards through the air, 319 against Utah State and 380 against the Sun Devils, with many of the critical plays coming over the middle and after the catch and only a few on deep throws down the sidelines.

“A lot of them have been dinks, dunks, quick-gains — stuff that we just gotta rally to and tackle,” safety Khari Willis said after the loss. “Some of it has been structure. They catch us in 3-deep and they hit the flat and get big yardage.”

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The first two opponents have struggled to run against MSU’s defense, which has given up 69 yards on 54 rushing attempts — a 1.3 yards-per-carry average. The 34.5 yards allowed a game ranks second in the nation, just behind the Sun Devils’ Football Bowl Subdivision-leading 32.5 per game.

Despite the big passing total against them, the Spartans have given up just 11.8 yards per catch. However, 36 of the 49 first downs against them have come on pass plays, including five of Arizona State’s six third-down conversions. MSU is tied for 111th out of 130h in the nation at 44.8 percent third-down defense.

Coach Mark Dantonio spoke immediately after the game about coaching problems. After watching the film, he revisited his concerns with how the Spartans are defending the pass.

“We got beat on more outside-type routes, and the running back got loose on us a little bit. That was probably the biggest thing,” Dantonio said. “As far as things over the middle, those RPOs, play-action (plays) that draw our backers up in third-down situations that we didn’t play accordingly and properly. So there were some missed assignments on those. Should have been a guy back there.”

Arizona State had nine passing plays of 15 or more yards, called “chunk plays” by statisticians. Three of those long gains came on third down, including the screen to Benjamin, to keep Sun Devils drives moving.

But it was not the only one.

On the Sun Devils’ second drive of the first quarter, junior Bachie missed a tackle on a third-and-3 screen to Benjamin. The running back gained 11 yards.

“Their tailback was releasing a lot,” Bachie said. “A couple plays, we lost leverage on him. He got a big play.”

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In the second quarter, on third-and-20, Wilkins dropped back to pass. The Spartans’ secondary had receivers locked up on the outside. But Brandon Aiyuk zipped behind senior Reschke in the middle, splitting the safeties and picking up 23 yards and a first down.

Later in that quarter, facing third-and-3, Wilkins hit star wideout N’Keal Harry for 10 yards after a nifty move to the inside. It was a tough coverage spot for MSU cornerback Justin Layne, who jammed Harry at the line and avoided Reschke following the tight end running to outside.

However, none of those resulted in points during a shutout first half.

“I mean, how many times did they run the ball, too?” Willis said. “They’re not really trying to run it, they’re just throwing it around.”

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Late in the third quarter, Frank Darby ran a curl in front of Josh Butler for a 14-yard gain on third-and-8, and the Spartans’ cornerback got flagged for a facemask at the end of the play to get ASU across midfield. The Sun Devils scored a field goal on that drive.

Then came Wilkins’ screen to Benjamin on the final drive, followed two plays later by a pass interference penalty as Layne covered Harry on a jump ball to the outside. ASU got 13 yards on third-and-10 and was able to wind down the final 3:06 left on the clock from there.

Layne and Harry — considered a potential first-round NFL pick if he enters the draft — battled the entire game, with the Sun Devils receiver catching a 27-yard touchdown that tied the game early in their 13-point fourth quarter. Harry had just one more long catch, a 19-yarder in the first quarter, and finished with six catches for 89 yards.

“I don’t think it was more difficult to guard them,” said Willis, who missed an assignment as Kyle Williams got behind him for a 38-yard gain one play before Harry’s TD. “We had some penalties that kept some drives alive. We had to get off the field on third down, and we weren’t able to do that in the second half enough.”

A week off gives MSU a chance to address the issues of its linebackers’ depth in coverage and the back seven maintaining discipline on run-pass option plays before the Spartans head to Indiana next Saturday (7:30 p.m./Big Ten Network).

The Hoosiers have been more run-based through two games, running 89 times to just 44 passes with their fast-tempo, no-huddle offense. A year ago, however, they threw the ball (502) a little more than they ran it (449) but maintained balance in the Spartans’ 17-9 win in East Lansing with 35 rushes to 34 passes.

Whether Indiana borrows from what coaches have seen MSU’s first two foes do with success remains to be seen.

“I think it’s based on the opponent,” Willis said. “The two opponents that we played, they were both more heavy-pass teams. We knew that coming in. …

“It’s about manning up and taking on the challenge.”

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.

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