East Lansing — Michigan State hardly stood to lose Saturday’s game against Youngstown State, but it sure let things get close at the end.

With 3:05 to play, the Spartans only led by 10 against a Football Championship Subdivision team. A touchdown sealed a 41-24 win , but it wasn’t one without its clear pitfalls.

Maybe some of those were self-inflicted.

“We kind of felt like we came out a little flat today, and it showed,” linebacker Jordan Hall said.

Games between a Power Four program and an FCS school can be blowouts, the kind of games in which backups cut their teeth and starters get to rest. Easy to overlook. The Spartans didn’t get that opportunity very much, with the starters staying out until the very last snaps — at least, the ones who didn’t get hurt.

Sometimes these kinds

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